Miami Beach “broke up” with spring break, but now the relationship is warming back up.

Mayor Steven Meiner said this year’s spring break will have similar policies to last year’s, but more relaxed, with this campaign focusing on health, wellness and public safety.

The theme for 2026 is “Wake up to a new March.”

Meiner said a heavy law-enforcement presence will return — including Miami Beach Police and state troopers.

“We’ve had two successful spring breaks — calm — families out enjoying, which was not the case several years ago,” Meiner said in his state of the city address on Wednesday night.

The changes include:

Not barricading all South Beach streets

Barricades will only be at identified hotspots

Beaches will no longer close at 6 p.m.

Public parking decks on South Beach will remain open

Sidewalk cafes will be back in operation for March

Commissioners noted progress in cracking down on rowdy spring breakers over the last two years.

“We had to throw the circuit breaker for two years; we had to disrupt and reeducate about what behavior is acceptable,” Commissioner Tanya Bhatt said.

The Miami Beach mayor had his second state of city address and on the agenda was spring break—something the mayor says the city has “broken up” with. NBC6’s Valerie Ryan reports

City officials said crime is down 18% and resort tax revenue is up.

“I believe we’ve achieved the goal of squashing the problem that we had. I’d like to congratulate our police chief and the Miami Beach Police Department. I think they did an amazing job and have done an amazing job,” businessowner Joel Stedman said.

But others are not so sure. Some who may not be benefiting from the new changes are business owners.

Mitch Novick, the owner of the Sherbrook Hotel, said Wednesday that spring break is no longer busy season.

“March — for generations — has been the most lucrative up until recently, or shall I say recent years,” he said.

Business owners say strict crime crackdowns, including checkpoints and barricaded areas, plus hiked-up parking prices, have hurt their bottom line.

“There are businesses that are gone now that were here, I should say 10 years ago, 15 years ago, that lost their business because of spring break and the shutdowns,” said Troy Wright of the Washington Avenue Business Improvement District.