Miami Beach businesses aren’t looking to rekindle things with spring break’s wild past — they just want a healthier relationship. After last year’s tough crackdown, many South Beach businesses say this season’s lighter touch will strike a better balance between safety and sales.
The city’s now-infamous “it’s not me, it’s you” breakup-style marketing campaign was first launched to discourage rowdy partygoers from flocking to South Beach, after two separate March 2023 shootings left two people dead. Police checkpoints, curfews and barricades brought calmer streets and no major incidents for a second consecutive year.
But for restaurants, bars and nightlife venues that depend on peak-season crowds, the restrictions squeezed business.
READ MORE: Miami Beach imposes strict measures — again — to tame spring break crowds
“Last year was very slow,” said Ezequiel Timberini, manager of The Beach Food and Drinks on Ocean Drive. “The city and the police department did a great job — there was no incident at all. But they also killed businesses.”
Timberini’s is one of many restaurants that saw sales dip after the city barred sidewalk seating. Now, that’s changing.
This season, following two years of curfews, DUI checkpoints and costly parking deterrents, Miami Beach is rolling back some of its toughest spring break measures. Officials are reopening select parking garages, easing parking restrictions and restoring late-night beach access. Outdoor seating areas that were previously closed off are also returning.
“The balance will be the best this year,” said Timberini.
The changes followed a discussion last Thursday by the City Commission, which agreed to give City Manager Eric Carpenter the go-ahead to ease restrictions.
Still, authorities caution that leniency isn’t a return to the old party city. License-plate readers, DUI checkpoints and a heavy police presence will remain throughout spring break weekends.
“We are definitely not getting back together with the old version of spring break,” said Commissioner Alex Fernandez at a meeting on Feb. 5. “We just found a new match — more mature, healthier, focused on wellness and enjoying Miami Beach.”
Fernandez stressed that the city isn’t letting its guard down.
“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,” he said.
March 12-15 and March 19-22, say city officials, are expected to usher in the largest spring break crowds of the season.
At Palace, a longtime Ocean Drive drag venue, general manager AJ Prasaguet said the cafe extension was forced to close on weekends last year, costing the business 166 seats each service.
“It put a damper on us,” Prasaguet said. “It was very tough for us because it was our busiest month of the year, historically. And that put a damper on it with Spring Break looking kind of like a war zone. But we're glad that it is in the past with these lighter restrictions for this year.”
Last week, the city signaled a shift toward what officials call “wellness-focused tourism” with the Feb. 4 launch of a new campaign video. In it, a man wakes up from a 10-year coma expecting to “party like it’s 2016” — a nod to the TikTok trend dubbing 2026 the “new 2016” — only to find Miami Beach filled with fitness activities.
The city will host several fitness events in March, including the Life Time 305 Half Marathon and 5k on March 1, which draws runners and families rather than late-night party crowds, and the Gymreapers Wodapalooza fitness festival from March 12–15.
“It should be a better year,” said Timberini. “Better than last year, and better than five years ago when it was maybe a little too much.”
