North Shore Park Beach — Attraction in Miami Beach

Beautifully colored warm water (80° + in winter, the warmest beach in Florida imo), felt safe with lifeguard tower. We spent a full day here and had a blast. The sand under the water drops off pretty quickly so that you can barely touch the bottom less than about 10 ft from shore. Lifeguard sometimes doesn't let you go far in. We came on a Monday over winter break, and there weren't a ton of people. I also appreciated that it was right off a park so there weren't giant hotels behind us. Parking is paid but not 24/7 so you can get a good few hours free if you time it well.

Downsides: There was one lady laying topless which was weird since this isnt a nude beach. I'll also say that there were people with weed after sunset. It's open sunrise to 8 pm. Despite these two things, this might be a favorite beach for this...

This is my favorite to go spot to hang out with my friends. It is not overly crowded, less well-known to tourists and is away from the street noise. Majority is the locals and the sand is soft and clean. You can occasionally catch the manatees awning along the shore. The downside is that regardless to the sign requiring no alcohol and no dogs, people still bring their large dogs here and let their pet swim in the ocean whereas the lifeguards wouldn’t do...

Nice beach, stays shallow for a while. Always waves from the ocean, boats, jet skis, so not ideal for little kids. There is still lots of sargassum in the water and on the shore, and it gets progressively worse as the day goes. The park itself is closed for construction. Free public parking fills up quickly. Nice playground near the bathrooms with partial shade and climbing structures...