QualeSpiaggia answers a simple question: where is the sea calm today? For every beach we look at the forecast waves, wind, rain and temperature and sum them up in a score from 0 to 100 that takes into account which way that beach faces the wind. We now cover 2,676 coastal beaches in 15 Italian regions, free and with no sign-up.
Helping everyone find their perfect sea, without wasting time. With real, up-to-date data, free for everyone.
I built QualeSpiaggia because I wanted an honest way to read the sea before getting in the car. The score combines public marine-weather forecasts (Open-Meteo) with open geographic data; third-party photos come from Wikimedia Commons and Flickr under open licences, with author and licence listed on the Photo credits page.
The score you see next to each beach is a number from 0 to 100. It's not an opinion, it's not a review. It's the result of a calculation that matches marine-weather forecasts with the orientation of each individual beach, i.e. the direction it faces out to sea. We update it twice a day and turn it into something you can read at a glance.
Four factors, weighted as follows: waves 40% (forecast height in front of the beach), wind 30% (strength and direction relative to the beach: an offshore wind keeps the water calm close to shore, an onshore wind whips it up), rain 20% (probability during swimming hours), temperature 10% (air temperature, a lower weight because it matters less than conditions in the water). One run early in the morning, one in the early afternoon. If data is missing for a beach, we say it isn't available: we'd rather say so than make it up. Thresholds, sources and limits are on the Method and sources page.
We have no agreements with beach clubs, establishments or concessions: no one pays us to rank higher, and no one can. We don't sell positions in the results, we don't manage blue flags or awards. Google ads and affiliate links to GetYourGuide (disclosed in Method and sources) never affect scores or rankings. No full-screen ads: advertising profiling cookies and visit statistics only start with your consent.
We don't show 14-day forecasts: the honest limit of models, on a local scale, is seven days. Beyond that, the numbers are made up. We don't write reviews: beach descriptions are generated from data (seabed, orientation, winds, water quality), not invented, and only the 102 beaches of Salento, where the project started, have hand-written descriptions. We don't rate restaurants, parking or services on land. Others already do that, better than us.
It's for anyone who wants to know whether the sea will be calm tomorrow, at what time, on which stretch of coast. It's for families with small children, who need low waves. It's for snorkelers looking for no wind and a flat sea. It's for holidaymakers with seven days who don't want to waste a single one at the wrong beach.
It's not for experienced surfers looking for big waves: a high score means a flat sea, the opposite of what you want. It's not for those looking for beach clubs with bookable umbrellas, drinks served at your table and music until late: we talk about the sea in front of the beach. And it doesn't replace lifeguard flags or local bans: if there's a swimming ban on the beach, that's what counts.
From May to October, all along the coast, the sea changes from one day to the next and from one bay to another. A well-made app doesn't give you more stuff to look at; it gives you back the afternoon. That's why we keep going.