Local climbing/bouldering wall?
I (well used to anyway) go with a few friends (none of us particularly into climbing or have ever climbed outside the wall) but nice to do something different, inside (good in the dark cold winter evenings), a bit challenging, and get a bit of exercise.
You don’t (and with my arms at least, can’t) go at it continuously, so plenty of breaks for chatting.
You can probably hire stuff at your local wall. For bouldering you only really need shoes (a chalk bag helps too).
Only downside: real climbers probably hate us.