Miami Beach shares spring break rules for 2026. They’re less strict than before
As usual, Miami Beach plans to jack up parking and towing rates, deploy license-plate readers and beef up DUI enforcement for spring break this March.
But some rules will be far less restrictive than they were in 2025, when crowds in South Beach were relatively small and there were no major incidents for a second consecutive year.
Beach entrances on Ocean Drive will have security checkpoints but will no longer close at 6 p.m.
Sidewalk seating on Ocean Drive will remain in place.
Parking garages and surface lots south of 23rd Street will remain open; last year, they were closed entirely during two peak weekends.
Those are some of the protocols the city announced on Thursday, just a few weeks ahead of when spring breakers are expected to arrive.
“After two successful back-to-back spring break seasons, Miami Beach has ended the chaos and restored order,” Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said in a statement.
The changes followed a discussion Thursday by the City Commission, which agreed to give City Manager Eric Carpenter the go-ahead to ease restrictions.
On Wednesday, the city rolled out a new video and marketing campaign, highlighting Miami Beach as a destination for fitness-related activities. The campaign strikes a more positive tone than in the past two years, when the city expressed a desire to “break up with spring break” and emphasized measures aimed at keeping young people away.
The city will host several fitness events in March, including the Life Time 305 Half Marathon & 5K on March 1 and the Gymreapers Wodapalooza fitness festival from March 12-15.
READ MORE: Here’s Miami Beach’s new spring break marketing video — and its plan for 2026
Parking rates will still be much higher than usual. Each Thursday through Sunday in March, parking garages in South Beach will have flat rates starting at $40 and as high as $100.
Street parking and surface lots will be priced between $4 and $15 per hour, though Miami Beach residents will still be allowed to pay $1 per hour if they are registered with the city.
Police will operate a license-plate reader detail on the eastbound lanes of the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways on March 13-15 and March 20-22, starting at 10 p.m. There will also be a license-plate reader detail along the Fifth Street corridor on March 6-8.
DUI checkpoints will be in place on March 13-14 and March 20-21.
Like in the past, operations for businesses renting Slingshots and other motorized vehicles will be suspended from March 12-15 and March 19-22.
Each weekend in March, towing rates will be doubled to $548 for non-city residents, similar to what was done in recent years.
On Thursday, Miami Beach commissioners said they would like to see decreased use of barricades, which in the past have lined the west side of Ocean Drive during spring break.
Commissioners stressed that, while the city will head into March with less severe protocols than before, the city manager and police chief should have the authority to go further as needed.
“We are keeping every strict enforcement tool fully available, while giving our Chief of Police the flexibility to deploy them based on real-time conditions on the ground,” Commissioner Alex Fernandez said in a statement. “We are leaving the disorder of past spring breaks behind and moving forward with a safer, more disciplined approach that supports our businesses and allows everyone to enjoy our city the right way.”
Full details of the plan are outlined on the city’s new spring break website.
