Beach volleyball court dimensions are 16 by 8 m (52 ft 5.9 in by 26 ft 3 in), roughly 34 square meters smaller than the 18 by 9 m indoor court. The net sits at the same height on both surfaces, 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women, but the beach court drops the center line entirely and needs at least 40 cm of level sand at FIVB competitions. Every figure below comes from the FIVB Official Beach Volleyball Rules 2025-2028 and the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028.
Court diagram
The diagram above is the indoor court this guide compares against; the site does not yet have a separate beach court drawing, so treat the drawn lines, including the center line, as the indoor format only.
Full beach vs indoor court dimensions
Beach figures come from the FIVB Official Beach Volleyball Rules 2025-2028, Rules 1 and 2. Indoor figures are the ones already verified on this site’s indoor volleyball court guide, sourced there to the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028. Rows marked Derived calculation are computed from the two rulebooks’ own dimensions, not printed directly in either document.
| Measurement | Beach | Indoor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playing court length | 16 m / 52 ft 5.9 in | 18 m / 59 ft 0.7 in | Official rule |
| Playing court width | 8 m / 26 ft 3.0 in | 9 m / 29 ft 6.3 in | Official rule |
| Playing court area | 128 sq m / 1,378 sq ft | 162 sq m / 1,744 sq ft | Derived calculation |
| Center line | None; two side lines and two end lines only | Yes, splits the court into two 9 x 9 m halves | Official rule |
| Court line width | 5 cm / 1.97 in | 5 cm / 1.97 in | Official rule |
| Free zone, general minimum | 3 m / 9 ft 10.1 in, all sides | 3 m / 9 ft 10.1 in, all sides | Official rule |
| Free zone, FIVB competitions | 5-6 m / 16 ft 4.9 in to 19 ft 8.2 in, all sides evenly | 5 m sides, 6.5 m end lines / 16 ft 4.9 in and 21 ft 3.9 in | Official rule |
| Free playing space, general minimum | 7 m / 22 ft 11.6 in | 7 m / 22 ft 11.6 in | Official rule |
| Free playing space, FIVB competitions | 12.5 m / 41 ft 0.1 in | 12.5 m / 41 ft 0.1 in | Official rule |
| Net height, men | 2.43 m / 7 ft 11.7 in | 2.43 m / 7 ft 11.7 in | Official rule |
| Net height, women | 2.24 m / 7 ft 4.2 in | 2.24 m / 7 ft 4.2 in | Official rule |
| Net length | 8.5 m / 27 ft 10.6 in | 9.50-10 m / 31 ft 2.0 in to 32 ft 9.7 in | Official rule |
| Posts, distance outside side lines | 0.70-1.00 m / 2 ft 3.6 in to 3 ft 3.4 in | 0.50-1.00 m / 1 ft 7.7 in to 3 ft 3.4 in | Official rule |
| Playing surface | Level sand, at least 40 cm deep at FIVB competitions | Flat, horizontal and uniform hard surface | Official rule |
Why the beach court is smaller
A beach match is played two against two, not six against six, so FIVB shrinks the footprint rather than asking two players to cover an 18 by 9 m rectangle. Rule 1.1.1 of the Official Beach Volleyball Rules sets the beach playing court at 16 by 8 m, exactly 128 square meters against the indoor court’s 162 square meters, a difference of 34 square meters. Both courts keep the same length-to-width ratio, two to one, so the beach court reads as the indoor rectangle scaled down rather than a different shape. The indoor volleyball court guide covers the full six-a-side rectangle this page compares against.
Net, posts and the missing center line
The net itself does not change height between formats. Rule 2.1.2 sets the beach net at 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women, the same figures the indoor rulebook uses. What changes is everything around the net. A beach net measures 8.5 m long, sized for the narrower 8 m court, against 9.50 to 10 m long indoors. Posts sit 0.70 to 1.00 m outside the beach court’s side lines; indoors they can sit as close as 0.50 m, since a hard floor allows a tighter installation than sand does. Rule 1.3.2 removes the center line altogether: two side lines and two end lines mark the beach court, and the net’s narrow axis splits the sand court by position rather than by a painted line. USA Volleyball and school federations set their own junior net heights for both formats; see volleyball net height by age for those figures.
Free zone and ceiling clearance
Away from competition play, both formats ask for the same minimum buffer: a free zone at least 3 m wide on every side and 7 m of clear space overhead. FIVB, World and Official Competitions raise both figures, and here the two formats diverge in shape rather than size. Indoor free zones grow to 5 m from the side lines but 6.5 m from the end lines, an asymmetric rule that is easy to misapply. Beach free zones instead grow evenly, 5 to 6 m from every line, side or end, with no distinction between them. Ceiling clearance rises to the same 12.5 m for FIVB competitions on both surfaces, since a high, hard-driven ball travels the same trajectory whether it lands on sand or a hard indoor floor.
Playing surface: sand vs a flat, hard court
Indoor volleyball is played on a flat, horizontal, uniform surface; the indoor rulebook allows a drainage slope only outdoors, never on an indoor court. Beach volleyball puts that requirement on sand instead of a hard floor. Rule 1.2 of the beach rulebook asks for level sand, free of rocks and shells, and requires it at least 40 cm deep, sifted to remove coarse particles and dust, at FIVB, World and Official Competitions. Neither rulebook allows a middle ground; a half-sand, half-hard surface is not a regulation court under either set of rules. The volleyball hub lists every guide built from these two rulebooks.
Overhead plan
The same surface seen from straight above, drawn to scale. Nothing is foreshortened here, so every figure can be read off the drawing the way a tape measure would take it.
Detail sheet
A rule book fixes more than the shape of the surface, and the rest of it is too small to draw at court scale: a mark a few centimeters long, a post standing a meter off the sideline, the clearance around the whole thing. Each one here has its own frame and its own scale.
Frequently asked questions
Is a beach volleyball court smaller than an indoor court?
Yes. The beach court measures 16 by 8 m under Rule 1.1.1, against 18 by 9 m indoors. That is a difference of 2 m in length and 1 m in width, or 34 square meters of total playing surface, even though both courts keep the same two-to-one length-to-width ratio.
Does a beach volleyball court have a center line?
No. Rule 1.3.2 of the FIVB Official Beach Volleyball Rules removes the center line entirely: only two side lines and two end lines mark the court. Indoors, a center line runs under the net and splits the court into two 9 by 9 m halves, a boundary the beach rules do not draw.
Is the net the same height on beach and indoor courts?
Yes, for adult play. Both rulebooks set the net at 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women, measured at the center of the court. The net’s length differs though: 8.5 m on the narrower beach court against 9.50 to 10 m indoors, and beach posts sit further from the side lines, 0.70 m minimum instead of 0.50 m.
How deep does the sand need to be on a beach volleyball court?
FIVB, World and Official Competitions require sand at least 40 cm deep, sifted to remove coarse particles that could injure players. The general beach volleyball rules only require level, uniform sand free of rocks and shells; they do not set a minimum depth for recreational or non-FIVB courts.
How much free zone does a beach volleyball court need?
At least 3 m on every side for general play, the same minimum as indoors. FIVB, World and Official Competitions raise that to 5 to 6 m on all four sides, applied evenly. Indoor competitions instead use an asymmetric rule, 5 m from the side lines but 6.5 m from the end lines.
Official sources
- Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), Official Beach Volleyball Rules 2025-2028, Rule 1 Playing Area and Rule 2 Net and Posts. Edition commissioned by the 39th FIVB World Congress, 2024.
- Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028 (indoor), Rule 1 Playing Area and Rule 2 Net and Posts, figures reused from this site’s indoor volleyball court guide, where that document is sourced and linked directly.
Checked against the beach volleyball rulebook on 29 September 2026. The methodology page explains how each figure is labeled as a rule or a guideline; report an error through corrections.