SnorkApp

Each spot gets a score out of 100 for the hour you pick. The forecast is for the open sea, so the app works out how much of it actually reaches each beach from the direction the beach faces and how well headlands shelter it.

The sea decides. Three things multiply together, so any one of them can sink the score:

• Waves at the spot. Open-sea wind waves and swell, reduced when they come from a direction the beach is sheltered from. Up to 0.2 m is great, 0.3 m is light chop, 0.4 m is choppy, 0.5 m or more is poor, 0.7 m means stay out.
• Wind chop. Wind blowing in from the sea roughens the surface. Wind blowing off the land keeps the water flat, but a strong one can push you out.
• Visibility. Waves over the past 24 hours stir up sand. Sandy beaches cloud up faster than rocky ones.

Comfort adjusts the rest by up to 30%: sun height and sunshine (light underwater; the sun often shines through thin high cloud), sea temperature and air temperature. Sunshine never makes up for rough water.

Cold water lowers the score below 24 °C: about 5% at 22 °C, 15% at 20 °C, 30% at 18 °C and 45% at 16 °C. Switch on Wetsuit under My style and it no longer counts.

Thunderstorms drop every spot to "Stay out". Rain lowers the score.

My style (the line under the title) shifts this to suit you: how much chop you accept, how much sun and clear water matter, how much the sea life counts (each spot has a 1–5 star rating from guides and visitor reports), and how far you are willing to drive. Waves of 0.7 m or more, thunderstorms and strong offshore wind stay flagged whatever you set.

Wave heights use the Douglas sea scale names, wind uses the Beaufort force (F).

This is a forecast model, not a lifeguard. Look at the water before you go in, snorkel with a buddy, tow a bright buoy, and keep clear of boat lanes.

Look but don't touch: lionfish (striped, with long fanned spines) are now common in Cyprus and their spines are venomous. Watch for sea urchins on rocky entries.