Miami City Guide

Activities in Miami

Miami, though renowned more for the dance-all-night, blade-all-day types of exertion, offers lots of options for the more serious sports freak. Kayakers, part-time pilots and divers of both sky and sea will find plenty of options just a little way out of town.

Watch

Local teams followed religiously by Miamians include the Miami Dolphins (tel: 305-620 2578) in the NFL football league (Sep-Dec); the Florida Marlins (tel: 305-626 7400) of Major-league baseball fame (Apr-Sep), both housed at the ProPlayer Stadium (2269 Dan Marino Blvd). The Miami Heat (tel: 786-777 1000) play NBA (Nov-Apr) basketball at the American Airlines Arena (601 Biscayne Blvd). The Florida Panthers (tel: 954-835 7000) play NHL hockey (Oct-Apr) at the Florida Panthers Hockey Club (One Panther Parkway, Sunrise), and Miami Fusion (954-717 2200) of Major-league soccer (Mar-Sep) play at the Lockhart Stadium (5201 NW 12th Ave) in Fort Lauderdale.

Participate

There's plenty of opportunities to taste the air around Miami, with many adventure companies offering planes and equipment. At Homestead General Aviation Airport you can be trained up and pushed out of a plane for your first jump, all in one day.

There's great diving 8km (5mi) east of Key Biscayne, where the Biscayne Wreck lies beneath the Atlantic. Southeast of Key Biscayne is the John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park, a protected 202 sq km (78 sq mi) section of the Florida Reef (the third largest in the world). The best diving and snorkelling within the park is around Elkhorn Reef, Schooner Wreck Reef and Dome Reef. Key Largo makes a good base for exploring the park. The southern shore of Key West is another prime diving spot, especially around Key West Harbor.

There is something magical about kayaking through the mangroves, and the best thing about it is that you don't need any lessons and you can rent equipment easily and cheaply. Head for the Everglades to canoe around the 10,000 Islands or along the Wilderness Waterway between Everglades City and Flamingo.

Ultralight aircraft have become so popular that Dade County has built a field specifically for the tiny planes at Homestead General Aviation Airport (HGAA). Ultralights are small aircraft that are regulated, but require no pilot's license to fly.

Tours in Miami

Art Deco Miami

Miami is renowned for its Deco architecture so, for the next few hours, prise yourself away from the beaches and soak up some of the prettiest concrete around. The best place to start is at the Art Deco Welcome Center, at Ocean and 10th Street. This stretch is named Barbara Capitman Way after the preservationist who founded the Miami Design Preservation League in 1976. Step inside for a permanent exhibit on Deco style, then head outside and go north along colourful Ocean Ave; between 12th and 14th Streets you'll see three classic examples of Deco hotels: the Leslie, a typically boxy shape; the Carlyle, more modernistic and featured in the film The Birdcage; and the elegant Cardozo, built by Henry Hohauser and featuring sleek, rounded edges. Stop at 14th St to see the sun-drenched Winter Haven Hotel with its fabulous terrazzo floors. From there, turn left and head to Washington Avenue at 13th St to the US Post Office, a curvy block of white Deco and the first restoration project for South Beach's revitalization in the 1970s. The interior sports a WPA-project wall mural, domed ceiling and marble stamp tables.

Keep it in theme when you stop for lunch by eating at the 11th Street Diner, a gleaming aluminium Pullman car. Get a window seat to take in the view of the stunningly restored 1936 Hotel Astor across the street. Saddle up a coffee then walk half a block south to the imposing Wolfsonian/FIU, an amazing museum of design that was formerly the Washington Storage Company, storing the sparkly goods of wealthy holidaying snowbirds of the '30s. From there, turn left on 7th St, continuing north along Collins to The Hotel, built in 1939 and now featuring an interior and roof deck by Todd Oldham. Finish up by turning right on 9th Street and walking one block to Ocean Ave, where you'll spy non-stop Deco beauties - enough to make you want to swan into the nearest hotel for a martini and pithy F. Scott Fitzgerald-esque conversation.