Wind decides whether a bay is calm enough to swim in. The north-westerly wind, called the majjistral, is the most common one in Malta in summer.
Some bays stay calm when it blows and others get rough. The difference is how much open sea lies between the beach and the wind.
Open water makes the waves
Waves need distance to build. Sailors call that distance fetch.
It is how far the wind travels over water before it reaches the shore. If there is land in the way, the wind has no room to build waves and the water stays flat.
If the bay looks out at open sea, the waves can get large and stay rough for a while after the wind drops.
We measured the fetch for all sixty-nine bays on this site, in sixteen directions each. Twenty-eight of them have no open water to the north-west. Those bays stay calm when the majjistral blows.
The north coast of Gozo is the most exposed
Several well known bays in Gozo face north and have open sea in front of them. Ramla l-Ħamra faces six degrees, which is almost due north.
San Blas faces twenty-six degrees. Wied il-Għasri and Xwejni are on the same coast.
All four are calm on a still day and rough when the north-westerly blows. In Malta, Fond Għadir at Sliema is open to the north and north-west as well.
Sheltered bays in the south and east
Il-Kalanka and Il-Kalanka tal-Gidien near Delimara sit behind a headland and have no open water to the north-west. Mistra Bay faces east into a deep inlet.
Marsaskala is at the end of a long creek. Anchor Bay is enclosed on both sides.
In Gozo, Gorgun Bay near Mġarr faces east and stays calm while the north coast is rough.
A south-easterly changes the list
When the wind comes from the south-east, the sheltered bays become the exposed ones. Il-Kalanka faces open sea to the south-east and gets rough.
Ramla and San Blas become calm, because the land is now behind the wind. Check the wind direction before you check the speed.
A strong wind blowing off the land matters less than a light wind blowing onto the beach.
Each bay page on this site lists the directions it is open to, so you can check whether it suits the weather that day.
