South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Southerndown / Dunraven Bay
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 0.7 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
Safe window: 11:59am – 2:59pm
Leave the beach by 2:59pm — 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.
19° · overcast · Low tide: 1:43am (0.7 m), 1:59pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 37 km/h · Waves 1.5 m
Safe window: 12:32pm – 3:32pm
Leave the beach by 3:32pm — 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 mid-afternoon.
19° · drizzle · 5mm rain · Low tide: 2:17am (0.6 m), 2:32pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 34 km/h · Waves 1.5 m
Safe window: 1:03pm – 4:03pm
Leave the beach by 4:03pm — 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 0.9 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
20° · overcast · 1mm rain · Low tide: 2:49am (0.7 m), 3:03pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Safe window: 1:34pm – 4:34pm
Leave the beach by 4:34pm — 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 1.3 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
19° · mostly clear · 3mm rain · Low tide: 3:20am (1.0 m), 3:34pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 24 km/h · Waves 1.4 m
Safe window: 2:05pm – 5:05pm
Leave the beach by 5:05pm — 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: 3:50am (1.4 m), 4:05pm (1.8 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 1.4 m
Safe window: 2:38pm – 5:38pm
Leave the beach by 5:38pm — 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° · overcast · 4mm rain · Low tide: 4:21am (2.0 m), 4:38pm (2.4 m) · Wind up to 30 km/h · Waves 2.5 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
17° · overcast · 4mm rain · Low tide: 4:54am (2.7 m), 5:15pm (3.1 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 2.5 m
Search the rock pools and loose slabs across Dunraven Bay at low water — Gryphaea oysters lie loose in the gravel and ammonite sections show on the wave-cut platform. After winter storms the fresh block falls (viewed from a distance) feed the beach for weeks.
Ammonite impressions here can be dinner-plate size, showing as coiled ridges on fallen grey-blue slabs. 'Devil's toenails' (Gryphaea) are thick, curved oyster shells lying loose in the gravel. Free identification: photograph your find for the enquiry service at Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Cardiff.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach and foreshore may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: No hammering or digging into the cliffs or the wave-cut ledges anywhere on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast.
Important finds: Report significant finds (this coast produced the Welsh dinosaur Dracoraptor) to Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Cardiff.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Car park at Dunraven Bay with a Heritage Coast Centre.
Toilets and seasonal kiosk; Heritage Coast Centre.
Short walk down a ramp onto sand and ledges.
Horizontal Lias beds drop car-sized blocks — stay well clear of the cliff base. The bay floods quickly; do not round the headlands on a rising tide.
Fossil Forecast