We're going to Miami for a week and the end of August. If anyone has any hot tips for us, I am all ears (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

Miami in August?! Bring lots of sunscreen

Better check to see if your spouse will need a visa because you live in one of those "special" states

Good point. Maybe we should send her passport off to Havana to get a visa.

Cheers!
AKDiver

Wow, Alaskans visiting Miami in August? Yup, bring plenty of the factor 60 sunscreen and be prepaired to sweat. And, you do speak spanish, right??

So what do you both like to do? You will probably want to visit South Beach, as the people watching is fantastic there....
Fishing is popular and you will be here at the right time for catching dolphin and Cuban refugees. Don't miss the excitement when the refugee tries to get one foot on dry land while being chased by boarder patrol and the coast guard. If you miss it you can catch the high lights on the 6:00 news.

Sounds like you will be here at the peak of hurricane season so be ready to "hunker down" in your hotel while the roof blows off and the window pop out. It's an experience you will never forget! Oh, and the power will be off for two weeks following the storm, so....

A visit to Key West is a must and a way to meet some new friends in paradise and drink yourself silly. You may even want to return for Fantasy Fest, but that is another adult street party for another day.

How about an airboat ride in the Everglades to feed the gators?

Or come on over to my town, Naples, where things aren't quite so exciting but the money seems to flow (unfortunately I'm not one of those throwing the money around). The beaches here in Naples are beautiful and quiet and if you make it over here be sure to stop by and say hi.

I recommend poping Will Smith's "Miami" ("Welcome to Miami, Bienvenidos a Miami" check out Eva Mendes..... HOT!!!!) into your new Jeep, cruising around with the top down, then cozying up late at night to watch Crockett and Tubbs fight some over-dramatized coke dealer named Juan Carlo Rodriguez-Dominguez on DVD. Don't forget to break out your Jai-Lai set and practice up. (Love the intro to that show.... when I was four-years-old, that was the first chick I ever saw in a bikini... right before the Jai-Lai guys and the flamingos)

Also, Scarface on the big screen should get you ready to go. "Bulletproof this, bulletproof this.... I want those lights, so we can see when we driving through the swamps.... and put in a radio and tha scannas.... so we can pick up the flying saucers and... I drive around with my Tiger. She's a lady tiger. Pay the guy Manny."

Yup, bring plenty of the factor 60 sunscreen and be prepaired to sweat. But of course (:

I lived in Mexico for 7 years, so yeah.

Well, we want to avoid spending much money, first of all. Originally, we had set a budget of $1000 for the entire trip. But then we decided to enroll my wife in a diving class, and decided not to stay in the cheapest dump possible (which would have been fine with me, I'm not really into fancy hotels), and stay an extra two days, so we boosted our budget to $2000 and plan to try keep pretty firm with that.

I got plane tickets for 50,000 miles and $20, so that's a big help to the budget. We have no other firm plans at this point, but currently, our rough plan includes:

1). Arrive in Miami around 2pm. Taxi to hotel ($40) Find our hotel in South Beach, get settled, blah, blah. Spend two days relaxing on the beach, walking around aimlessly, no real plans. Some of this will no doubt get used for museums or other points of interest. Whatever wife wants to do is fine with me.

2). Day 4, 5, 6: PADI Open Water diving course for Natalia. It's pretty much an all day thing (the diving is in Key Largo), and by the end of the day we will be beat and probably not want to do much more than eat, maybe go to the beach, and sleep. I plan to go diving on those days, and maybe take a Nitrox course while I am there. Total cost of diving activity: $750. Day six is our wedding anniversary, so we'll probably have a nice dinner and maybe movie or something, who knows?

3). Day 7: pay hotel bill (budget of $500 or so, based on Hotwire.com research), rent a car, drive to Tampa. Figure $100 for car and gas. So now we're up to $1400, plus whatever we waste on food and other incidentals. Hook up with a friend of mine that lives in Clearwater, stay at his house. Spend the rest of the day goofing off, maybe go to the beach, etc.

4). Day 8, 9: Busch Garden park(s). Estimated cost of $200 for the two days, continuing to stay at friend's house. So now we're up to $1600.

5). Day 10: Fly home, from Tampa to Anchorage (noon or so).

So that is the rough plan, and the rough budget allocation. No real idea what to do with the two free days in Miami at this point, besides go to the beach. We will not have a car, so will have to bus or taxi or walk to wherever we go.

We would quite possibly be the first people ever to go from Alaska to Miami, for fishing (: I've lived here in Alaska (fish central) for over 13 years now, and have yet to go fishing...I don't really see the point in this activity when I can get my fish a lot cheaper down at the grocery store. I don't even like fish anyway. (:

Yeah, this is a concern, but not much I can really do about it.

Been there, done that. I rode my 250cc scooter down there from Alaska. With all those 50cc scooters running around, I felt like I was riding the alien mothership. In the picture below, you can see my "90 miles from cuba, power to the people" pose. I'm not much of a drinker, so no partying for me (:



I dunno about feeding anything, but have been thinking of stopping by there to say hello on the the way to Tampa

We will be driving right by there and will probably be in the mood to check out the beach too (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

That was a very complete reply. All I can say is....all the way from Alaska to Key West on a scooter??? My God, you must have an iron a$$.

You know, someone else used those exact words to me (:

For what it's worth, the trip was from Alaska, to Mexico, to Key West, to northern Quebec, and back to Alaska. 17,000 miles total. (:

The trick is not an iron ###, but to get off for 5 minutes every 100 miles or so (:

Cheers!
AKDiver

Well, when I went there a few years ago one of the things we did was take a bus/boat tour of Miami. I enjoyed it and got to see some interesting places and get more of the history of where Versache was shot and some of the mobster houses on the waterway with a lot of in depth stories.

It sounds like you have your hotel worked out. We stayed in a fairly inexpensive one that I liked. It was a german run place decorated in cars of the 50's. Another nice thing about being German run was you could pack lighter. The gals only need to bring part of their suit for the pool.

You could run up to Orlando for a day or the space center.

AK, - PM me - there are some details I can't post.

Here's my advice. Our second date! was on South Beach, Galina loved it. It does not need to be expensive, either (it may seem hard to believe, but we only spent about $700 in three days there).

First: Sneak into the Delano hotel. There is neat bar out back. It is supposed to be for hotel guests, but it is easy enough to sneak in to.

Stay on Ocean drive at least one night. In the summer, you can get a room reasonably cheap - ~ $100 or so. Go for the cheapest place you can - everything is walking distance, and you won't spend any time in the room anyway.

For a rental car, I have a corporate code that will get you a good deal (~$120/wk full size).

Tampa can be a lot of fun too. It is better for boating and diving than Miami. (We live in St Pete, about 20 mintues away.) Stay in St Pete, not Tampa. There is much more to do here.

If you sail, you can get a sailboat here for almost nothing. There are more boats here than sailors. Sailing under the Skyway and drinking champagne at sunset is a great experience. It can also be free. (again, PM me about details here).

Good luck!

The restaurant in The Tides is very good, if you want to splurge. Right on Ocean Drive, walking distance. There is no reason to have a car on South Beach. Hotels on Collins aren't as nice, but probably much cheaper and only a block away.



Fort DeSoto is one of the nicest beaches in the US. A bit of a drive from Clearwater, but worth it. Clearwater beach is kind of insane. Packed with people. Shepherd's is a good example of the crazyness up there.



Disney is only about an extra 1 1/2 hours, if you want to drive out there for one day. It is totally doable as a day trip. Busch Gardens does have the free beer thing though. I'd get bored the second day at Busch Gardens - lines for the roller coasters are long, and you can see just about everything in one day.



Not being super-rich, I wasn't a big fan of Naples. It is the kind of place where you get dirty looks at the airport if your plane isn't worth at least 30 million. The cheap things I fly don't really fit in. That being said, I'm driving down there Wednesday, guy's day out on the fishing boat.

Beaches are okay - Marco Island is my preference. It is insanely expensive to rent a boat, and if you are not fishing, I like the boating in Tampa Bay more. Sailing is also better here.

Tin City is a good place to start out, then walk down 5th Ave. The Dock and Riverwalk are two good old restaurants for lunch.

By the way Neon - the Great Dock Canoe Race is today!

I'm missing the canoe race as I am in.....St Pete visiting mom!