Below are two pictures and a mock-up showing just how much the tide changes at Stair Hole. The first was taken back in 2006 when we first started taking a waterproof camera with us to get some pictures; the second was October last year. Each picture has a caption attached when opened.

The variation here highlights a couple of things…

  • It has completely obscured a metre square section of rock around water level, which if you weren’t aware of, you could land on.
  • Your falling distance and water depth are both affected by the tide. So at high tide it could be a 25ft jump in to 15ft of water, but the same jump at low tide might be a 30ft jump in to 10ft of water; much more dangerous!

To combat this I recommend using a website like EasyTide to check tide times.

If you pick a port very local to your jumping spot, although it can’t actually tell you the depth of the water, it can be a great reference. If you know a 40ft jump is always safe when the local tide buoy is at 2 metres then you can plan your trip to the coast without the chance of arriving at a really low tide.

Also if you go to a spot frequently enough you should start to recognise the tide state and depth by checking the water level against a familiar point on the cliff or wall.

Lastly, I cannot recommend enough, following the information already in the safety section about checking out the water below before making your jump.