Norfolk · Directions ↗
Today at Hunstanton
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 0.6 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
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 0.6 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
19° · mostly clear · Low tide: 2:32pm (0.6 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
Safe window: 1:19pm – 4:19pm
Leave the beach by 4:19pm — 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.
19° · overcast · Low tide: 2:52am (1.1 m), 3:19pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 20 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 2:03pm – 5:03pm
Leave the beach by 5:03pm — 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 0.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
19° · overcast · Low tide: 3:37am (1.1 m), 4:03pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
Safe window: 2:45pm – 5:45pm
Leave the beach by 5:45pm — 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 0.6 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
18° · overcast · Low tide: 4:18am (1.2 m), 4:45pm (0.6 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Safe window: 3:25pm – 6:25pm
Leave the beach by 6:25pm — 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 towards evening.
18° · mostly clear · Low tide: 4:58am (1.5 m), 5:25pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Safe window: 4:04pm – 7:04pm
Leave the beach by 7:04pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls towards evening, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
20° · clear · Low tide: 5:37am (1.8 m), 6:04pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Safe window: 4:46pm – 7:46pm
Leave the beach by 7:46pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls towards evening, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
18° · mostly clear · Low tide: 6:17am (2.1 m), 6:46pm (1.8 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Search the fallen blocks and chalk rubble spread along the beach — belemnites and sea urchins weather out and collect in the gravel between the boulders. The blocks on the open beach have already fallen; those are the safe ones to search.
Belemnites weather out of the striped red-and-white chalk as amber bullet shapes. Sea urchins appear as domed flints with a faint five-pointed star. Brachiopod shells pepper the fallen blocks. Identification: Norfolk Museums Service accepts photo enquiries; Lynn Museum is nearest.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils and bones from the beach may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: No digging into the cliffs — the fossil-bearing beds are protected (SSSI) and the cliffs are dangerously unstable anyway.
Important finds: Large bones may be part of a bigger skeleton — report them to Norfolk Museums Service before removing anything substantial.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Large seafront car parks along the Esplanade and at the cliff top.
Full seaside-town facilities: toilets, cafés, shops.
Flat access onto sand below the famous red-and-white striped cliffs.
Blocks fall from the undercut Red Chalk and Carstone cliffs — stay off the fallen debris and away from the base. Wide flats and fast tides over the Wash sandbanks.
Fossil Forecast