Homes of the rich and famous...

Spectacular aerial view of Biscayne Bay south with the Venetian Causeway at bottom right and Miami Beach along the horizon. By Marc Averette - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Miami's waterways look so interesting from the air and on the map, we thought we'd better do a quick tour of Biscayne Bay. Grayline picked us up near our hotel in South Beach, but it turned out that everyone else on the pretty full bus was doing an Everglades tour. We were the only ones they dropped at the Miami waterfront pier. There were about a dozen others on the boat Island Wind with us.

Boarding the Biscayne Bay tour.

It's obviously the off season, and the cool windy weather would have discouraged walk-ins too. On board, it was fine, but all of us tended to look for shelter from the gale as we sailed around the southern part of Biscayne Bay. Poor Carlos, the boat's barman, didn't sell a single drink or snack.

Apartments on the fully private Fisher Island.

The first language of none of our fellow tourists on the Island Wind was English. They spoke to each other in French or Spanish. Al, our guide, was obviously hispanic, but talked to us in excellent idiomatic English. In fact, English is definitely a minority language in Miami generally - everyone seems capable of some English, but it seems to be no-one's language of choice.

Fellow passenger's GoPro is missing the Henry Flagler Memorial to a Miami pioneer and a founder of Standard Oil.

We didn't know it beforehand, but the focus of the cruise was the homes of the rich and famous who are presumably the only ones who can afford the megabuck waterfront properties which ring the artificial Venetian Islands. Al knew them all and had humourous anecdotes about each owner. We're not so besotted by celebrity, and forgot who owned what house almost immediately. Many celebrities we hadn't actually heard of, some were Cuban and Mexican. The houses were stunning, but no-one seemed to be at home in any of them.

Al hammed it up quite well, and was clearly fascinated by the celebrities and their megabuck mansions.

Apparently this was Al Capone's boathouse.

Al told us this one mansion is owned by the inventor of Viagra - we had thought a British team had developed the drug - maybe they moved here?

It was more interesting to enjoy the scenery and the skylines of downtown Miami and Miami Beach. We passed 6 huge cruise ships lined up head to tail at the port. Al told us that this is the world's biggest cruise ship terminal. On the other side of the port is the container terminal and the merchant vessel berths, entirely empty except for one modest ship.

Six gigantic cruise ships lined up at Miami port.

Every tourist harbour has to have a jet boat attraction!

Very quiet at the Port of Miami.

We saw the 1925 Venetian Causeway, a road with a couple of low level opening bridges which links Miami to Miami Beach (an island). Apparently, this road follows the original 1912 2.5 mile wooden Collins Bridge which first opened up the beach to development that long ago.

Far from the maddening crowd, luxury apartments at the southern tip of Miami Beach.

Back at the Marina, the waterfront area is cruise ship central. It's probably just a short shuttle ride from the berths to here, and the area was packed with souvenir stalls, ice cream shops, bars and restaurants, not to mention the people off those ships. And we were taken back to South Beach in a Grayline bus with just us two on board!

We could have done a pirate ship tour!

Patriotic display at the Hotel Intercontinental in Miami.

Giant oak (?) tree shades our transportation back to Miami Beach.

The glory of South Beach...

This is our third visit to Miami, and we spent five nights here to get over our jet lag before setting out for Cuba. This time the weather varied from warm to cool (the southern fringe of the bad storms affecting the north), with some persistent light rain on one day. It was very windy throughout. Apart from the rainy day, skies were mostly blue with quite photogenic cloud formations. Afternoons got stormy.

Ocean Ave has some of the prettiest art deco examples.

The art deco architecture of South Miami Beach remains its greatest appeal, for us. Walking around this area provides endless pleasant surprises, and an interesting new building appears, tastefully painted in delicate pastels. No doubt, city ordinances protect this architecture.

Even modest apartments can feature neat art deco features and colour enhancements.

Very appealing pastel colour schemes adorn many buildings in South Beach.

Apparently, the term art deco derives from the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Artes Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, and that style was adopted fulsomely in rebuilding the young resort city after a hurricane in 1926 destroyed it and killed 400 people. Some 800 art deco buildings are registered in the area.

Moon rising over the Ritz Plaza at sunset.

Even newer buildings along Collins Ave adopt a faux art deco style.

This building is regarded by some as the best example of art deco. It reveals that the so-appealing pastel coloration is not an essential feature of the genre! The building now houses the Bass Museum of Modern Art.

Our hotel in Collins Ave is quite near the Lincoln Steet Mall which on Sunday, one of our jet-lag recovery days, was abuzz with market stalls (local crafts, art deco artifacts and fresh produce) and open-air restaurants. We managed to find good coffee and food, but the crowding and noise made the whole experience a bit unpleasant. The gusty wind added to the discomfort, the outdoor cafes having to struggle to keep umbrellas up and things on the table.

High hazard flags warn of dangerous surf conditions.

Determined beachgoers scurry for protection from the strong breezes.

The beach is an incredible attraction to tourists here, and even now, in winter, it entertains a modest crowd up and down its long length. But the beach-goers have to be determined. The wide sandy area is a windswept wasteland. People grimly try to protect themselves from the uncomfortable and neverending blast. There is almost no-one in the water, and the surf is quite rough and unruly, stirred up by the wind. Red flags on every lifeguard station (maybe 100m apart for many kilometers) signify "high hazard". Even in this season, each and every one of those lifeguard stations appears to be manned.

Enjoyment of a brief period of sunny respite from the unpleasant winds.

We enjoyed a takeaway dinner and beer on the front balcony of our Collins Ave hotel, cool enough for jackets.