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The best time to visit Miami

How to avoid the clouds and the crowds.

By Nicholas DeRenzo6 Feb 2023 3 minutes read
Aerial view of South Beach in Miami, Florida
Aerial view of South Beach, Miami
Image: ULora/Getty Images

Thanks to its tropical climate, Miami might seem like a perfect year-round destination. And while it’s true that the weather remains mild throughout the winter, not all months are created equal when it comes to planning a South Florida escape. With seasonally oppressive heat and the unpredictability of hurricane season, Magic City isn’t always as enchanting as its nickname suggests, and a calendar of high-profile events means that hotel rates can spike dramatically throughout the year. Here’s everything you need to know to plan a trip that maximizes perfect weather and affordability while avoiding thunderstorms and throngs of tourists.

The best times to visit Miami

Perfect spring weather: March through May

Boca Chita Key Lighthouse, Biscayne Bay National Park
Boca Chita Key Lighthouse, Biscayne Bay National Park
Image: jtstewartphoto/Getty Images

Before the sizzling heat and sweat-inducing humidity settle in for the summer, the spring is a near-perfect time to be outside in Miami, with temperatures ranging from lows in the upper 60s in March to highs in the low 80s in May. Rain begins to pick up toward the end of spring, but you won’t have to worry about the near-constant mugginess that can make summers so unpleasant.

Of course, spring in these parts means spring break, so Miami Beach can get crowded. You can avoid the crush of college debauchery by steering clear of South Beach and sticking to more outdoorsy pursuits, like Biscayne National Park, 270 square miles of coral reefs, mangrove forests, shipwreck dive sites, and dolphin-filled waters just south of the metro area. Closer to downtown, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens occupies a 1916 Mediterranean Revival–style villa in Coconut Grove, and spring makes for a lovely time to wander through its collection of orchids, water lilies, palms, and historic oaks.

Low-season deals: June through August

We won’t sugarcoat it: The weather is less than ideal in the summer. It’s hot, it’s wet, and it’s humid. But with that slight discomfort, businesses across the city have envisioned creative ways to entice visitors, meaning the scorching summer can be a fantastic time to find deals. Plus, there’s always the refreshing Atlantic Ocean or a hotel pool to dip into in virtually all pockets of the city.

According to Skyscanner, for instance, you can get round trip flights from New York City for under $100, and hotel rates are often significantly lower than they are in the winter high season. August also kicks off the two-month Miami Spice Restaurant Months, during which some of the city’s finest restaurants offer a three-course lunch/brunch for $28 or a three-course dinner for $45 or $60. Among the more than 200 participating locations in 2022 was Cote Miami, a fashionable Korean steakhouse that was one of 11 area restaurants to earn a star in the first Florida edition of the Michelin Guide.

Summer brings a slew of other events for food lovers, including the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Mango Festival, where you can celebrate the “king of fruit” with tastings, cocktails, and a special mango brunch, and the Coconut Grove Craft Beer Fest, which features live Caribbean music and unlimited samples of more than 100 beers—a welcome mode of cooling off in the August heat.

Aerial view of crowd sunbathing on the beach in Miami, Florida
Aerial view of crowd sunbathing on the beach in Miami
Image: jmsilva/Getty Images

The worst times to visit Miami

Peak hurricane season: August through October

The Atlantic hurricane season is no joke, threatening tropical disturbances for a full six months out of the year, from June 1 to November 30. Of course, you shouldn’t skip Miami for the entire season. It’s easiest to avoid the peak for such extreme weather, which runs from August through October. Of the 38 major hurricanes that have made landfall in the state since 1851, only two occurred in June or July and none happened after the end of October.

Even if the state isn’t hit by a tropical storm or hurricane, August and September remain soaking even during even the best of conditions: They’re among the two rainiest months of the year (alongside June) with an average of around eight inches of precipitation and 14 rainy days per month. And did we mention that Miami-Dade County is home to 48 different species of mosquitoes who absolutely love all that moisture?

Art Basel Miami Beach: Early December

Neon illuminated Ocean Drive at sunset, South Beach, Miami
Neon illuminated Ocean Drive at sunset, South Beach, Miami
Image: Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

Don’t get us wrong: We love contemporary art and Art Basel Miami Beach, which takes place annually each December. The glitzy fair is as much a place to see and buy art as it is to rub shoulders with A-listers; recent festivities attracted the likes of Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, and Pharrell Williams. If that’s your scene, feel free to add this week to your own personal “best times to visit” list, but don’t show up without doing research: Without prior planning weeks if not months in advance, it can be tricky to score a reservation at the city’s best restaurants, bars, and clubs. And hotel prices skyrocket. Looking to December 2023, for instance, the cheapest room at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, is going for $1,999 during Art Basel week; the same room category drops to $695 a week later. So, if you’re not planning to visit the iconic festival itself, consider visiting another time.

Luckily, the city’s events calendar remains busy all throughout the year, with plenty of art and culture festivals to consider that aren’t Art Basel, including Art Deco Weekend in January, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival in February, the Miami Film Festival in March, the American Black Film Festival in June, and more.

Nicholas DeRenzo
Nicholas DeRenzo is a freelance travel and culture writer based in Brooklyn. A graduate of NYU's Cultural Reporting and Criticism program, he worked as an editor at Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel and, most recently, as executive editor at Hemispheres, the in-flight magazine of United Airlines. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, New York, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Afar, BBC Travel, Wine Enthusiast, and more. Follow him on Instagram at @nderenzo to see his many, many pictures of birds.