Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre Reviews Summary

Visitor Centre & Fossil Displays

Pros:

• "Charmouth is brilliant! Visitor centre has really useful info & some amazing fossils."
• "I loved every moment of my visit. The centre as been very well thought out. Lots of great information about the geology of the area."
• "This is the place to visit to learn about the fossils on Charmouth beach and Lyme Bay. It has excellent displays, knowledgeable staff and a superb shop."
• "Excellent little museum with displays of some very impressive finds from the beach."
• "Great display of fossils and information on how fossils are created and how / why so many fossils are located in this area."
• "Inside the, free entry, Centre there are some excellent examples of local found fossils including the 'Sea Dragon' (Ichthyosaurus)."
• "A wonderful little museum crammed full of information and specimens relating to fossils."

Cons:

• "The visitor toilet are terrible, overwhelming smell, lots of flies, floor would benefit from a deep clean."
• "Service was terrible. My dog chased another dogs ball off the cliff and is now dead."
• "But the public toilets behind these facilities... they are disgusting."
• "The food and drink at the shop next to it can be incredibly expensive though, very expensive drinks and chips."
• "This is a small site and the information in the centre is limited."
• "Cafe very busy and long queue for food obstructed the ice cream only station."
• "The heritage centre itself is a lovely place in an incredible location however the cafe is a total rip off."

Parking & Accessibility

Pros:

• "Fair amount of parking here."
• "Carpark right beside the beach and shop/cafe, £6 all-day parking."
• "Car parking is good, with a large adjacent overspill if the main one is full."
• "Beach very busy on sunny days but found parking without a problem."
• "Plenty of parking, not like a lot of beaches."
• "There are toilets and a cafe at the Heritage centre and two car parks, which are on the Just pay app."
• "Several car parks right on the coast and another 10 minutes walk away. Beach cafe, toilets, gift shop, fossil Centre."

Cons:

• "Pity they close the toilets so early, including the disabled ones - and don't use RADAR."
• "Make sure you bring change as between the shops here you won't find one friendly owner willing to change a 5 pound note for coins for parking as meters are coins only."
• "Although it can get crowded - you may find it difficult to get a parking space at peak times."
• "Confused parking - some appears to be parish council operated and some private - worth reading the signs."
• "If you are physically disabled and have walking issues the beach area is certainly not the place to go!"
• "The beach was quite rocky difficult to walk. Not nice."
• "The beach is very stony and could be awkward if you're unsteady on your feet."

Fossil Hunting Experience

Pros:

• "Their fossil tours are great fun or you can find your own fossils just lying on the beach waiting to be discovered."
• "So beautiful today, few fossils found, staff in the centre great, and new display so beautiful you would not believe most of the staff are volunteer!"
• "I joined the experts from Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre on a guided fossil hunt on the beach."
• "This Is a place to visit when you are in Charmouth. Here you can learn about the prehistoric creatures that lived in our seas million of years ago and even see some of them."
• "If you love fossil hunting this is the spot to go."
• "An excellent day looking for fossils with the children during October half term 2014."
• "Found lots of amazing small ammonites and had lots of fun finding them along the beach!"

Cons:

• "Where was Gucci? Where was Prada? If I'm not within 25 minutes of a Louis Vuitton then I don't know what the point of a place is."
• "We didn’t find any fossils but the kids were captivated with the possibility of finding a dinosaur."
• "Would be a Fantastic beach for collecting fossils, but full of loads of people smashing the hell out of rocks."
• "The whole situation not just the awful quality and extortionate price will leave a sour taste in your mouth and leave you starving hungry."
• "Kind of spoiled the evening, which is a shame as we love Charmouth..."
• "People go for fossil rocks hunting. Plenty of family trying to break pebbles to find a fossil."
• "Would be a Fantastic beach for collecting fossils, but full of loads of people smashing the hell out of rocks."