Orlowo Cliff

The Orlowo cliff is a face of glacial clay and sand rising to about thirty-five metres above the beach in a residential district of Gdynia, and it is actively eroding - the sea undercuts the base, sections slump, and the cliff retreats by something in the order of a metre a year on average, more in storms, which is why trees stand at angles along the top and why some have fallen onto the beach and lie there with their root plates upright. That is the thing to look at: an ordinary geological process happening fast enough to see, inside a city, with houses set back from it and a path along the top that has been moved. On the beach below is a wooden pier of 1934, and Orlowo has a small fishing landing with boats drawn up on the sand. A reserve protects the cliff itself. The Kepa Redlowska woods behind it are the other half of the walk.

What you actually see

• Active erosion - the face retreating about a metre a year, with slumped sections.
• Fallen trees on the beach - trunks with root plates upright where the cliff has gone.
• A 1934 pier - the wooden pier on the beach below the cliff.
• A fishing landing - boats drawn up on the sand in the middle of a city district.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The cliff is unstable and the base is genuinely dangerous after rain and in storms - keep away from the foot. The clifftop path has been rerouted as the edge moves. Beaches are crowded in summer. There is no protection from falling material.

Nearby

Gdynia city centre is north; Sopot is south along the coast.