Indoor Beach Party Ideas
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If you want to throw a cool beach party but a house party is more convenient then read on for our guide for hosting a beach party at home.
Of course you may not want to do all suggestions. If you want your preparations to be fairly quick and cheap that's totally fine.
What to wear at a beach party?
For many beach parties guests show up in beach wear, for example tank tops, swimsuits or just shorts. People at the beach generally wear sandals but people may also come in flip-flops. You'd want to make sure that your area is adequately heated.
If it's a daytime themed party people could wear sunglasses or sun hats too.
Beach party themes
You could just have a regular beach party or you could have a theme for your event. Different themes are:
Hawaii
Many people will wear colorful Hawaiian shirts. (You can get them at Amazon) Leis could be worn; they are a big ring of flowers worn around people's neck.
Check out our guide on Hawaiian parties.
Havana Nights
This party is Cuban themed and features rum and cigars. People can bring their own supplies but you may want to specify this on the invitations.
We have a guide on Havana Nights parties.
Women wear beautiful colorful dresses. Men wear while suits or lose fitting T shirts. Slacks and jeans are also popular.
Spring Break
This would be more of a beach party for college students. There's not much difference from a regular beach party. However with this beach party you can party like you're in Florida.
Music Festival
Play dance music such as Trance.
Party location
If you know someone with a pool and/or a sand pit you might like to ask them to host your party. This assumes that your party won't be strictly indoors.
Party Areas
A room in your house may not be the only option if you're hosting the party yourself. Your beach party could be held in your garage or even your garden; these could be great options if you want to feature real sand.
You could have multiple party areas too. This might be useful if you want to have an indoor beach party but also want an outside area for smoking.
Day vs. night themed party
A night themed party might be slightly quicker to prepare since for blue skies and sun decorations would be less desired at this event. You can set your party in a tropical paradise regardless of whether the sun would be out.
Decorations
You can get inflatable palm trees at Amazon
If it's a daytime themed party or sheets may want to hang a sun and/or seagulls from the roof.
Depending on the people attending you can cut paper up in the shape of sea creatures or have soft toys of fish or sharks.
You could put up pictures of blue skies. If children are attending they might to make them at the party or before.
The color blue can represent either the sea or the sky. You could put sheets up or down as you see fit.
Shells can be placed around your party area.
Light brown mats could be a good representation of sand at the beach.
Signs
It may be possible to print out signs such as "No swimming" or "Beach open".
Seating
You may want to get some beach chairs for the party. You can ask people to bring them on invitations too.
Depending of the size of the party area people may want to sit on beach towels.
If you need space indoors you could push back or try removing furniture.
For rooms that you don't want people in you could have a sign on the door saying "beach closed".
Background noise
The Beach Boys might be a good choice as far as music goes.
If you're not playing music you could consider ocean sounds in the background. You could buy CDs with such sounds. There's also Hawaiian music you could listen to.
If someone has YouTube premium you could find videos with ocean sounds on YouTube. You'd want YouTube premium to remove advertisements.
Invitations
Invitations could be beach themed. You can have pictures of sand, sand castles, beach huts, sun, sun tan lotion, sunglasses, sharks, beach towels and/or ice creams on them.
If you're posting your event on Facebook you can put up a picture of a beach which may include yourself. You may want to include that the party is at your house to avoid confusion.
You can specify your dress code on the invitations. If you need people to bring anything invitations can be a good opportunity to do this.
Your invitations could start with "A-lo-ha" if it's a Hawaiian party.
Lighting
Any lighting is fine but if you want a beach party with a sunset vibe getting dim lights can be a great option.
Entrance
You may want to have a vintage beach life ring on the door.
If it's a Hawaiian party you can have a person saying A-lo-ha and/or handling Leis out. Leis can be left at the entrance for guests to put on if you don't want a person at the door, or you could tell people to bring their own Lei.
Bathroom
A bathroom can be an additional opportunity to show off some little decorations such as a 12" life guard chair and some napkins with some beach icons. You might like to hang up a beach towel.
You could also get little flip flop or sun shaped soaps.
Sand
You can have sand by filling a portable pool with it. This may be better in a garage or outside. People could take turns making sand castles and take pictures of them.
Fake sand can be purchased in store or you can make your own fake sand at home.
Afterwards sand can be cleaned up with a vacuum. A hand vacuum could be suitable if the mess is reasonably small. Sand is probably best outside.
Hiring a cleaner afterwards is an option if you don't want to clean up yourself.
You might like to hold your beach party somewhere with a sand pit.
Food
Many people love ice cream when it's hot so you can serve that. Personally I like ice cream even if it's not hot.
Hamburgers and hot dogs could be a good option, even if they're made in your kitchen.
Healthy options include potato salad, coleslaw and mixed fruit salad.
Drinks and Cocktails
Cocktail umbrellas may be a nice touch if it's a party for adults.
You can serve tropical cocktails such as Blue Ocean, Sex On The Beach or Frozen Pineapple Margaritas. You could consider making tropical punch too.
As stated before if your party is Cuban themed then Rum is an excellent choice.
Non-alcoholic options include water, soda, lemonade, orange juice or pineapple juice.
If your party room is heated it could be best to put bottles and cans in a cooler or fridge.
You may want to get a cooler, view the best coolers for parties.
Sober attendee
The sober attendee could dress up like a life guard.
This consume is generally red or yellow. The shirt has the word "LIFE GUARD" on it and typically a First Aid style cross.
Movies
You could view beach themed movies such as "The Beach" and depending on the crowd "Jaws" could be an option.
Games
Games can be good if children are attending, some include:
Frisbee
If you have a fairly big back yard you can play Frisbee.
Rubber Ring Relay
Also if you have a big back yard you can play Rubber Ring Relay. Participants can run laps with a rubber ring around them.
Shell Scavenger Hunt
Another idea would be to have a Shell Scavenger Hunt with either real or fake shells. You can hide them anywhere in your property. If you don't have shells you could use other items like flip flops instead.
Musical Towels
This is exactly like Musical Chairs but with towels. Have one less towel than people. You play music for a while and the person that doesn't get on a towel when the music stops is eliminated.
Shell Guessing Game
You fill a bag with shells and people have to guess the number of shells. The person with the closest guest to the right number wins.
Hula Hoop Contest
See who can Hula Hoop the longest.
Beach Volleyball
You could use a balloon to play beach volleyball.
More games with sand
Sand Castle Competition
People can take turns making sand castles and people can vote on the best one.. You can take pictures of them if that's easier.
Pictionary
A person gets something to draw in the sand and the first participant who guesses what the drawing is wins the round. You can do this with just a tray of sand.
Sunscreen
If it's an outside party you may want to buy a some sunscreen for people to put on.
Why not just party on an actual beach?
Not all people can easily get to a beach. If your place still gets sun an outdoor beach party at home might be good.
An indoor beach party could be more comfortable in winter. You can throw one even if it's raining.
Additionally depending on where you live there could be restrictions on partying at beaches.
You normally can't have a big screen at a beach.
Sand will be less likely to get inside your clothes than if you were going to a party on the beach.
If someone in a wheelchair is coming to your party your house might be more accessible than a beach. Most wheelchairs can't go on sand.
Smoking may be banned in public depending on where you live.
Your house may be cleaner than some beaches. There's also no risk of sharks.
If you love disco lights you can have them at an indoor beach party.
Thanks for reading
I hope that my tips were helpful in your quest for an epic beach party.
Check out the links below if you want some disco lights or speakers for your beach party.