There is a reason people call it the Wimbledon of beach volleyball. Not because it shares the manicured polished aire of the All England Club, but because it carries the same weight. The same history. The same feeling when you walk onto the grounds that you are in the presence of something that has been earned over a very long time.

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The AVP Manhattan Beach Open has been played on this sand since 1960. That is 66 years of the best athletes in the sport bringing everything they have to a beach that has seen all of it and keeps asking for more. The pier watches over every match. The Pacific runs the soundtrack. And for three days every August, the city stops and pays attention.

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In 2026, for the first time, there is a new way to be a part of it.

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The Skybox

The AVP is debuting a premiere VIP Skybox at the Manhattan Beach Pier for the 2026 season. Panoramic views of the shoreline and center court. Full hospitality. Lounge seating designed for people who understand that the best way to watch exceptional athletes perform is from a position of genuine comfort.

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This is not a corporate tent with a bar and a television. It is a carefully considered space that puts you directly above one of the most beautiful sporting venues in the world, with the ocean running behind the court and the city rising behind you. Beach chic is the phrase that gets used, but what it actually means is that the setting does as much work as the experience. You are not watching the event from outside it. You are inside the best version of it.

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There is also something worth naming about what happens to the nervous system when you spend three hours in salt air with the sound of the Pacific running underneath great sport. The research on ocean proximity and cortisol reduction is well established. The experience of it is better than the research. The Skybox is the rare hospitality offering that is genuinely good for you in addition to being genuinely pleasurable.

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The Sport Itself

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Beach volleyball at the AVP level is one of the most physically demanding sports contested anywhere. Two players. No substitutions. An unstable surface that punishes every mechanical imprecision. Full sun, coastal wind, and an opponent who is also at the peak of their athletic life.

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The athletes who compete at the Manhattan Beach Open have trained their entire careers for this specific court, this specific sand, this specific crowd. The tournament draws the best professional players on the AVP circuit and regularly serves as a proving ground for Olympic contenders. Watching a match from mid-rally, when both teams are operating at full capacity and the ball is moving faster than it looks possible to track, is one of those sporting moments that rewires what you understand about human physical capacity.

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The finals on Sunday afternoon, with the pier above and the water behind, are among the most visually arresting moments in American professional sport. Full stop.

The Neighborhood

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Manhattan Beach earns the visit on its own terms before the tournament begins. The Strand runs the length of the beach and is one of the great walking and cycling corridors in Southern California. The downtown strip on Manhattan Beach Boulevard rewards a slow afternoon: Fishing with Dynamite for oysters and a glass of something cold, MB Post for the kind of California cooking that makes you understand why people move here.

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The sand path from downtown to the pier takes eight minutes on foot. On tournament weekend, take the long way. The warm-up courts along the beach are where the junior players and the amateurs work through their games in the early morning, and watching that, before the main draw begins, is its own pleasure.

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The Practical Details

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Dates: August 14 to 16, 2026. Qualifying rounds begin Thursday. Main draw runs Friday through Sunday.

Location: Manhattan Beach Pier, Manhattan Beach, California.

Tickets and VIP Skybox access: Available through the AVP at avp.com. Skybox availability is limited and expected to sell out. Book early.

Getting there: The Metro K Line stops at Douglas Station, two miles from the beach, with rideshare easily available. Driving on tournament weekend means committing to a parking situation. The Metro and rideshare approach is the better choice by a significant margin.

What to bring: Sunscreen that you will actually reapply. A hat with a brim. Water. Light layers for the evening session when the marine breeze comes in off the water.

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What You Are Really Here For

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Sports, at their best, return you to something, clearing the kind of ambient noise that accumulates across a week in the city. The AVP Manhattan Beach Open has been doing this for 66 years.

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Come for the Sunday final. Stay for what the experience might teach you about focus and opportunity.

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