SAN DIEGO — Karch Kiraly knows a good beach party when he sees one, and he's got eight lined up this summer across the country.

Kiraly, perhaps the world's most-recognized volleyball player, co-founded the Corona Wide Open, a grassroots-level beach volleyball series that will bounce from coast-to-coast this spring and summer.

The tour will stop at some of the most popular U.S. beach volleyball venues as part of an eight-city tour to qualify teams for the 2009 US Open of Beach Volleyball presented by Corona at Manhattan Beach, Calif., in late September.

The eight Corona Wide Open events will mix a festival atmosphere with a beach volleyball tournament.

"I think it's going to be a throwback," Kiraly said Wednesday. "If you look at the old pictures of Manhattan Beach or a number of the sites we played in the '80s and early '90s without bleachers, and people just packed row after row around the courts, it's kind of getting maybe back to a little more of the beach volleyball roots. I think it will be a lot of fun for everybody."

Kiraly, who was a beach rat while growing up in Santa Barbara, said the Corona Wide Open series is a perfect way to promote the beach lifestyle.

"It's such a natural fit," he said. "A huge part of beach volleyball is not only playing in the daytime and being healthy and getting great exercise, but hanging out with your buddies and having a beer, or just hanging out."

Sanctioned by USA Volleyball, the series opens April 25-26 on South Beach Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., before moving to Coconut Beach in New Orleans May 16-17; 30-35th Street Beach in Virginia Beach, Va., June 13-14; and Santa Cruz, Calif., June 27-28.

The tour continues with stops at Santa Monica, Calif., July 11-12; Grand Haven State Park in Grand Haven, Mich., July 18-19; North Avenue Beach in Chicago July 27-28 and at Jenkinson's Inlet in Point Pleasant, N. J., Aug. 22-23.

The US Open of Beach Volleyball is Sept. 25-27 at Manhattan Beach.

Competition at the eight events will be held in up to 16 different divisions, which will vary from one event to another. All tournaments will feature draws for two-person teams in men's, women's and coed divisions.

Winners in up to eight two-person divisions at each of the Corona Wide Open tournaments will earn an expenses-paid trip and entry fee for the US Open of Beach Volleyball. Additionally, players in the men's and women's open divisions will compete for a total prize purse of $5,000.

Brian Lewis, an eight-time winner on the AVP Tour, will participate at each of the eight Corona Wide Open tournaments.

The 48-year-old Kiraly, who retired from his long beach career in 2007, plans to attend but probably won't play.

"I'll be there. I might even goof around on the court. But I'm not planning on competing. My body has really been enjoying not having to fend off Phil Dalhausser at the net," he said, referring to half of the Beijing Games gold medal-winning team.

Kiraly won Olympic gold medals with the U.S. indoor teams in 1984 and 1988, and he and Kent Steffes won the first Olympic beach volleyball gold medal at Atlanta in 1996. During his pro career he won a record 148 tournaments, with 13 different partners, and $3.1 million.

Since retiring, Kiraly has worked to promote beach volleyball.

He described the talent base as a pyramid, with Olympic beach volleyball gold medalists Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, and Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh at the top.

"At the bottom of the pyramid are the juniors and the recreational players and then a step up from them are more serious players," he said. "We just want to keep building that base and offering them things of great value in terms of participating and following the game and enjoying it."