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The sands to the west of Wells harbour entrance now quickly get cut off by the incoming tide.
Make sure you are back on dry land or the main beach FOUR HOURS BEFORE high water!
People walking out on the sands by the water's edge to the west of Wells harbour entrance at low water can easily be cut off when the tide starts to come in. This particularly catches out people walking along the foreshore from Holkham beach or those walking right out across the sand down the side of the harbour channel from Wells beach.
Make sure you come back to the main beach when the siren sounds, the water starts to flow into the harbour or four hours before the time of the next high water! See our Sea Saftey Advice page for more information and tide times. Tide times are also displayed on the NCI Coastwatch Hut as you come onto Wells beach from the beach bank or car park.
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Welcome to RNLI Wells
The RNLI Lifeboat Station in Wells-next-the-Sea houses an all-weather lifeboat and an inshore lifeboat to save lives and assist with emergencies around Wells and off the North Norfolk coast. Manned by volunteer crews, the boats are ready to launch within minutes, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. This website will tell you more about the station and give you a taste of what we do and the traditions of the lifeboat service.
Join us this Sunday for a Mayday Mile family walk and open day
Walk a mile with some of our volunteer crew and local fire fighters from Wells quay starting 11am this Sunday 18th May to a family open day at the lifeboat station with lifeboats and fire engine on display, stalls and refreshments. See events page for more...
Shop Opening Times
Shop and viewing gallery open 10-4 Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday
Our shop and viewing platform are normally open Fridays-Mondays from 10-4 plus additional days in the holidays and whenever we can (see above for latest info). In good weather, the main boathouse door may be open so you can view the all-weather lifeboat from the front.
Safety Warning!
A new sandbar means people near the water's edge to the west of Wells harbour entrance at low water can easily be cut off when the tide starts to come in. This particularly effects people walking along the foreshore from Holkham beach or those walking right out across the sand down the side of the harbour channel from Wells beach. Make sure you come back to the main beach when the siren sounds, the water starts to flow into the channel or four hours before the time of the next high water! See our Sea Saftey Advice page for more information and tide times.
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Latest News
Dangerous sands to the west of Wells harbour entrance
Mon 12 May 2025
In the last few years it has become dangerous to walk right out onto the sands by Wells harbour entrance channel at low tide, either from the main beach and beach huts down the side of the harbour channel or along the foreshore and edge of the sea from Holkham beach. While it looks tempting, there is a series of undulating sandbars and when the tide returns, it will fill the low lying sand and drains from both ends before finally covering the sandbars, That means if you're standing out just to the west of the harbour entrance, the sea will come in behind you and you'll find yourself trapped on an island of sand that will soon be covered entirely.
In this new video, our sea safety officer walks out by the harbour channel as the tide comes in and is rapidly surrounded by water.
Our inshore lifeboat has been called to people trapped here 6 times already this year.
To avoid the risk, stay away from this area or make sure you come back to the main beach four hours before high water, if you hear the siren sound or see the tide flowing into the harbour. Check the time of the next high tide in Wells on a tide table, on the sign on the Coastwatch lookout or on an app before venturing out... and take four hours off this time as the time you need to be safely back on the main beach.
See our local sea safety pages for more advice and information
Cambridge golfers donate to lifeboat
Fri 28 Feb 2025
Our thanks to members of LEGS Golf Society based in Cambridge who visited the station today to present a donation of over £1500 to the RNLI. The society organises around nine events each year and this year, society captain Leonard Cawley nominated the RNLI as the group's chosen charity, a cause he has personally supported for many years. Volunteer crew members gave an impromptu tour of the all-weather lifeboat followed by a chat and a cuppa in the crew room.
Shop and viewing gallery open 10-4 Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday
Shop Opening Times
Our shop and viewing gallery are normally open weekends from Friday to Monday 10-4 along with extra days in the holidays and whenever we can. In good weather, the main boathouse doors may also be open to view the all-weather lifeboat from the front. See our visits page for more information.
RNLI 200
The RNLI celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2024, a milestone marked nationally and by lifeboat crews and stations
around the UK.
Lifeboat Horse marking 200 years in the quay
Shannon lifeboat
and boathouse build
Wells RNLI is now operating from the new building. See the boathouse build pages for the story of how the new station was built.
Our new Shannon lifeboat was funded in part with a station appeal for £250,000 in 2014-15 and also by the Civil Service charity The Lifeboat Fund with its 150th Anniversary Appeal. We are hugely grateful to everyone who has donated, fund-raised, helped and supported us both locally and across the UK and further afield.
Exercise Launches
You are welcome to watch the lifeboats launch on exercise from a safe distance on the beach bank or beach; please keep clear of the boats and launching vehicles and keep children and dogs under supervision. Exercises are roughly every two weeks and we try to post dates and times in advance when we can. All dates are subject to change or cancellation at short notice for operational reasons.
Thursday 15 May 2025 19:00
Regular exercise
Thursday 29 May 2025 18:30
Regular exercise
Sunday 8 Jun 2025 14:00 tbc
Helicopter exercise
Sunday 29 Jun 2025 09:00
Regular exercise
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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity, registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SC037736). This website is managed and maintained by local volunteers at Wells-next-the-Sea Lifeboat Station and is not the main RNLI site. All text and images copyright (C)2005-2021 RNLI Wells Lifeboat Station, or as indicated, and may not be downloaded, copied or reproduced elsewhere without prior permission of the station or the relevant copyright holder. Site Manager