Beach Chat

Imagine Pablo, that guy who at seven in the morning is already in the water with his board under his arm, his wetsuit half on and his gaze fixed on the horizon as if the sea owed him money. He’s got three coffees in his system and a grin from ear to ear because today the waves look like a party. While adjusting his leash, he pulls his phone out of his hoodie pocket —smelling of salt and expired sunscreen— and drops in #ChatPlayas: *\"Left wave at Rodas beach, glass‑smooth. Anyone up for catching the 8 am train?\"*. In less than two minutes, four replies: a Madrilenian arriving by AVE that same afternoon, a girl from Cádiz promising shrimp fritters, and a Galician warning: *\"Wear 4 mm wetsuits, the water’s colder than a fisherman’s mood.\"* That’s how the day starts in this room.

Here we don’t talk about beaches like we talk about the weather. We talk about *that* hidden cove in Almería where the water is turquoise but the access is a rock‑slide nightmare. About how to survive a van trip with four surfers, a fridge full of beers and zero GPS. About the best chiringuitos to eat fried fish without getting ripped off —Pepe’s in Tarifa, Grandma Lola’s in San Sebastián, and another in Menorca where they serve soupy rice in a paella pan that looks like a museum piece—. We also debate whether bodyboarding is for cowards or the brave, share the link to the Mundaka webcam when there’s a swell, and warn when a forbidden beach —yes, those that don’t show up on Google Maps— forms a perfect peak known only to locals. And, of course, we argue the eternal dilemma: sunset in Benidorm with an Estrella or in Formentera with an expensive gin‑tonic?

What makes #ChatPlayas unique isn’t the sunset photos —which are nice too— but the people who have been coming and going for years as if this were the corner bar. Some have been here since 2009, when IRC still smelled of dial‑up and nicknames were things like *Surfer69* or *WaveKase*. Today they’re still around, sharing how their board broke on a trip to Indonesia or how they learned sailor knots to keep their umbrella from blowing away in the first gust. It’s not an influencer lounge or a beach *pose* room: here we warn when there are jellyfish on the Costa Brava, recommend the cheap but shabby hostel near Bolonia beach, and joke that real surfing is putting up with your drunk brother‑in‑law trying to ride a paddle‑board. Plus, if you’re online at three a.m., there will always be someone awake —probably an Argentine or a Canary Islander— ready to tell you what night‑surfing under a full moon is like.

To join, you only need a nickname (yours or a made‑up one, no one asks) and an IRC client. On mobile, use KiwiIRC or HexChat; on PC, mIRC or the classic ChatZona webchat. No registrations, no passwords, no email or ID required. The server has been the same since 2007, so the connection is more stable than some banks’. Look for the *Hobbies* category, click #ChatPlayas and you’re in. That said, if you join during peak season, be ready for heated debates about whether the *crowding* at Somo is worse than at Zarautz, or for someone asking if you know where to rent a decent board in Salou. And if you haven’t been around in a while, don’t