Time and Tide Waits for No Man

Low tide rock pool

A quiet guide to how the sea moves — and why you need to know.

Some people watch the sea and think it’s still. Locals know it’s anything but.
The tide is always on the move — coming in, going out, reshaping the beach minute by minute.
If you don’t understand that, the coast can be confusing… even dangerous.
But if you do, it becomes a friend. A guide. And sometimes, a provider.

The sea is never in one place

The tide changes twice a day, every day — though never at the same time.
Today’s low tide might be at 10am. Tomorrow’s will be nearly an hour later.

Sometimes the tide comes right up to the dunes.
Other times, it’s a long old trek across the sand to get your feet wet.
That’s down to whether we’re on a spring tide or a neap tide.

• A spring tide happens around the full moon and new moon, when the moon and sun pull together.
  That’s when you get the biggest highs and lowest lows — waves lapping at the dunes one day, and half a mile of sand the next.

• A neap tide happens around a half moon, when the pull is more gentle.
  The difference between high and low is smaller — and the sea doesn’t travel as far.

If you’ve never really noticed this before, you’re not alone.
But once you do, it starts making sense of all sorts of things — like why it takes longer to reach the sea some days, and why the rock pools come and go.

At Dingle Dell, we’ve made it easy:
There’s a tide clock on the wall and a tide book on the breakfast bar — they’re there to help you plan your day.

And here’s a proper local fact:
The Bristol Channel and North Devon coastline have one of the biggest tidal ranges in the world.
Up to 15 metres between high and low in places. That’s a serious amount of sea on the move — and it’s why tide knowledge here really matters.

Why it matters

Understanding the tide can help you:

• Stay safe — so you don’t get cut off by the sea

• Plan your day — for beach walks, rockpooling, or paddling

• Answer questions — like “why is the sea so far away today?”

• Sound like you know what you’re doing — always satisfying

• And sometimes… find your dinner

The prawns in the pool

At low tide, the sea leaves behind rock pools full of life.
Look closely and you might spot common prawns — grey, glassy, and quick.
Bring a net, a bucket, and a bit of patience. Rinse them in clean seawater, take them home, and cook them up.

And by cook, we mean simply. Honestly.

None of this “harvested a week ago, wrapped in cling film, hidden under garlic butter” nonsense.
Garlic butter?
Lordy lord lord. That’s for the tired ones. The ones past their best.

If your prawns were in the sea an hour ago, you don’t need to cover them up.
You need heat, salt, and a bit of reverence.
There is nothing on this earth better than a prawn fresh from the pool and still tasting of the tide.

Catch a few. Treat them right. And quietly know you’ve just won the day.

Why this matters — really

We haven’t written this to make you worry.
We’ve written it because the tide doesn’t care if you lose track of time.

Maybe you head off around the headland and stop to take in the view.
Maybe you spot something in a rockpool.
Maybe you sit down and doze off for half an hour longer than you meant to.

That’s all it takes.

A path that was dry is suddenly under water.
A shortcut becomes a trap.
And a lovely day out turns into a call to the coastguard — or worse.

We’ve seen near misses.
We’d rather never see one again.

This blog isn’t here to scare you — it’s here to prepare you.
Because the sea, when you understand it, isn’t just safe — it’s a joy.
It gives, it teaches, it feeds… but it doesn’t wait.

Time and tide waits for no man.