Closest Beach to POM

[peenie]

Ok, so I did a search and found that South Beach is the closest beach to the Port of Miami and that a cab should run about $15-$20 each way. My questions are-

1. Are cabs readily available at the port?

2. What beach (street) should we go to in South Beach where we will easily find a cab to return?

3. Also I didn't see anything that was clear as to how long the cab ride will take approximately.

Thanks for your help!:)

[beachbum53]

Ok, so I did a search and found that South Beach is the closest beach to the Port of Miami and that a cab should run about $15-$20 each way. My questions are-

1. Are cabs readily available at the port?

2. What beach (street) should we go to in South Beach where we will easily find a cab to return?

3. Also I didn't see anything that was clear as to how long the cab ride will take approximately.

Thanks for your help!:)

 

Answer to #1: Yes, there are cabs readily available at the port. To get the answers you need for the other two questions, your best bet would be to Google the Miami Yellow Pages and look up cab companies that serve the POM, then give a couple ( or more ) of them a call. Since South Beach is a very popular tourist area, finding a taxi to take you to the POM shouldn't be difficult at all. Also, while you're on Google, why not go to "Maps" just below the search bar? Enter "South Beach Miami" in "A", and "POM" in "B". It will give you the distance and travel time from "A" to "B".

[firefly333]

We took the $2 bus from the bridge across from the port.. by cab I bet you can get there in about 20 minutes.

[nofishforme]

the cabs are lined up waiting for you to get of the ship was well as all the passengers we waited about 20 min in line to get a cab we went to south beach for the day we had a late flight out .the cab ride was 24.00 the rates are on the window of the cab we got dropped of at the first light once we turned on to collins ave or A1A cant remember we walked up and down the main drag had lunch went over to the public beach and hung 4out for a while then walk back to the rd flaged a cab and a 40.00 cab ride to the air port .. we also did luggage express so we didnt have to tote our suite cases around all day

[peenie]

Thanks for your replys and good advice. I'm a little nervous because we are planning this pre cruise. We have an early flight in and early boarding. We would love to hit the beach even if only for an hour. Of course it depends on if everything goes smoothly with flight & early check in. But if we do in fact have a few hours to spare, we would like to be able to do this. The taxi co said that cabs should always be available at the port when a ship is in and that we could get a return cab anywhere on Ocean Drive. Has anyone else attempted this pre cruise? Id hate to be sitting on South Beach watching our ship Sail away!:eek:

[lola61]

Many many cabs on Ocean Ave, you won't miss your ship:D

[pjhootch]

Yes, you can... but don't count on that cab fare. As the other poster said, expect about $24 from miami beach to port or vice versa. It takes 15-20 minutes if traffic isn't bad.

 

Take a look at info for Miami Beach before you go. The beach is almost solid hotels and condos on the ocean side, so you want to have a cab drop you off at a public entrance. The easiest one that is truly "south beach" is at 21st street, right where the boardwalk begins.

[oncruisecontrol]

Yes, you can... but don't count on that cab fare. As the other poster said, expect about $24 from miami beach to port or vice versa. It takes 15-20 minutes if traffic isn't bad.

 

Take a look at info for Miami Beach before you go. The beach is almost solid hotels and condos on the ocean side, so you want to have a cab drop you off at a public entrance. The easiest one that is truly "south beach" is at 21st street, right where the boardwalk begins.

Since the OP presumably will be coming from the south(POM), beach access is not an issue. There is easy beach access from Ocean Drive anywhere south of 15th Street all the way to South Pointe Park. Probably the easiest and shortest cab ride from the Port of Miami to a beach in South Beach (Miami Beach) is to tell the cab driver that you want to go to "5th Street and Ocean Drive". Or, you can ask a cab driver to take you to "Smith and Wollensky Restaurant at South Pointe Park". If you walk down the path along the water from the restaurant, you will come to a beach that is at the southernmost tip of South Beach. From this beach there are spectacular views of the sea entrance of the Port of Miami.

[oncruisecontrol]

Thanks for your replys and good advice. I'm a little nervous because we are planning this pre cruise. We have an early flight in and early boarding. We would love to hit the beach even if only for an hour. Of course it depends on if everything goes smoothly with flight & early check in. But if we do in fact have a few hours to spare, we would like to be able to do this. The taxi co said that cabs should always be available at the port when a ship is in and that we could get a return cab anywhere on Ocean Drive. Has anyone else attempted this pre cruise? Id hate to be sitting on South Beach watching our ship Sail away!:eek:

OP: Are you saying here that you want to drop your bags off with the porters at the ship and then catch a cab to South Beach from the port. And then return to the ship to embark for your cruise? If this is what you're saying then, make sure that you drop your bags off early and get back to the ship with several hours to spare. If this is indeed what you intend to do, then my earlier advice about which beach to go to stands firm. Don't go as far north as 21st street and the beach. You'll waste valuable transit time getting there and back. Your cab driver should take the MacArthur Causeway to South Beach from the Port of Miami. The time and distance from the MacArthur Causeway to "5th Street and Ocean Drive" or to "Smith and Wollensky Restaurant at South Pointe Park" is minimal. Though, you should still consider that traffic in Miami Beach can be bad, so do not cut your time close at all. As I said before, give yourself several hours to spare.

[pjhootch]

OP: Are you saying here that you want to drop your bags off with the porters at the ship and then catch a cab to South Beach from the port. And then return to the ship to embark for your cruise? If this is what you're saying then, make sure that you drop your bags off early and get back to the ship with several hours to spare. If this is indeed what you intend to do, then my earlier advice about which beach to go to stands firm. Don't go as far north as 21st street and the beach. You'll waste valuable transit time getting there and back. Your cab driver should take the MacArthur Causeway to South Beach from the Port of Miami. The time and distance from the MacArthur Causeway to "5th Street and Ocean Drive" or to "Smith and Wollensky Restaurant at South Pointe Park" is minimal. Though, you should still consider that traffic in Miami Beach can be bad, so do not cut your time close at all. As I said before, give yourself several hours to spare.

 

This is very true, better advice than mine.

[peenie]

We were hoping to embark, get to our cabin, then go back on shore to the beach for a little while. It all depends on how early we are actually able to embark with our early boarding passes. If we are checked in and the ship is set to sail at 4pm, what's the latest should be back on board?

[pjhootch]

If it were me, I would be in a cab by 2 p.m., but I don't like to cut things close at all. It depends on when your cruise is to some extent. If it is in the next couple of months you may find you want to be off the beach before 2 p.m. anyway. It isn't uncommon in the late fall to start off with a clear morning and have rain roll in around lunchtime.

[mondello]

We were hoping to embark, get to our cabin, then go back on shore to the beach for a little while. It all depends on how early we are actually able to embark with our early boarding passes. If we are checked in and the ship is set to sail at 4pm, what's the latest should be back on board?

I know when I sailed from San Juan we were allowed to check-in and bord the ship and then permitted to get back off the ship. SJU was treated like a port stop with the late departure time. I think this is a bad idea even if you are allowed back off the ship in Miami. Actually, I think this is the first post I've seen in 6 years of anyone even considering such a runabout.

[peenie]

Yup, pretty much sounds like me. Always running about trying to fit as much as I can into a day. Lol. You'd be surprised at how much I accomplish that others wouldn't consider trying. :) Thanks to everyone for their input. I guess it all boils down to if we have enough time and if we are allowed off the ship. I'm hoping it all falls into place as it still sounds like a nice way to start our vacation. Especially considering all time we'll have on board this cruise.