While vacationing at Sunset Beach, NC, in the late 1990s, I first saw people playing bocce on the beach.  They were playing freestyle and it looked like fun.  I went out and purchased a set of Eddie Bauer Bocce balls from Target.  But there was a problem.  No rules came with the game.  So I began an internet search for the rules of bocce.  Much to my surprise, I did not find uniform rules.  Instead, I learned that there were many variations of the game rules from around the world.  After reading about rules and courts from various bocce clubs and associations from around the world, I loaded my beach wagon with beach chairs, umbrella, cooler, and my new set of bocce balls and headed off for the beach.

In case you have never had the blessing of visiting Carolina beaches, they are usually very wide.  At low tide, the water may recede 100 yards or so from the high tide mark, leaving a perfectly smooth surface with a gentle slope toward the water.  It is a perfect surface for bocce.  But there is an added benefit!  The gentle slope of the surface adds a simply fantastic element to the game - playing the break!  While playing on a bocce court with raised bumper rails is fun, playing on a perfectly smooth beach with a break is a dream.  The slope takes the game from being strait on rolling or banking shots, to arcs and speed differences that come from the nature of the slope. 

In the past few years, my parents built a second home in Cherry Grove Beach, SC, which is just south of Sunset Beach, right across the State line.  It is a great place and we come to the beach as often as we can.  It was at Cherry Grove Beach that I finalized my personal take on the rules for beach bocce.  I hope you like playing bocce with these beach rules as much as my friends and I do.   

My rules are not the only beach rules around. 

California Beach Bocce Rules - There is a large bocce tournament on the west coast in California.  They have their own beach bocce rules there.  They play in lose, dry beach sand.  The surface does not allow the balls to roll, and they generally must be lofted, much like pitching horse shoes. 

Hilton Head Beach Bocce Rules - A freestyle style play with some unique scoring rules and rules prohibiting hitting the pallino.  Check out these rules at www.beachbocceleague.com. 

Freestyle Beach Bocce Rules - This game is great to play while walking up and down the beach.  The court is anywhere on the beach - the deep sand, hard packed surface, under beach chairs, or even in the surf.  Just throw the jack (the little white ball) and let the fun begin.  This is also a great way to meet friends - just throw the white ball close to where they are and strike-up a conversation.  This style of bocce is the favorite of my brother Ken.  He kills me when we play freestyle.  But he has never beat me when we play using my South Carolina Beach Bocce Rules.  Maybe that's why I like them so much! 

Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce

Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce

Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce

Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce - Beach Bocce