Waterfront Park Near Me: Disco Ball Sunsets at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park

Maurice Gibb Memorial Park, at 1790 Purdy Avenue where 18th Street meets the bay in Sunset Harbour, is the Miami Beach park that turned a Bee Gees legend into a waterfront playground. It reopened in April 2025 with a disco ball play structure, mangrove shoreline, fishing piers and two lookouts over Biscayne Bay. Add a floating kayak dock and a free water taxi to downtown Miami, and this small corner of the bay packs more to do than its size suggests.

The park honors Maurice Gibb, who with brothers Barry and Robin made up the Bee Gees, the trio behind "Stayin' Alive," "Tragedy" and "Jive Talkin'." Maurice and Robin have passed away, while Barry still spends time in Miami Beach. Before the redesign, part of the site carried contaminated soil from a previous gas station use, so the rebuild began underground with remediation before any playground or lawn went in.

Construction started the week of March 27, 2023, with a groundbreaking on April 4 and fencing around the whole perimeter. The total budget reached $12.1 million, with $6.6 million from the 2018 General Obligation Bond and $1,203,750 from the Florida Inland Navigation District. Coastal Systems International handled design and engineering. The grand opening on April 3, 2025 featured the Miami Beach High School Rock Ensemble and remarks from members of the Gibb family.

The centerpiece for families is the custom music-themed play structure, built around larger-than-life faux musical instruments and a disco ball that nods to the Bee Gees era. City renderings captioned it "You should be dancing...", after the Bee Gees song. Nearby stands the new Maurice Gibb memorial structure, the quiet counterpoint to the playground noise. Pavilions with seating for small gatherings, shade structures and a fenced dog park round out the land side.

Look past the lawn and you will notice the edge of the park is not a plain concrete wall. The redesign extended a living shoreline planted with additional mangrove trees, a green infrastructure technique the city uses to slow coastal erosion and create habitat for fish, aquatic plants and wildlife. Behind it, the seawall was raised, drainage capacity was increased and native trees and shrubs were planted, so the park handles high tides better than the old layout did.

Paddlers come here for the floating dock, which the city ordinance reserves for launching and landing human-powered craft such as kayaks and paddleboards. Each launch or landing is limited to 20 minutes, so arrive with your boat rigged and your gear already strapped in. Kayaks, paddleboards and canoes are not allowed on the boat ramp itself, which is kept for motorized vessels. Dinghies and tenders are barred from using the dock as a drop-off point.

From the dock you push straight into the bay with the Venetian Islands to the south and the downtown Miami skyline across the water, a short and rewarding paddle on calm mornings. Enforcement here is serious. Misusing the ramp or docks brings a $1,000 fine on a first violation plus immediate towing of the vessel. While the Marine Patrol work continues, the city asks paddlers to carry boats along the pedestrian path on the park side of the construction zone.

Anglers should head for the fishing piers rather than the floating dock, because the posted rules state no fishing is allowed from the dock. The two upgraded lookouts face west across Biscayne Bay, which makes this one of the few Miami Beach parks where the sun sets over open water instead of behind buildings. The large bay overlook is the natural gathering spot at dusk, and the open green space behind it fills with picnic blankets on clear evenings.

The Barry Kutun Boat Ramp on the park's edge runs from 7 am to 10 pm and is limited to noncommercial motorized vessels belonging to Miami Beach residents. Only residents registered in the city's residential parking programs may park at the ramp lot. Boats must be prepped before backing down, with plugs secured and dock lines tied, and no temporary docking is allowed. Fueling, mechanical work and soap washing are banned, and the rinse spigot is capped at five minutes.

The park itself is open, but a construction fence now wraps the Marine Patrol site next door. Work on the $13 million, 10,924-square-foot facility began in July 2026 and is expected to last about 13 months, with completion targeted for summer 2027. A city advisory dated October 8, 2026 says the ramp closes to vessels for about five days starting October 26 for drainage trenching, with pile driving noise later in the month. The lot beside the playground stays open.

The park gates follow the sun, so the window between late afternoon and dusk is the prize. Weekday evenings get busy at the dock between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm, when water taxis arrive every 30 minutes, so paddlers who want a quiet launch should come earlier in the day or on a weekend. Weekend mornings, with no commuter boats at the dock, are the calmest time for the playground and the lawn.

Since January 20, 2026, the Maurice Gibb Memorial Park dock has been the Miami Beach stop for the city's free commuter water taxi. Boats about 40 feet long carry up to 55 passengers to the Venetian Marina and Yacht Club in Miami, with a steady 20-minute crossing and no waits for bridge openings. Service runs Monday through Friday only, with no boats on weekends or observed federal holidays. Bikes and scooters may ride along at the captain's discretion.

Leaving the park, walk east along 18th Street into the Sunset Harbour blocks, where the restaurant strip sits only a few minutes from the bay. Lucali, at 1930 Bay Road, is the Sunset Harbour outpost of the Brooklyn pizzeria, so a pie and a stroll back to the overlook for the sunset makes an easy evening.

For a greener detour, continue toward Convention Center Drive to the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, at 2000 Convention Center Drive, a city garden that pairs naturally with the park's native plantings and mangroves. The walk crosses residential streets lined with shade trees and takes in the edge of the Convention Center district. It makes an easy loop for a family that has worn out the disco ball playground and wants a slower hour.

The park is open Monday through Sunday, sunrise to sunset. Maurice Gibb Memorial Park sits at 1790 Purdy Avenue, at the corner of 18th Street and Purdy Avenue in Miami Beach. The parks office phone is (305) 673-7779, and pavilion and event rentals go through the special events division at (305) 993-2021. The boat ramp keeps its own schedule of 7 am to 10 pm.

Entry to the park is free and so is the weekday water taxi, which leaves every 60 minutes from 7 am to 4:30 pm and every 30 minutes from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Drivers should skip the ramp lot, which is reserved for residents registered in the city's residential parking programs. From the mainland, the water taxi is the scenic way in. For a picnic plan or a sunset paddle route, ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for spots around Sunset Harbour.