Beach walking on the North Norfolk coast
The next open window for beach walking is Sat 5 Sept at Wells-next-the-Sea, from about 06:13 ±60 min.
The sand here uncovers a long way and comes back quickly, and at two places that matters a great deal.
- The window falls in daylight
Sat 5 Sept · outlook — conditions less certain this far out
Only 2 hr 57 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
WNW force 5outlook
Only 2 hr 48 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
WNW force 3outlook
Only 2 hr 41 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
WNW force 5outlook
Only 3 hr 4 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
WNW force 3outlook
Only 2 hr 32 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
W force 5outlook
Only 3 hr 13 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
W force 4outlook
Sun 6 Sept · outlook — conditions less certain this far out
Only 4 hr 23 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
SW force 2outlook
Only 1 hr 9 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
ESE force 1outlook
Only 4 hr 7 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
SW force 2outlook
Only 1 hr 25 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
ESE force 1outlook
Only 3 hr 58 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
SW force 2outlook
Only 1 hr 33 min of this tide falls in daylight — the window itself runs on past it.
SSE force 2outlook
Mon 7 Sept · outlook — conditions less certain this far out
Tue 8 Sept · outlook — conditions less certain this far out
Wed 9 Sept · outlook — conditions less certain this far out
Thu 10 Sept · outlook — conditions less certain this far out
Fri 11 Sept · outlook — conditions less certain this far out
Always use your judgement about your own competence, the on-the-day conditions and the type of vessel or activity you intend to take out before embarking on your trip. This website offers some indications but must not be used for navigation or making a decision that could put yourself or others in peril.
Walking out to Scolt Head Island works differently from a beach walk: the way out is on foot near low tide, and the way back may well be the ferry.
Where these windows come from
Every window above was published by somebody else. We put it next to the tide and the forecast; we did not decide it. If you are hiring, the people you hire from will know the day’s conditions better than any forecast does.
- Wells-next-the-Sea
- RNLI Wells Lifeboat Station — “be back on dry sand or dry land four hours before high tide” · source
- The channels on Wells beach can be two metres deep and start filling about four hours before high water, forming isolated islands. In summer a siren marks that point.
- High water is when the boats can move and when the sand is most dangerous — the same moment means opposite things to the two.
- Holkham Beach
- Holkham Estate beach safety guidance — “be off any sandbank four hours before high tide”
- The sands are flat and vast and the channels behind you fill before the beach does, so the water can be between you and the shore while you are still on dry sand.
- ⚠️ Holkham has no tidal station of its own. These times are inferred from the nearest open-coast reference and carry a wider window than our other locations.
- Hunstanton
- RNLI Hunstanton — “the large tidal range here means the incoming tide can travel at well over walking pace” · source
- Most of this station’s roughly 40 launches a year are to people cut off by the tide. The danger is worst on high springs, when the sea goes out much further and comes back faster.
- If you are cut off, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. Do not wade a gully or creek that is filling.
About the wind figures
The wind here is a forecast for ten metres above the ground, on a grid whose cells are wider than the gaps between these places — so neighbouring locations often share one figure. It is not a measurement at the water’s edge, and it knows nothing about shelter behind the dunes or how much harder it blows further out.
Tide table generated 5 September 2026.