This Fall, Sunset Harbour Turns Toward the Bay at 18th and Purdy

For years, the Sunset Harbour address everyone knew was a table on Purdy Avenue. In 2026 it is a floating dock. A free city water taxi began running from Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in January. By spring it was carrying more than a thousand riders a day. Over the same stretch, three longtime Purdy Avenue names closed and two ambitious newcomers chose spaces within a block of that dock. This fall, the southern edge of the neighborhood, where Lincoln Road meets the bay, goes behind construction fencing. The neighborhood's center has slid north to one corner, 18th Street and Purdy Avenue.

A dock that outgrew its first season

The Miami Beach water taxi made its first trip on January 20, 2026. It left Maurice Gibb Memorial Park at 8:30 a.m. for the Venetian Marina on the mainland, as the Miami Herald reported at launch. By mid-April, the city reported an average of more than 1,000 riders a day across 32 one-way trips, according to a later Herald report. The same story said the mayor was exploring longer hours and more stops.

The service is free. The boats are about 40 feet long and carry up to 55 passengers. The crossing to Venetian Marina & Yacht Club, also known as Sea Isle Marina, at 1635 N Bayshore Drive, takes a steady 20 minutes, and bridge openings never hold it up. On the Miami side, riders can connect to the Downtown–Brickell Freebee or to Miami-Dade Transit at the OMNI station. On the Beach side, the South Beach Trolley and the Miami Beach Freebee both connect. The route now shows up as a travel option in Google Maps.

Here is the schedule as of the city's water taxi page, last updated August 3, 2026:

• Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.: one boat an hour, leaving Maurice Gibb at half past the hour
• 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: a boat every 30 minutes
• Weekends: no service during the initial launch
• Observed federal holidays: no service unless the city notes otherwise

The city may add hours or stops, so check the page before planning around a late return.

The park the dock sits in

The city lists the Maurice Gibb Memorial Park redesign as complete. The project page names an overlook, fishing piers, pavilions and open greenspace oriented toward the sunset. A planned Marine Patrol building will add public restrooms later.

The park sits at 18th Street and Purdy Avenue and is open from sunrise to sunset. Paddlers should know the rules. According to the city's park directory, the boat ramp is for motorized vessels only. Kayaks and paddleboards launch from the floating dock, and the city ordinance caps launching or landing there at 20 minutes. A short limit makes sense on a dock that also has to take a 55-passenger commuter boat every half hour in the evening.

Purdy Avenue's roster, rewritten

The restaurant turnover over the past year follows the same pull toward that corner. Three familiar spots closed, and the two biggest openings landed within a short walk of the dock.

Stiltsville's run on Purdy lasted eight years, and Sardinia's lasted two decades. Both leave a gap in the neighborhood's dinner routine.

A Pasta Bar is the opening the neighborhood waited longest to see. Miami New Times noted that its signage hung over West Avenue for nearly two years before the restaurant set its date for Wednesday, October 21. It is the first expansion of the New York original since its SoHo debut nearly a decade ago. The 4,700-square-foot room has a backlit marble pasta bar, a freestanding open kitchen and a 17-seat chef's counter. The chefs finish pasta in the wok with the sauce, a technique called risottare.

Genghis Cohen is the next one. New Times reported in April that the restaurant planned to open in the former Sardinia space at 1801 Purdy around Christmas 2026. That is a target, not a confirmed date.

The grocery anchor hasn't changed. The Fresh Market at 1800 West Avenue is still open in the Sunset Harbour shopping center. A block west at 1330 18th Street, BEYBEY reopened in 2026 with a live-fire menu under a new pair of chefs, according to a February feature in Modern Luxury.

From the water taxi dock at 18th and Purdy, The Fresh Market, the former Sardinia space and A Pasta Bar's new room on West Avenue are all within a couple of blocks.

Meanwhile, the south edge closes for the season

The other end of the neighborhood is headed the opposite way through the holidays. The City of Miami Beach's West Avenue Neighborhood Improvements Project, Phase II, moves into Lincoln Court, north of Lincoln Road. An October 15 project presentation set demolition on Lincoln Court to start Monday, October 26, and roadway work to start November 2.

The closures that matter most for daily walks:

1. Lincoln Court pedestrian bridge: closed continuously for about six weeks from October 26 while crews rebuild its base, which runs into early December if the schedule holds. A 2016 Miami Herald story describes it as the footbridge linking Lincoln Court to Dade Boulevard. It is a different bridge from the vehicle bridge over Collins Canal that joins West Avenue and Sunset Harbour.
2. Lincoln Road street-end green space: closed for about a month while the contractor rebuilds the retaining wall behind the seawall and raises the road.
3. Lincoln Court street end: rebuilt with new brick pavers, storm drains, sidewalks, a new curb ramp and landing at the foot of the bridge, and rebuilt stairs.

Parking is tighter as well. The city has posted no parking on Lincoln Road from Alton Road to the street end, on Bay Road north of Lincoln Road, and on 16th Street between Bay Road and Alton Court. Crews typically work Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. They add Saturdays as needed and sometimes stay later. The city asks everyone to use the signed detours and keep out of closed work zones. Building access stays open, with short, coordinated interruptions while street and concrete sections are removed and replaced.

This is a long project. A September 21 city update laid out the order as Lincoln Court first, then Bay Road north of Lincoln, then Lincoln Road itself. It forecast completion of Segments 2 and 3 in spring 2027. The city sends real-time alerts through a West Avenue project WhatsApp channel and posts two-week look-aheads on the project page.

November, within a short walk

With the Lincoln Road street end fenced off, the nearest weekend plans sit a few blocks east and north. The city's November events calendar and the Botanical Garden list these:

1. Sundays in November, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Lincoln Road Farmer's Market, running along Lincoln Road from Meridian Avenue to Washington Avenue.
2. Sunday, November 8, 2 to 4:30 p.m.: The Art of Belonging, a Friendsgiving HypnoExpression event at Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Tickets are $37, or $33 for members.
3. Sunday, November 29, noon to 5 p.m.: The Bass Free Community Day, with free admission and family art-making.

If you have spent the year watching 18th and Purdy fill in and want to talk about what that means for the blocks closest to it, Jessica Adams Luxury Real Estate follows the bay side of Miami Beach street by street. We're glad to compare notes over a table at the newest spot on West Avenue. Start Your Luxury Search.