South Florida in 2025

October 22, 2024 4:01 AM

We're a little late, but we're trying to plan a trip to south Florida next spring for a family of 4. We want to 1) stay directly on a beach and spend most days there 2) take a day trip to the Everglades one day 3) take a day trip (boat tour?) to Biscayne one day 4) minimize driving (with the understanding there may be a lot of driving for those day trips). What areas should we be looking into?

For now, ignore budget - we'll worry about that once we have some ideas to look into.

posted by Tehhund to Travel & Transportation around San Rafael, CA (5 answers total)

I had a very nice stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort over this past Labor Day weekend. There are hotels all up and down that strip and they are on the beach and within walking distance of lots of restaurants. I notice you have "spring break" in your tags: be aware that Spring Break in South Florida is a thing: there will be massive crowds of young people drinking a lot. In my experience Fort Lauderdale is less hellish than Miami Beach at spring break time... but they're both kind of hellish. If you want to avoid the spring break mayhem, consider staying further north in South Florida - Palm Beach, Singer Island, even Vero Beach - but these will be more distant from the day trips you want to take.
posted by Daily Alice at 5:30 AM on October 22, 2024 [3 favorites]

I did something very similar a few years ago, and we stayed in Miami Beach. Beach all day every day, and we did a day trip to the Everglades, and a day trip to Biscayne (there are boat tours to Biscayne from the Miami area).
posted by virve at 7:33 AM on October 22, 2024

Hollywood is pretty chill. I stayed years ago at the Walkabout.
posted by credulous at 7:53 AM on October 22, 2024

Yeah, if you are thinking about Spring Break, and not looking to get drunk with college students, it's probably not your scene. Things do get quieter up on the Treasure Coast, Vero, Palm Beach, Jupiter, etc, but that's a long haul to the Everglades and Biscayne.

The other way to be near there is to day trip out of Key Largo. The beaches in the keys are very flat, so wave related fun will not be had, but the snorkeling is great. Getting in and out of the Keys during Spring Break may also be miserable. The Miami airport is terrible on a not busy day, and when it's slammed it's the worst. Also, there's just one way to the Keys, and one wrinkle and you can be an hour or two late to Miami.
posted by advicepig at 8:48 AM on October 22, 2024

Try Sunny Isles Beach to be as close to Miami Beach without being in Miami Beach. More reasonably-priced oceanfront hotels there, 30-min drive down to South Beach or downtown Miami to get on a boat cruise, close enough to drive to Everglades.
posted by glenngulia at 7:49 AM on October 24, 2024