Miami's beaches are of excellent quality and popular. White sand and warm and relatively clear water make for as good a city beach as anywhere in America. Furthermore, the beach is wide and long enough to cope with the multitudes of visitors and locals that throng to it daily.

South Beach (or "the Beach" as known to its locals) is a section of Miami Beach, Florida that encompasses the lower 23 blocks of the island from the point south of 1st Street to 23rd Street. This area was the first section of Miami Beach to be developed starting in the 1910s, thanks to development efforts of Carl Fischer, the Lummus Brothers, John Collins, and others. The area has gone through numerous changes over the years, some man-made and some due to the forces of nature, like the hurricane of 1926 that destroyed much of the area.

Today the South Beach section of Miami Beach is a major entertainment destination, popular with the rich and famous, with hundreds of nightclubs, restaurants and ocean-front hotels. The area is popular with international tourists as well, with German being the third most spoken language after English and Spanish. The large number of European tourists contribute to why South Beach is one of the few public beaches in the United States where topless sunbathing is common.  But also check out the Déco quarter of South Beach which offers some interesting architecture.

Currently, and according to several popular magazines such as The New Times and Ocean Drive, South Beach has replaced both Los Angeles and New York City as the premier and most popular nightlife spot in the U.S. It is host to over 150 clubs and other destinations, most of which close at 5 am. South Beach can be expensive, and access to nightclubs is often difficult for non-locals who do not have connections. Assuming one does not have connections, access to the more popular nightspots can cost from $20-60 for entry (depending on event and venue) and a wait of up to several hours, in addition to the loss of dignity from being scrutinized by door staff.