United States / Florida
South Beach
South Beach is a beach facing east-south-east, 2.6 km south of Miami Beach (Florida, United States). The sea averages 29.7 °C in August, its warmest month, and 24.5 °C in February; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at South Beach
Beach-day index 8.3/10 · United States median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 24.6 °C | 24.5 °C | 24.8 °C | 25.8 °C | 27.0 °C | 28.3 °C | 29.2 °C | 29.7 °C | 29.3 °C | 28.3 °C | 26.8 °C | 25.7 °C |
| High °C | 23° | 24° | 25° | 26° | 28° | 29° | 30° | 30° | 29° | 28° | 26° | 24° |
| Low °C | 20° | 21° | 22° | 23° | 25° | 27° | 28° | 28° | 27° | 26° | 23° | 21° |
| Rain mm | 44 | 49 | 56 | 76 | 135 | 191 | 165 | 182 | 190 | 124 | 64 | 51 |
| Cloud % | 55 | 50 | 47 | 49 | 55 | 69 | 62 | 62 | 65 | 53 | 46 | 53 |
| Wind m/s | 5.6 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.5 |
| Daylight h | 10.7 | 11.3 | 12.0 | 12.7 | 13.4 | 13.7 | 13.6 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 11.6 | 10.9 | 10.5 |
| Record high/low | 27°/6° | 27°/9° | 29°/11° | 31°/15° | 32°/20° | 32°/24° | 32°/25° | 32°/26° | 32°/23° | 31°/16° | 29°/13° | 28°/7° |
| Beach index | 7.9 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 8.4 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in February–April and October–December; November scores 8.8/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 26.8 °C and 64 mm of rain.
In November that is 5.5 points above the median of the 2,466 beaches in United States covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 7.2 °C warmer than the United States median for August (22.5 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 27.0 °C, warmer than 81% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
June is the wettest month (191 mm) and January the driest (44 mm); the yearly total is about 1,330 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.5 hours in December to 13.7 hours in June; in mid-November the sun rises at 06:38 and sets at 17:32 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces east-south-east (118°). Open water fills about 64% of the horizon close by, which makes it an exposed spot with water on most sides.
The sun sets over the sea in February–May and August–October; in mid-February it goes down at 18:13 local time on a bearing of 256°.
Sunrise is over the sea in every month.
Straight out to the east-south-east there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell. The beach is on an island of about 11 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 5 m deep and 8 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 0 m above sea level 500 m inland and 0 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 68% built-up land, 11% tree cover and 11% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 66% of that circle.
- Built 68%
- Tree 11%
- Grass 11%
- Bare 8%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 456Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 6Public toilets
- –Showers
- 5Drinking water
- 30Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 170Hotels & guesthouses
- 43Grocery shops
- 49Water-sports spots
- 5Marinas & slipways
- 1Playgrounds & water parks
- 47Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 8Pharmacies & clinics
- 1Cash machines
- 12Bike rental
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 336 restaurants, 41 cafés, 75 bars and 4 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 170 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Beth Jacob Social Hall and Congregation museum 240 m SW
- Jewish Museum of Florida museum 240 m SW
- Meridian Gardens attraction 270 m W
- Artechouse Miami museum 370 m N
- Ocean Drive South Beach Art Deco District museum 540 m N
- The Wolfsonian-FIU museum 730 m N
Nature
- Everglades National Park nature reserve 40 m E
Islands in view
- Fisher Island 1.7 km SW
- Star Island 1.8 km W
- Belle Isle 2.4 km NW
Lighthouses & piers
- Miami Beach Marina pier 880 m SW
- South Pointe Park Lighthouse lighthouse 910 m S
Marinas
- Miami Beach Marina 710 m SW
- All N' Detail 720 m SW
- South Beach Marina 740 m SW
- Bentley Bay Marina 870 m W
- Miamisouthbeachcharters 920 m W
Diving & boat hire
- Low Price Jet Ski Rental Miami 130 m E
- Citi Bike Station #112 180 m E
- All Access of South Beach - Jet Ski & Yacht Rentals 180 m NE
- Citi Bike 290 m N
- Citi Bike Station #106 380 m S
- Vice ATV Riding of South Beach 410 m N
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami International Airport Miami | MIA | 16.2 km | west |
| Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport Miami | OPF | 21.4 km | north-west |
| Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport Fort Lauderdale | FLL | 34.0 km | north |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 47 bus stops within 1.5 km and 30 mapped car parks within 1 km.
5 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 609.5K residents); within 30 km there are 79 (about 3.1M).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
- Miami Beach1.1 km NCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 12.0 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature n10232512918; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_17RNJ_20230301_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 368K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.