BOTA – Beaches On The Air HAM Radio Program

Beaches On The Air (BOTA) is a continuous programme that promotes amateur radio operators to develop their skills while also establishing community and publicising the sport. Thousands of beaches throughout the world are accessible through the service, each giving a unique experience. BOTA is really about radio operators visiting beaches and communicating with other radio operators all over the world. An activator is a licenced amateur radio operator who connects with other licenced amateurs while operating on a beach on BOTA’s authorised list. A chaser is any other licenced radio operator who contacts an activator on a beach. There are honour rolls and rewards for activators (those who operate from the beaches), chasers (those who contact them from home or abroad), and sponsors in this HAM scheme (those who sponsor the activations in which activators and chasers participate).

You may take part from any beach, nation, or area on the planet. BOTA now lists over 30,000 beaches, many of which are collected from official sources such as environmental protection agencies, but BOTA’s management are constantly adding new beaches as they become active. You may activate the same beach as many times as you like and gain more points each time, and there are no restrictions on how you get to the activation location or the power source you use for your station. BOTA invites you to submit your beach activation images and videos. The programme features a page dedicated to activation announcements. For further information, please see the BOTA website.