6 Unique Beach Games Played Around The World

Most people have probably partaken in a game of beach volleyball in their life, but what about beach cricket? Take a look at these games that have gained popularity throughout the world, that you normally wouldn’t see during a day at the beach.

Beach Cricket
Australians are particularly fond of this variation on the popular game of cricket. In the beach version, a tennis ball is often used in place of a leather cricket ball, the water counts as out-of-bounds (unless caught) and bowling turns into tossing because it’s difficult to make the ball bounce in sand. They even have an official tournament!

Sandboarding
Sandboarding is a coastal and desert off-branch of snowboarding that involves strapping on a board make of formica or laminex, slathering it with wax, and riding it down a large sand dune. Sandboarders often perform stunts like backflips and jumps while reaching speeds of up to 50-60 mph. The Pan-American Sandboarding Challenge is held each year at Prainha’s Beach in Brazil. Some people also prefer sandskiing, but that hasn’t gained quite as much prominence in recent years.

Beach Basketball
Beach Basketball is played much like regular basketball, but with some obvious differences. For starters, there’s no dribbling because balls clearly don’t bounce well on sand. The court is circular and smaller, and the hoop has no backboard. Players move the ball along the court by passing or taking 2 and a half steps. So far there have been fifteen annual world championships throughout the world.

Beach Handball
Sometimes called sandball, it’s basically soccer on the beach but with hands instead of feet. Teams pass and bounce a ball across the sand in an attempt to get it into the opposing team’s goal. It’s another popular European sport and numerous tournaments are held each year.

Dog Surfing
More of a joke than an actual sport, the Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition takes place every year in San Diego. Dogs of all shapes and sizes are loaded up on surfboards to see which four-legged furball can withstand the largest waves without falling off. The record for the most dogs on a single board currently stands at 17. We’re guessing they were all Chihuahuas.

Sepak Takraw
Imagine trying to play volleyball without the use of your hands and arms and you’ve got sepak takraw. Players are required to use their legs, feet, knees chest and heads to hit the ball back and forth across the net and keep it from touching the ground. Much like regular volleyball, sepak takraw was originally intended to be played on a court, but has been adapted over the years as a fantastic beach sport.