Miami Beach is a myriad of hotels, celebrities, and sunbathers situated on an island 10 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide. The city is an ideal spot from which to sample the sightseeing and recreational opportunities in south Florida and has become an international tourism destination. In the daytime, thousands of people lie in the sun at beaches and pools or enjoy water sports, shopping, museums, and sightseeing. In the evening, nightclubs, theater, concerts, and world-class dining provide visitors with a variety of entertainment options.

The Miami Beach area was created from what was a wilderness of palmettos, a sandbar infested with snakes and mosquitoes. John S. Collins failed in an attempt to develop avocado groves here and turned to real estate. To join his proposed residential colony with Miami, he built what was then the longest wooden bridge in the United States. Collins auctioned off land, much of it under swamp water at the time, and dredged sand from the bay to transform it into solid ground. This created a yacht basin and several small islands. A pair of elephants, giveaways, super-salesmanship, and a talented press agent helped finish the transformation from jungle to resort.