Somerset · Directions ↗
Today at Watchet
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 0.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 12:10pm – 3:10pm
Leave the beach by 3:10pm — 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 0.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
21° · mostly clear · Low tide: 1:55am (0.6 m), 2:10pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 24 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Safe window: 12:44pm – 3:44pm
Leave the beach by 3:44pm — 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 0.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
22° · overcast · Low tide: 2:31am (0.5 m), 2:44pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Safe window: 1:17pm – 4:17pm
Leave the beach by 4:17pm — 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.
20° · mostly clear · Low tide: 3:04am (0.7 m), 3:17pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 1:49pm – 4:49pm
Leave the beach by 4:49pm — 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 1.1 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
19° · clear · Low tide: 3:36am (1.0 m), 3:49pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 45 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 2:22pm – 5:22pm
Leave the beach by 5:22pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: A recent westerly blow should have brought fresh cliff material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one.
17° · mostly clear · Low tide: 4:07am (1.6 m), 4:22pm (1.7 m) · Wind up to 39 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 62 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
18° · overcast · 2mm rain · Low tide: 4:39am (2.3 m), 4:55pm (2.4 m) · Wind up to 47 km/h · Waves 1.6 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 61 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
18° · mostly clear · Low tide: 5:14am (3.0 m), 5:34pm (3.2 m) · Wind up to 46 km/h · Waves 1.6 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.
Fossil Forecast