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Today at Sandsend
Good day to huntBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. A big 0.6 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
Safe window: 9:40am – 12:40pm
Leave the beach by 12:40pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. A big 0.6 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
21° · overcast · Low tide: 11:40am (0.6 m), 11:48pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 37 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 10:16am – 1:16pm
Leave the beach by 1:16pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 0.7 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
17° · clear · Low tide: 12:16pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 15 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 10:50am – 1:50pm
Leave the beach by 1:50pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
21° · mostly clear · Low tide: 12:22am (1.2 m), 12:50pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 11:22am – 2:22pm
Leave the beach by 2:22pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
20° · mostly clear · 4mm rain · Low tide: 12:56am (1.3 m), 1:22pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 11:54am – 2:54pm
Leave the beach by 2:54pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
18° · mostly clear · Low tide: 1:29am (1.5 m), 1:54pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.2 m
Safe window: 12:28pm – 3:28pm
Leave the beach by 3:28pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
16° · mostly clear · Low tide: 2:04am (1.8 m), 2:28pm (2.0 m) · Wind up to 31 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 1:09pm – 4:09pm
Leave the beach by 4:09pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
17° · mostly clear · Low tide: 2:45am (2.1 m), 3:09pm (2.4 m) · Wind up to 35 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Head north below the old alum quarries and search the rock pools and loose shale at low tide. Ammonites, belemnites and the odd sliver of true jet hide in the gravel — jet floats in a bucket of water, sea coal doesn't.
Ammonites hide inside rounded grey nodules — a coiled edge showing at the rim is the giveaway (take nodules home to split carefully; never hammer at the cliff). Jet is matt black, feather-light and warm to the touch; sea coal looks similar but heavier and dirtier. Belemnites are amber bullet-shaped rods. Free identification: Whitby Museum welcomes photo enquiries.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Collecting loose fossils from the beach is long-established and accepted here.
Never allowed: No digging into the cliffs or hammering in-place rock on this SSSI coast; leave the jet seams alone — commercial jet digging has damaged this coast.
Important finds: Report significant finds to Whitby Museum.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Pay car parks at Sandsend and along the seafront road to Whitby.
Toilets, cafés and shops in the village.
Flat access from the car park; hunt north below the old alum quarry cliffs.
The rocky stretch towards Kettleness is a tide trap — turn back as soon as the tide turns. Old quarry cliffs shed loose stone in wet weather.
Fossil Forecast