Somerset
Today at Watchet
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.9 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 12:04pm – 3:04pm
Leave the beach by 3:04pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.9 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 2:04pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 34 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 12:52pm – 3:52pm
Leave the beach by 3:52pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.7 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 2:32am (0.6 m), 2:52pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 1:37pm – 4:37pm
Leave the beach by 4:37pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.7 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 3:18am (0.6 m), 3:37pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.2 m
Safe window: 4:36am – 5:03am
Leave the beach by 5:03am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.8 m low tide falls first thing. Daylight cuts the collecting window to under 45 minutes, so don't plan a long session.
Low tide: 4:03am (0.8 m), 4:20pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:37am – 5:46am
Leave the beach by 5:46am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 1.2 m low tide falls first thing.
Low tide: 4:46am (1.2 m), 5:02pm (1.4 m) · Wind up to 35 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 4:39am – 6:28am
Leave the beach by 6:28am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 5:28am (1.7 m), 5:44pm (2.0 m) · Wind up to 36 km/h · Waves 0.2 m
Safe window: 4:40am – 7:10am
Leave the beach by 7:10am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 6:10am (2.4 m), 6:28pm (2.6 m) · Wind up to 35 km/h · Waves 0.2 m
Walk east to Helwell Bay at low tide and search the loose stone between the ammonite-bearing ledges. The tide rinses new material out of the boulder clay constantly — the best finds sit loose on the surface waiting to be noticed.
Giant ammonites — some nearly a metre across — sit in the flat ledges: photograph them, they must stay. Loose finds are smaller ammonites, ridged oysters and occasional dark, dense reptile bone. Identification help: Watchet Market House Museum (seasonal), or photograph finds for a museum enquiry.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: This SSSI coast has a strict no-hammering code — do not hammer or dig the ledges, cliffs or in-place ammonites.
Important finds: Ask at Watchet Market House Museum about significant finds.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Pay car parks in Watchet town, near the harbour and station.
Full town facilities: toilets, cafés, museum.
East to Helwell Bay for the classic ammonite ledges; west towards Blue Anchor for alabaster cliffs.
Fast-flooding tide across wide ledges — check tide times at the harbour before setting out. Unstable, faulted cliffs: keep off the base and the fallen mud.