South Beach

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There are 2 reviews of South Beach.

Trip Report by BeachComber on 11/17/2005

For the first time in five years, in early November 2005, my wife and I made a return visit to South Beach. Our original arrival date was scheduled for 3 days after hurricane Wilma blew through. Fortunately, we were able to push the trip back two weeks and give the area time to cleanup. Here are a few observations from the trip.

BEACH SCENE

South Beach is still South Beach. Actually, I would say there are two South Beaches, the weekday one and the weekend one. During the weekdays the beach has more locals and serious vacationers. There are the people who like to relax and don't raise a lot of noise. During the weekend you see the getaway crowd. These people tend to be in bigger groups, are noisier, and spend more time gawking than relaxing.

Topless sunbathing is still practiced at South Beach. During the weekend only about 5% (or less) of women dared to go without a top. During the week, when the scene was quieter, the number would go as high as 30% at times. Once again, two different beaches. Unlike stories I've heard before, picture taking people did not seem to be a problem while we were there.

BEACH CONDITIONS

The beach itself could use some work. The beach was very littered with sea grass. A few times a tractor came through running a blade over the front edge of the beach, but it did little more than push the sand and grass around rather than trying to remove the grass. There is also a lot of debris in the sand, mainly cigarette butts. Up by the dunes we even saw some broken glass and one time and entire door lying in the sand. Check your spot before you set your towel down.

BEACH LAYOUT

The beach runs north to south. Numbered streets run from east to west with 1st street being the furthest south. You can break up the beach based on where the numbered streets intersect.

The classic South Beach runs from 5th Street to 15th Street. This is where the dunes, beach walk, and showers are located. This is also the full run of Ocean Drive where many of the small hotels and restaurants are located. The bigger hotels tend to be north of 15th Street. Around 12th Street you'll find a couple of big rainbow flags set out to mark the gay friendly portion of the street. Actually, I don't really see the need as the whole beach is friendly to everyone, but whatever works.

Along the entire South Beach area are chair and umbrella concessions. The white umbrella ones sell for $15 for the day. The blue umbrella ones sell for $9 for the day. From water to road the layout starts with the water, goes into an open area where people put out towels, and then into the chairs. After the chairs are a row of trash cans. Behind the trash cans is a hard pack area where the beach service vehicles drive and where people jog. After the hard pack are dunes followed by another lane of hard pack. After the hard pack on the back side of the dunes is some sports equipment (volley ball nets and such) and then a low wall. At openings in the low wall you will find showers and benches. Beyond the wall is a sidewalk, grassy area, and finally Ocean Drive.

From 5th Street down to the jetty wall at the harbor inlet is an area used mostly by local families. Many more kids and a lot of skimmer boards running around. Watch out! My wife was nailed by one of those skimmer boards when it got away from its rider.

TRANSPORTATION

We flew into Miami International Airport (MIA) and took a taxi down to South Beach. The taxis from the airport have a fixed price for service to select parts of the metropolitan area. For the South Beach portion of Miami Beach the fee is $32 including highway tolls.

Unless you really want to drive somewhere I suggest you don't rent a car. The hotels do not include parking in the base room rate and you'll end up paying an extra $15 to $20 per day to park.

HOTEL

We stayed at the Hotel Shelley on Collins Avenue. It was a basic hotel, but still good enough if you plan to spend your time on the beach rather than in your room. Sheets were clean and the air conditioner worked.

Our first room in the hotel was on the third floor in the front. Big mistake. The music in the lobby bar is loud and plays until 1 AM. Unless you can sleep to "thump-thump-thump" you don't want to be there. After the first night we asked to be moved and the guy in reception was able to get us a room at the other end of the hotel. After that, other than the trash truck at 6:30 AM every morning, we were able to sleep much better.

Note that most hotels in South Beach add a 'resort fee' onto the bill. For the Shelley it was only $5/night but other hotels may charge as much as $20/night. This won't be included in the quoted room rate so don't be surprised when you get the final bill.

RESTAURANTS

There are two main clusters of restaurants. The first is along Ocean Drive and the second on Lincoln Road (where 17th Street should be). Ocean Drive restaurants service mostly the beach going crowd. Lincoln Road is a shopping area and has a mix of both tourists and locals. The Lincoln Road restaurants tend to be a little better quality and offer a quieter atmosphere. With the variety at both locations anyone should be able to find something to their taste.

For all of the restaurants be warned that the tip is built into the bill. It will be somewhere between 15% and 17%, but you can adjust it. On two occasions we reduced or totally removed the tip because the service was so bad.

NIGHT LIFE

Sorry, can't say too much about the nightlife. We were there for the beach and slept during the night. Still, with just a check out the window around 1 AM, I can tell you that plenty of people are out and around late into the evening.

CONCLUSION

South Beach still lives up to its reputation as being the most European beach in America. Relax, shed some clothing, and you can have as restful or exciting of time vacationing as you choose.

Review by BeachComber on 1/21/2005

I've been told that South Beach changes its character every couple of years. When I was there about four years ago it was running high. Your experience may vary.

The beach in front of Lummus Park, known as 'South Beach', runs for 10 blocks and has great sand. Just behind the park is a street full of shops and restaurants. You can lounge on the beach all day and then enjoy an outdoor cafe in the evening.

South Beach is one of the few urban beaches in America where topless sunbathing is common. Between the Latin culture, many European tourists, and wide eyed college kids you will find every size, shape, color, and coverage level on the beach.

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