Very popular because it combines an urban, trendy setting with a great beach. Very overpriced though, especially in South Beach. Lots of overpriced restaurants in the main tourist area on Ocean Drive--standard tourist food. Same goes for Lincoln Drive, which is a nice pedestrian street in the center of Miami Beach. Grab an ice cream and enjoy the scenery, but the food is standard tourist grub that's overpriced. Espaniola Way, another small pedestrian street off of Washington Avenue I do recommend. Lots of great Spanish, French and Italian restaurants in that areas. You can also go further afield for a good, solid meal. The North Side of Miami has a great emerging restaurant scene that I recommend. Little Havana has some good Latin food options too.

Great hotels, interesting peoplewatching and Art Deco architecture, beautiful women. Those are just some of the aspects of Miami Beach. Negatives though include snobby attitudes and Eurotrash all over the place. Some smaller, older Art Deco hotels have decent prices, and the Fountainebleu (a historic Art Deco resort) is fairly affordable, especially during the summer. But a lot of the more trendier spots like the Delano will cost you a decent penny. They charge New York prices in a lot of places, but there are definitely some affordable options too.

Miami Beach is excellent. Great warm water, hot sun, and hot people. This is an ideal beach destination. It feels exotic, but without the price tag of having to leave the US! I also really like the sand in Miami. It doesn't stick to you as much as other sands.

Sea, sex and sun...Are what most people want on their sunny holidays and there's plenty of that down there...Surely one of the best nightlife in the USA....Yes, english is only spoken by a third of the locals but hey, that's normal Chico, you're already in central america...

Gorgeous ocean water and nice sand but not exactly the beaches of Hawaii.

A must go to destination in the US. It has everything. And it has things that you will only see and experience in South Beach. The remarks about crime or thugs may hold some truth but then again what major city doesn't have this. Miami is a great time, great fun and a great experience for many reasons and bbeach, stars and parties are all just part of them.

When you combine nightlife, air and water temperature, people, scenery, and excitement, this beach is one of the best around.

Well, first of all, I'd like to say southernpatriot's comment was racist and disgusting. Another thing is Miami's okay. Not too bad. Good if you want to get a tan and go shopping. I wouldn't want to live there because their police force is rather corrupt.(They tend to be really unneccessarily hard on teenagers and people with pitbulls as well as minorities.)

As a beach, not your best bet. As a place for nightlife, people-watching, and culture, okay. Often way too over-rated of a destination. But you can have a lot of fun if you're willing to shell out a lot of dough.

Too many Yankees and Cubans.

Too dangerous. Too many thugs loitering around.

Miami Beach is not really about going to the beach-but more about being part of a very hip scene.

Definitely a place you need to visit at least once. Standing on the beach in South Beach, looking back at the palm trees set against Art Deco buildings, seeing gorgeous person after gorgeous person..... it feels a lot like candy land.