Guide
South Beach with Kids: The Blocks That Work and the Hours That Don't
This is an adult neighbourhood that happens to have a world-class beach and two very good parks. Use the southern end, use the mornings, and skip March.
7 min read
Renata Vieira
Senior Editor
Beat: Things to Do, Best Time to Visit, The Beach
Renata edits this guide and enforces the distinction the rest of it depends on: South Beach is part of Miami Beach, which is a separate city from Miami. She covers the practical end — causeways, garages, meters, spring break rules and whatever the city has decided about Ocean Drive this year — and cuts any sentence that would also be true of Fort Lauderdale.
5 guides · 3 news posts
Last updatedRenata's most recent update to this site was .
Long-form
Guides by Renata Vieira
Reported guides to South Beach, each with its own publication and last-updated date.
Guide
Getting to South Beach: Airports, Causeways and Why There Is No Train
Neither Metrorail nor the Metromover crosses the bay. Everything about arriving here follows from that one fact, including why you should not hire a car.
7 min read
Guide
One Day in South Beach, Hour by Hour and Block by Block
FeaturedEverything here is within a mile and a half, so the plan is about hours rather than distances. Get the direction of the light right and the day builds itself.
6 min read
Guide
Parking in South Beach: Garages, Meters, Valet and the Towing Traps
The meter costs about twice the garage and has no daily cap. That single fact decides most of this. The rest is knowing which kerbs will tow you.
7 min read
Guide
South Beach for the First Time: The Grid, the Three Avenues, the Costs
FeaturedTwenty-three numbered blocks, three parallel avenues and a beach that is free. Learn which avenue does what and the whole place stops being confusing.
7 min read
News desk
News under Renata Vieira's byline
Shorter, dated pieces about what is changing in South Beach.
How this was written. News published under Renata Vieira's byline was drafted by machine from primary sources — operator notices, government and municipal releases, published schedules — and every factual claim in it was matched to one of those sources before it published. A South Beach Guide editor can change or pull any of it. Our editorial standards.
Development
Sunset Harbour's Streets Sit Two Feet Above Its Front Doors, on Purpose
Walk west to Sunset Harbour and look at the shopfronts. Several sit visibly below the road. That is not subsidence. The road was lifted around them.
Beach update
Sargassum Arrives on the Sand From Around April, and the Tractors Follow
Harmless in the water, unpleasant once it dries. The busy blocks are mechanically groomed most mornings; the quiet northern blocks are not.
Seasonal
From 1 March to 31 October, the Brightest Beachfront in Florida Turns Its Lights Away
FeaturedA neon-lit barrier island spends eight months of the year shading, shielding and redirecting its lights so hatchlings go towards the water.