South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Penarth
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 1.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 12:35pm – 3:35pm
Leave the beach by 3:35pm — 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 1.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
27° · clear · Low tide: 2:35pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 1:23pm – 4:23pm
Leave the beach by 4:23pm — 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 1.0 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
29° · clear · Low tide: 3:03am (1.0 m), 3:23pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 19 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 4:32am – 4:49am
Leave the beach by 4:49am — 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 first thing. Daylight cuts the collecting window to under 45 minutes, so don't plan a long session.
27° · overcast · Low tide: 3:49am (0.9 m), 4:08pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 15 km/h · Waves 0.2 m
Safe window: 4:34am – 5:33am
Leave the beach by 5:33am — 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 first thing.
26° · clear · Low tide: 4:33am (1.1 m), 4:51pm (1.4 m) · Wind up to 16 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:35am – 6:16am
Leave the beach by 6:16am — 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 1.5 m low tide falls first thing.
25° · mostly clear · Low tide: 5:16am (1.5 m), 5:33pm (1.8 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 4:37am – 6:58am
Leave the beach by 6:58am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
27° · clear · Low tide: 5:58am (2.1 m), 6:16pm (2.5 m) · Wind up to 16 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:41am – 7:41am
Leave the beach by 7:41am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
26° · clear · Low tide: 6:41am (2.7 m), 7:00pm (3.1 m) · Wind up to 16 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Search the fallen grey-blue slabs and shingle below the alternating striped cliffs towards Lavernock — ammonite impressions show on slab faces after the tide rinses them. Fresh falls feed the beach all winter; work the loose material, not the cliff.
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 →
On-street and pay car parks near the Esplanade and pier.
Full seafront facilities: toilets, cafés, pier.
Steps and ramps from the Esplanade; hunt south towards Lavernock below the alternating grey cliffs.
One of the world's biggest tidal ranges — the sea comes in very fast and cuts off the stretch towards Lavernock. Constant small rockfalls from the Triassic and Lias cliffs.
Fossil Forecast