Meeting in beachfront destinations like Florida or the Carolinas is no fun if your attendees are stuck inside all day, longingly gazing out of the window at the sun and sand. When planning meetings and events in these locations, it’s only fair to allow a few hours in the schedule for attendees to get outside and have some fun.
Luckily, many of these destinations know this is what all types of groups crave and have a host of resorts and tour company partners that can make meeting near the beach a blast.
From sandcastle building to surfing, shelling and more, here’s a sampling of some of the creative ways you can get your group on the beach while fostering teambuilding and networking in the process.
Sandcastle Building
Sometimes, in order to inspire creativity, you have to turn to your inner child. For meeting and event attendees convening in sunny locales, what better way to harness this energy than with a day on the beach building sandcastles?
In Northwest Florida, Beach and Sand Sculptures can work with groups to organize large-scale sandcastle building lessons and competitions. According to owner and manager Capri Mungeam, the Beach and Sand Sculptures team can meet groups at any private beach or work with them to secure event permits at public beaches for their event. Popular locations include Destin, Sandestin, Fort Walton Beach and others in the South Walton area.
From there, planners can work with the team to create an event that matches the team’s needs. If you have a competitive bunch, Mungeam has worked with corporate groups who split into teams and have a sandcastle-building competition in which the CEO is the judge. Some teams just want to relax and have fun with no competitive element involved. Others want to incorporate their team logo into the mix. From company names to traditional sandcastles to spaceships, the creations run the gamut.
The full experience usually starts with a demonstration by the instructors, which is the entertainment part of the lesson for the first 25-35 minutes. Then, instructors walk participants through how to build a foundation and how to construct a 3.5-foot sandcastle tower before moving on to how to carve a sandcastle. Participants will learn how to use tools and carving techniques, and then are given a few hours to work on their creations.
While Mungeam said they’ve never turned a group away because of size, the largest group she recalls working with was about 250 people-strong, but the lessons do best cater to small corporate groups that can break out into groups of five to seven to work on projects together.
“Reach out to us and we can direct you to a location,” Mungeam said, for groups meeting in the area that are unsure of which beach is best for their event. “It is a beautiful place to come to here; it’s almost boutique beach spaces opposed to large locations like Miami and Fort Lauderdale.”
[Related: Meet the Sand Sculptor Behind The Reach Key West and Casa Marina’s Beachy Masterpieces]
Shelling
Down the coast in Southwest Florida, Fort Myers and the surrounding areas are famous for shelling experiences. Thanks to its location on the warm waters of the Gulf, thousands of unique shells wash ashore every day fully intact, which has made the destination popular for seashell collectors or visitors looking for a unique-to-Fort-Myers souvenir.
For the amateur collectors or first-time visitors to Fort Myers, many operators offer guided tours that can cater to meeting and event groups. Captiva Cruises can accommodate private charters for groups of up to 148 guests on one of its four U.S. Coast Guard-certified charters (capacity on each vessel varies) for daytime or evening cruises on the Gulf of Mexico or to one of the nearby islands such as Cayo Costa State Park, Useppa Island, Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, Cabbage Key, Tarpon Lodge on Pine Island, North Captiva and more. The team at Captiva Cruises can also pair a cruising experience with a dining experience at one of the island restaurants.
Out Island is only accessible by boat and is also home to some of the best shelling. After departing from Captiva Island, guests enjoy a narrated cruise about the area’s history and wildlife by USCG-certified captains, and then shelling, fishing, birdwatching and snorkeling on the island.
Surf Lessons and Other Water Sports
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 60 miles of beaches and 14 coastal communities make up what the destination calls the “Grand Strand.” Restaurants, shopping, lodging and other entertainment line this area, providing many opportunities for groups to explore after meetings.
With that much sandy real estate, it’s no wonder a plethora of beach activities await groups for extracurricular fun, networking or teambuilding. Parasailing, kayaking, standup paddleboarding, fishing charters, dolphin and wildlife cruises, jet skiing and boat rentals are all possible in Myrtle Beach.
And just because you’re not on the famed California coast doesn’t mean surfing is off the table. Group surf lessons are a possibility in Myrtle Beach. Provider Good Vibes Surf & Skate is a family-owned-and-operated business native to Myrtle Beach that provides private and group surf lessons as well as surfboard rentals. Its two-hour surf clinic for beginners, which requires a minimum of four people and can accommodate larger groups, teaches participants positioning, paddling, safety, etiquette and how to stand up and fall properly.
Over in Wilmington, North Carolina, there are also opportunities to learn how to catch a wave. At the oceanfront Blockade Runner Beach Resort on Wrightsville Beach—with more than 7,000 square feet of meeting space and waterfront event lawns—groups can take surf lessons with Wilmington Surf Adventure. Helmed by surf professionals and officially a partner of the resort, lessons ranging from beginner to advanced can be arranged. For individuals that just want to surf on their own after business is done, surfboard rentals are also available on property.
[Related: What’s New, and What’s To Come, Across the Coastal Carolinas]
Competitive Beach Games
Some groups might opt for more competitive beach activities rather than err on the relaxing side. At The Diplomat Beach Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton in Hollywood, Florida, planners have access to 1,000 linear feet of private, white-sand beach space, in addition to its 209,000 square feet of meeting space. The property offers several teambuilding packages, including The Ultimate Beach Day for customizable seaside activities. Some of these include a seaside golf set-up, relay competitions, sand sculpting and a variety of other beach games.
Private watersports from parasailing and jet ski tours to banana boat rides are available as well for attendees that want to get out on the water. The Diplomat can arrange beach games for groups as small as 10 to as large as 5,000.
Meet on Key West’s Only Natural Beach
The Reach Key West, a Curio Collection by Hilton offers a number of amenities for meetings and events: 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, including two ballrooms with their own terraces; a secluded gazebo jutting over the Atlantic Ocean that can be set up as an unforgettable boardroom; 150 stylish guest rooms; oceanfront dining; and a location within walking distance to all the unique restaurants, boutiques and nightlife on Duval Street.
The property is also home to the only private natural sand beach on Key West.
With this exclusivity comes a wealth of opportunities to fully embrace the beach life and island vibes. The best way to arrange such experiences for your groups? Work with Billy Mosblech, lovingly known across the Keys as “Barefoot Billy,” whose home base is at The Reach.
The local legend set up shop in Key West in 1992, introducing Barefoot Billy’s Island Jet Ski Tour. Some say Mosblech had a vision to be the first to offer an around-the-island jet ski experience, others say it was a hotel guest on a jet ski that just kept going and going until Mosblech turned him around.
Today, Barefoot Billy’s has grown to also offer one of the island’s most popular catamaran cruises, beach rentals, island concierge services and most-requested historic tour. Mosblech can take The Reach’s groups on fishing charters to live out their Hemingway-esque dreams of catching blue marlin. He also offers a private island picnic on Snipes Key—a collection of islands known for crystal-clear waters and marine life encounters along a sandbar—can take groups snorkeling, arrange private charters, coordinate jet ski rentals and more.
The business is now a family affair, too, with Mosblech’s 24-year-old son, Max, serving as his fish captain when not competing in fishing tournaments.
Barefoot Billy’s is the resort’s dedicated onsite activities provider, so it’s easy for groups using The Reach as their home base to arrange and customize experiences through Mosblech. It’s even as simple as walking over to the resort’s pier (just restored for the first time in years) to find Billy and organize an activity.
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