Spanish at the Beach – Vocabulary and Phrases

Are you planning a trip to the beach in a Spanish-speaking country?

In this post we’ll learn some Spanish vocabulary and phrases we can use to impress the native people (and ourselves!). 🙂

We will start with some phrases, and then provide vocabulary lists with useful words.

Enjoy your time “en la playa”!

Phrases

Also, if you need phrases for the beach bar or restaurant (ordering, paying the bill…), check out our post about VOCABULARY & PHRASES AT THE RESTAURANT!

Otherwise, here are some phrases to use at the beach:

¿Dónde ponemos las toallas?
Where do we put the towels?

Vamos a colocar la sombrilla.
Let’s place the umbrella.

La marea está alta / baja.
The tide is high / low.

La marea va a subir, vamos a mover nuestras cosas.
The tide is coming, let’s move our stuff.

¡Qué calor hace!
It’s so hot!

¿Nos bañamos?
Shall we get in the water?

Te espero en el agua.
I’ll wait for you in the water.

¿Me pones crema solar en la espalda, por favor?
Could you put sunscreen on my back, please?

¡Ponte crema solar! De lo contrario, te vas a quemar.
Put sunscreen! Otherwise, you are going to burn your skin.

¿Se pueden practicar deportes acuáticos?
Are water sports allowed?

¿Te apetece jugar un rato a las palas?
Do you feel like playing beach tennis a bit?

¿Vamos al chiringuito a tomar una cerveza?
Shall we go to the beach bar and have a beer?

Vocabulary – Things we find at the beach

Main parts of the beach

La playa	beach
La cala	cove, small bay
El mar	sea
La arena	sand
El agua	water
El sol	sun
El océano	ocean
La orilla	shore
El paseo marítimo	promenade
El chiringuito	beach bar / beach restaurant

Other things

La ola	wave
La sal	salt
El pez	fish (alive)
El pescado	fish (at the restaurant)
El cangrejo	crab
La medusa	jellyfish
La concha	shell
Las algas	seaweed
El castillo de arena	sandcastle
La marea	tide
El socorrista	lifeguard
La boya	buoy
El faro	lighthouse
El viento	wind
El levante	easterly wind
El poniente	westerly wind
El barco	boat, ship
El hidropedal	pedal boat

Vocabulary – Things we bring to the beach

El traje de baño	bathing suit
El bikini	bikini
El bañador	swimming trunks
Las gafas de sol	sunglasses
Las chanclas	flip flops
Las sandalias	sandals
La toalla	towel
La hamaca	hammock
La tumbona	sun bed
La sombrilla	umbrella (for the sun)
La nevera	cool box
La crema solar	sunscreen
La pelota de playa	beach ball
La pala	shovel (also, beach racket)
El cubo	bucket, pail
La cometa	kite
La colchoneta	lilo
Los manguitos	armbands
La tabla de surf	surfboard

Vocabulary – Actions

Bañarse	to be in the water
Nadar	to swim
Bucear	to snorkel, to dive
Hacer surf	to surf
Hacer un castillo de arena	to build a sandcastle
Jugar a… (algo)	to play… (something)
Jugar a las palas	to play beach tennis
Jugar al vóley-playa	to play beach volleyball
Jugar al frisbee	to play frisbee
Pasear por la playa	to take a walk along the beach
Pescar	to fish
Recoger conchas	to collect shells
Tomar el sol	to sunbathe