SEP 29 - OCT 04

Road to Fort Lauderdale

Teams are going to be qualified according to their current World Tour Ranking points. The qualification process starts with the first tournament of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2015 in Fuzhou, China, and ends in September. A record prize money of USD 100,000.- will be paid to both winners of men and women competitions. This will be the highest pay check in beach volleyball ever.

The Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals will take place at the beach of Fort Lauderdale, the Center Court located next to the official Players Hotel, the B Ocean Resort Fort Lauderdale.

About

Fort Lauderdale is a coastal city on the Atlantic Ocean in the US state of Florida. As it is wide spread with an expansive system of canals, Fort Lauderdale is also known as the “Venice of America”. The city is located in Broward County in the south of Florida with a population of 170,000. Fort Lauderdale is well known for its beaches and boats. The term 'Fort Lauderdale' is often referred to the larger metropolis and not only the city itself. While the city of Fort Lauderdale is relatively small, the county and the part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area inhabits approximately 5.5 million people.

How to get there

By car

• Interstate 95 (I-95) is the major North-South artery along the East side of the city. It connects Fort Lauderdale with the downtowns of Miami and West Palm Beach and goes north to Jacksonville and beyond
• Florida's Turnpike runs North-South west of the city. To the south it connects to Homestead and the Florida Keys. To the north it connects to Orlando and North Florida
• I-595/I-75 connects Fort Lauderdale to Florida's West Coast (including Naples, Fort Myers, Sarasota and the Tampa Bay area)

By plane

• Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport:
  - located just two miles south of downtown Fort Lauderdale
  - It is a major airport and popular low cost carrier destination. This is the most convenient airport in order to reach Fort Lauderdale
  - FLL is the main domestic airport for the South Florida region. It is also an emerging hub for flights to and from Latin America and the Caribbean
• Miami International Airport:
  - is located 25 miles south of Fort Lauderdale. It is the major international airport in South Florida, and known as 'The Gateway to the Americas'
  - It is a 40 minute drive, south, from Fort Lauderdale using I-95, but can be much, much slower during rush hour. You can catch the Tri-Rail from Miami airport to Fort Lauderdale station for about $4. Then catch the linking bus, or get a cab from the station to the hotel
• Palm Beach International Airport:
  - PBI primarily serves the Palm Beach area and is the least convenient of the three airports for visiting Fort Lauderdale. Nevertheless, you can use Tri-Rail to get from Palm Beach Airport to Fort Lauderdale
• Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport:
  - One of the ten largest general aviation airports in the country. Located in Fort Lauderdale, the airport is bounded by the cities of Tamarac to the West, Oakland Park to the South and Pompano to the North. Many privately owned aircraft are hangared or tied down here. Several air charter companies, with piston aircraft, turbo props and jets are based here

By train

• Tri-Rail:
  - Tri-Rail is a commuter rail line linking Miami Airport, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida. It is run by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority. The 72-mile system has 18 stations along the South Florida coast. The train connects to the Metrorail in Miami at the Tri-Rail/Metrorail Transfer Station
• Amtrak:
  - Provides service to cities up the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Amtrak has two stops in the Fort Lauderdale Area: one in Fort Lauderdale is located on Broward Boulevard and I-95, and another one in the suburb of Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard and I-95. The train goes south to Miami and north to Boca Raton

By bus

Greyhound, Meagabus, Red Coach, etc. connect to Fort Lauderdale

By boat

Port Everglades, on the south side of the city center, is the most active container port and second most active cruise port in Florida. It supports a high number of cruise ships with about ten thousand passengers arriving and departing each week.