From left: Which Beach creators Glenn Grech, Michael Stivala and André Schembri.

Have you ever wondered which beach would be best for a swim on a gusty day but could not get your head around matching the wind’s direction to the calmer seaside spots?

Thanks to a team of young web developers, there is now a website which helps figure this out for you.

Michael Stivala, together with André Schembri and Glenn Grech, created www.whichbeach.com.mt, a free service to help locate the perfect beach in Malta and Gozo on any given day.

Every hour, the website checks the weather and updates the top beaches depending on the wind speed and direction.

It’s mainly about the beach – don’t we all love it?

Mr Stivala, 24, explained that he came up with the idea a year and a half ago, after often having asked the same question himself.

“Some people can pick up the newspaper, check the weather and work out which would be the best beach but I couldn’t do that. I thought there must be a way through which a computer could tell me.”

Mr Stivala, who is a web developer, teamed up with his colleagues and the trio set about working on the voluntary project in their spare time. It was launched last summer but the team has, since then, redesigned the website and made it faster and more accurate.

The website suggests a “featured” beach – the best beach which can accommodate a crowd.

It also recommends four smaller, harder-to-reach beaches. Sandy and rocky beaches are marked accordingly, accompanied by a map of the beach.

Mr Stivala said the team was aiming to expand the website and add more features, such as giving each beach a score out of 10.

“When the sea’s really rough and there really isn’t a perfect beach to swim in, the website still recommends and features a beach. An actual score would increase accuracy.”

The team is also looking into adding a history of the beaches as well as lists of popular diving sites and summer sports. “Glenn and I took up diving last year, which inspired us to expand the website to include more information. But it’s mainly about the beach – don’t we all love it?”