About Kimmeridge Bay

Kimmeridge Bay, on Dorset’s Jurassic World Heritage Coast, is famous for its safe swimming, rock pooling, canoeing, wind surfing and water sports.  The water visibility is excellent for snorkellers and divers.  For surfers, it offers Dorset’s premier reef break, Broadbench, which can hold waves of up to 15 feet along with other waves in the “K-Bay” area.

 

The beach consists mainly of rocky shale, with large limestone ledges.  It is of great geological interest and the rocks on the beach contain a variety of interesting fossils.  (Fossil collecting with hammers is prohibited at Kimmeridge)

 

Kimmeridge Bay lies within a Special Area of Marine Conservation with a summer snorkel trail to guide swimmers among the marine life in the shallow waters.

 

Overlooking the beach is Clavell Tower, a Georgian folly, built on the cliff edge.  In 1975, this was the inspiration for PD James’s murder story, the Black Tower.

​

Kimmeridge Bay is situated on the South West Coast Path National Walking Trail.