The qualification for the 2016 Women's Olympic beach volleyball tournament was held from 26 June 2015 to 26 June 2016. A maximum of two teams per country were allowed to qualify.[1] 24 teams from 17 countries qualified.
| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Vacancies | Qualified | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host Country | 1 | ||||
| 26 June – 5 July 2015 | 1 | ||||
| FIVB Beach Volleyball Olympic Ranking[2] | 13 June 2016 | 15 | |||
| 2014–2016 AVC Continental Cup | 20–26 June 2016 |  Cairns | 1 | ||
| 2014–2016 CAVB Continental Cup | 12–18 April 2016 | Abuja | 1 | ||
| 2014–2016 CEV Continental Cup | 22–26 June 2016 |  Stavanger | 1 | ||
| 2014–2016 CSV Continental Cup | 22–26 June 2016 |  Santa Fe | 1 | ||
| 2014–2016 NORCECA Continental Cup | 20–26 June 2016 |  Guaymas | 1 | ||
| 2016 FIVB World Continental Cup | 6–10 July 2016 |  Sochi | 2 | ||
| Total | 24 | ||||
FIVB reserved a vacancy for the Olympics host country to participate in the tournament.
The winners from 2015 Beach Volleyball World Championships qualified for the Olympics.
See main article: article. The World Champions were:
15 teams qualified from the Olympic Ranking.
| Top 25 Rankings as of June 12, 2016.[3] | |||||
| Rank | Pair | Points | Qualified | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Larissa França & Talita Antunes | 7,700 | Already qualified as host country representatives | ||
| 2 | Ágatha Bednarczuk & Bárbara Seixas | 7,230 | Already qualified as World Champions | ||
| 3 |  Kerri Walsh Jennings & April Ross | 6,670 | 1 | ||
| 4 | Laura Ludwig & Kira Walkenhorst | 6,500 | 2 | ||
| 5 |  Sarah Pavan & Heather Bansley | 6,150 | 3 | ||
| 6 | Madelein Meppelink & Marleen van Iersel | 5,920 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Louise Bawden & Taliqua Clancy | 5,470 | 5 | ||
| 8 |  Marta Menegatti & Viktoria Orsi Toth | 5,300 | 6 | Orsi Toth was later replaced by Laura Giombini | |
| 9 | Karla Borger & Britta Büthe | 5,260 | 7 | ||
| 10 |  Liliana Fernández & Elsa Baquerizo | 4,830 | 8 | ||
| 11 |  Kinga Kołosińska & Monika Brzostek | 4,800 | 9 | ||
| 12 | Katrin Holtwick & Ilka Semmler | 4,770 | Not qualified due to country quota | ||
| 13 | Juliana Silva & Maria Antonelli | 4,710 | Not qualified due to country quota | ||
| 14 | Isabelle Forrer & Anouk Vergé-Dépré | 4,640 | 10 | ||
| 15 | Jamie Broder & Kristina Valjas | 4,640 | 11 | ||
| 16 | Joana Heidrich & Nadine Zumkehr | 4,620 | 12 | ||
| 17 | Lauren Fendrick & Brooke Sweat | 4,470 | 13 | ||
| 18 | Chantal Laboureur & Julia Sude | 4,350 | Not qualified due to country quota | ||
| 19 | Ana Gallay & Georgina Klug | 4,220 | 14 | ||
| 20 |  Wang Fan & Yue Yuan | 4,220 | 15 | ||
| 21 | Jennifer Kessy & Emily Day | 3,980 | |||
| 22 | Linline Matauatu & Miller Pata | 3,960 | |||
| 23 | Evgenia Ukolova & Ekaterina Birlova | 3,950 | Qualified through the World Continental Cup | ||
| 24 |  Riikka Lehtonen & Taru Lahti | 3,740 | |||
| 25 | Elize Maia & Eduarda Lisboa | 3,630 |
One winner from each Continental Cup qualified for the Olympics. Two teams qualified from the World Continental Cup.
See main article: article and 2014–2016 CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.
Final standing:[4]
See main article: article and 2014–2016 AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.
Final standing:[5]
See main article: article and 2014–2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.
Final standing:[6]
See main article: article and 2014–2016 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.
Final standing:[7]
See main article: article and 2014–2016 CSV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.
Final standing:[8]
See main article: article and 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Continental Cup. Winners: