South Beach Bum

This is the southernmost public beach of Miami Beach. To the immediate left is the hugely trendy South Beach tourist trap. This is adjacent to Pier park, just in front of all the restaurants, bars and night clubs across the south end of the famed Ocean Drive. The huge sand beach you see is in no way natural. In fact, sand was dragged from the ocean floor and dumped on the shore to create artificial beaches along the island that is Miami Beach. The ongoing work you see on the top of this shot is the second phase of a beach renourishment project on Miami Beach that is expected to complete by November this year.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began this US$15.8 million project in March of this year when they dredged about 250,000 cubic yards of sand off Key Biscayne and pumping it through a buried pipeline to the shore of Miami Beach. Miami's scuba divers and snorklers hated this project because it clouded the water they swim in.

Phase two of this restoration work began in May when about 107,000 cubic yards of sand already on the beach between 10th and 18th streets are being spread onto an eroded section between 27th and 44th streets.

As you can guess, the sun here is hot, hot, hotter and hottest so the business of renting shade is flourishing. The large blue umbrella you see to the right costs US $20.00 for 6 hours of rental and each beach chair adds another US $10.00 per six hours. Some (shameless) people come with their own personal umbrellas and their own chairs. The space on the hot sand is free of charge on a first come first served basis.

In the foreground, what you see is no tourist. This is a quite entrepreneurial homeless (I can tell...) person who has found a way to take a nap "legally" in a public place.