First day in Miami
Miami — one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world, I wanted to see a lot and quickly, since 2 days are catastrophically not enough to get to know this diverse city.
There were many temptations and curiosities, but as they say: «What the family will never eat? What the housewife does not like to eat» 😉 And so, as the planner of our travels, I decided to start our acquaintance with surprise…
Usually, when arriving in a new place, we start our trip with a sightseeing tour, this makes it easier to quickly find your way around an unfamiliar area. While searching the Internet for offers of bus tours from Big Bus and Sightseeing Bus Tours in Miami, I came across an original and new option for a sightseeing trip — amphibious bus Duck tours!
To save your time, official sites: Big Bus Miami www.bigbustours.com/en/miami/miami-bus-tours/ CitySightseeing Bus Miami //city-sightseeing.com/en/32/miami Duck tours //ducktourssouthbeach.com
For those like us who have never encountered anything like this, an amphibious bus — This is a bus that can float. That is, for half of the trip it travels like a regular bus, and then it enters the water and floats… Deciding to make a surprise, I kept my family in the dark about the details of the trip until the last minute. True name «Duck tours» raised a number of leading questions, which I successfully managed to fend off.
The office of the organizing company Duck tours in Miami Beach is located just 1.7 km from ours Hotel Beacon 4* Ocean Drive, so it was decided to walk there.
It must be said that even a 30-minute hike under the Miami sun — a desperate step, which, if taken, would only be done in the morning… which is what we did.
Externally, the amphibious bus looks almost like a regular one, except that it is taller and has a pointed nose. And indeed, for half an hour the tour went as usual, through the streets of Miami, we saw what everyday Miami looks like, drove close to the brilliant high-rise Downtown Miami, saw from afar the huge white cruise ships in the port of Miami, and then… Delight! Around one of the turns the bus slipped into the water and floated! to the wild joy of all passengers, and especially children. Of course, by that time ours had already guessed everything, but at the first moment of the dive, it takes your breath away.
Then our excursion continued along the water and we enjoyed rare views of Miami and the islands from the water.
In the last part of the tour, we were taken from the very beginning of Ocean Drive to its very end, telling the history of this world-famous street and its hotels recognizable from postcards.
It was decided to spend the second half of the day on the ocean, lying on the white sand and swimming in the warm water of the Atlantic Ocean.
In general, for those lucky ones who have more time to relax in Miami Beach, I would strongly advise you to set aside a whole day, or maybe several 😉, and devote them to a relaxing beach holiday. Lying in the hot sun, you fall into a state of happy suspended animation, the flow of life slows down, and all that worries you at this moment is: not to burn too much :):)
In our case, of course, the children couldn’t stand just lying on the beach for a long time, we bought a small rubber ball, and so we spent our half day on the beach actively jumping out of the water, catching the ball and throwing it screaming at a gaping relative 😉
Second day in Miami
The original idea was to take a speedboat ride along the coast of Miami, but after thinking that boat trips were already on the program, we were tempted to visit Miami Aquarium, because we read that it is huge and stunningly beautiful with a wonderful dolphin and killer whale show.
Miami Seaquarium official website www.miamiseaquarium.com Admission to the Miami Seaquarium costs $45.99 for children 10 years and older and adults, with family packages available. Swimming with dolphins is paid separately
I really wanted to see the islands of the Florida Keys archipelago and the famous bridge Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the ocean almost 7 kilometers long, the stunning scenery of those places and of course the House -The Ernest Hemingway Museum on Key West, the southernmost point of the United States. But honestly, I felt sorry for the family, who had not yet fully rested from the transatlantic flight; they didn’t want to be stuck in the car for 4 hours to the island and the same time back, for the sake of the museum and landscapes.
After half a day at the Aquarium and lunch, we went for a walk along Ocean Drive and visited the souvenir shop Official Art Deco Gift Shop which we learned about from excursions.
This store is known for selling only souvenirs from local designers and craftsmen, and all proceeds go to a foundation that supports the ecology of South Beach.
Our second day in Miami ended, like the first, with an evening family swim.
I am writing this note for the lucky ones who are going to stay more than 2 days in Miami Beach.
Miami in 3 days, in 4 days, in 5 days
I would spend my third day in Miami on a trip to the Keys.
Distance from Ocean Drive to the southernmost tip of America, Key West — 270 km, on a good road this distance can be covered in 3.5 hours and the same time back. This trip can easily be a day trip, although somewhat tiring. Or spend the night in Key West and return to Miami the next day with a camera full of stunning photos of the ocean and sunsets. There are a lot of different things to do on the Keys Islands and you can do something on the way to the mainland.
Your fourth day in Miami It would be wonderful to spend in the Everglades National Park, walking along the trails, riding a hovercraft through the swamps of the park in hoping to see a giant Florida alligator and taste allishator meat.
As mentioned in the First Journey, our family — lovers of wildlife, but gave up the Everglades because a hike was planned at Wild Florida wildlife park in Orlando, and there were too many alligators… bad too. But I’m getting ahead of myself…
I would spend my fifth day in Miami on the beach! and period! and there is nothing more to add 🙂
In general, vacations on Ocean Drive and Miami Beach are more for adults; children of our age have nothing special to do here, BUT! We saw Miami Beach and Ocean Drive, and, of course, spent time on the Ocean. We did it!
We spent our 3rd day in America on the road to Orlando. The distance from Miami to Orlando is only 380 km, having a calm breakfast, loading into the car, we left and after 5 hours we entered the city of Orlando, Florida.
You can read more about Miami, Ocean Drive and the Keys on my other website florida4travel.com:
- Miami and Miami Beach
- Ocean Drive
- South Beach Miami
- Florida Keys archipelago
- Wild Florida Wildlife Park
