How to read popular forecasts for Sea Swimmers

We're asked all of the time what App should I use to check sea, tide, weather conditions. Here's a list of our favourites and how to read them

It is really important for sea swimmers to take responsibility for themselves when swimming. Only you can decide if you are capable of swimming in the conditions that present themselves to you on any given day, time, location or state of tide. Part of the journey, of swimming in the sea, year round, is understanding all elements of your swim and this includes the sea and the weather forecast. Along with packing a towel this should be part of the preparation for swimming in the sea.

This blog contains a list of some of the apps and sites we use, a brief description of what they are designed for and the basics of how to interpret the forecast they are showing. Swimmers use all manner of forecasts and like everything in life, people have their favourites. This list is not exhaustive and they are all the free versions.

Understanding coastal weather and waves and their impact on sea swimming is an important step before looking to understand forecasts. If you don’t know which way your swim spot faces you won’t know the impact of certain wind directions and strengths on the surface of the water there. For example where I swim in Brighton a south westerly wind is an on shore (blowing from the sea onto the shore) and it normally brings wet weather with it and can create significant waves if the wind is significantly strong. This may make it unsafe to swim at high tide as we have a steep shelving shingle beach, but at low tide when the flat sandy seabed is revealed it may be okay to play in the waves in the shallows. Unless you know this the forecast is no use when planning a safe swim.