The problem
We love our beaches. From steam rollers on the head at St Ouen's to a harder-than-it-looks paddle board at Beauport, there’s always someone in or on the water.
But if you are lucky enough to be a resident in this fair isle, you’ll know how quickly the sea can change its mood. From calm and glassy to a washing machine, quicker than you can say Airport Cash Stores. Add in our huge tidal ranges, strong rip currents and unpredictable winds, and suddenly choosing where to launch the kayak for its annual voyage isn’t so simple.
Every seasoned surfer, swimmer, or sailor has their own rules of thumb, but not everyone has a go-to expert on speed dial. And that’s the gap we wanted to explore.
The idea
Baywatch is our prototype web app designed to recommend the best beach to go to on any given day, based on the weather and the sport you want to do. It combines open-source weather data with a layer of local knowledge shared by the people who know the island's waters best.
Right now, we’ve got a simple prototype UI built in Figma Make, and we’re gathering insights from local water sports communities to build out the knowledge base.
The goal is to encode what Jersey’s salty sea dogs instinctively know: how different beaches behave in different conditions.
Isn’t There Already an App for That?
Yes there is. Well, kind of. The likes of Surfline, Windguru and Windy are all brilliant at analysing data, crunching forecasts and spitting out star ratings. You should absolutely be using them.
What they don’t do is apply the local layer. Jersey’s coastline has quirks that only the people who live here understand. The UIs of most surf or wind apps can also be pretty intimidating to the untrained eye.
Baywatch isn’t trying to replace those tools or predict the weather; it just recommends the best beach and time for your chosen sport. And if there’s nowhere suitable that day, it’ll simply tell you to find something else to do.
What’s Next
The next step is to run our ideas past longstanding Webreality client, RNLI Jersey, and put Baywatch through its first round of internal testing. We want to see how our data-driven logic holds up against real-world experience - and where it needs adjusting.
We’ll keep building, testing and learning. Until then, check the weather, know the tides and trust the locals.