MIA to South of Fifth (SoFi)

South of Fifth - SoFi to anyone who has spent a weekend there - is the tip of the peninsula below Fifth Street, and the calmest square footage in South Beach. South Pointe Park anchors the bottom with its lawn and pier facing the cruise ship channel, residential towers like Continuum and Murano line the sand, and Joe's Stone Crab has been serving claws on Washington Avenue since 1913, before the neighborhood had a nickname or, frankly, streets.

Getting there from MIA is the shortest South Beach run we do. SoFi is the first neighborhood you reach off the MacArthur Causeway: exit at Fifth Street, turn right instead of left, and you are home. About eleven miles, twenty minutes on a clear early afternoon, thirty-five when the causeway crawls. Watching a cruise ship slide out of Government Cut from the pier while your friends staying mid-beach are still on Collins Avenue is a genuine SoFi pleasure.

The neighborhood rewards a driver who knows its one-ways. Ocean Drive below Fifth is quiet and residential; South Pointe Drive loops the park; the restaurant cluster around Joe's and Smith & Wollensky generates its own valet weather every evening from seven. Tell us whether you are heading to a tower lobby, a dinner reservation or the beach walk, and the drop-off happens at the right door on the first pass.

Fares from the airport start at $89 in a sedan, fixed at booking with flight tracking and a driver waiting inside arrivals. Coming down just for dinner from elsewhere on the beach? Local rides start at $75, and a return pickup timed for after dessert means the only queue you stand in is the one for a second order of key lime pie.

What to expect on this ride

• About 11 miles - the first exit off the causeway, shortest beach transfer
• 20-35 minutes from MIA arrivals
• Tower lobby, restaurant or park drop-off - your call
• Fixed fare from $89, tolls and waiting included
• Evening valet crowds around Joe's handled by staging a block out

Names to drop on arrival