"If you live in Sunny Isles Beach, having a Resident ID Card offers numerous benefits." That is how the city's own page opens. A few paragraphs down, the requirement for renters reads "Lease (for renters - duration must be 1 year)."
That one line sets the price of the fall calendar for everyone at 17749 Collins Avenue. The card is free and good for a year. Monday, October 5, is when it starts to matter, because that is the day Winter Fest wristbands go on sale. An owner with a deed, or a tenant on a twelve-month lease, can get the resident rate. A tenant on a winter lease can't, however many months they spend looking out at the same stretch of sand.
What The Card Changes This Season
The gap between the two prices is big enough to justify an afternoon of paperwork. The city's current published rates:
| City offering | With Resident ID | Without |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Fest at Gateway Park, Nov 21–22 | $10 per person, per day | $50 per person, per day |
| Booogie by the Beach at Pelican Community Park, Oct 23–24 | $10 per person, per day | $50 per person, per day |
| Sunset Series charcuterie workshop, Nov 13 | $25 | $50 |
| Intracoastal Sports Park court time | Free | $30 per hour, per person |
| Racket or basketball rental at the same park | Free | $5 per hour |
| Fishing on Newport Pier | Free | $10 |
A family of four going to both nights of Winter Fest pays $80 with cards and $400 without. Booogie, which bundles rides, attractions, live entertainment and a haunted house into each wristband, has the same five-to-one gap. Anyone can walk the pier for free. Only casting a line from it carries a fee.
Some benefits are hard to price. Gateway Center Bingo costs $2 a game, and only cardholders and their guests can play. Residents 60 and over with a valid card can sign up for two free eligible SIBeHealthy classes a month, and further programs are $10 a month. The city calls the card an "all-access pass" to Gateway Center, which has a fitness room and a dedicated senior gathering space. Card perks also reach local businesses. This month's Support SIB Local offer is free garlic rolls with a pizza purchase, or 10% off, at Pizza Bianco inside the Ramada Marco Polo at 19201 Collins Avenue.
The beach itself isn't on the list. The city's beach-access directory includes an entrance at 17749 Collins with a shower, and nothing on the Resident ID page ties beach use to the card. The card covers the city's parks, events and programs, away from the oceanfront.
The Paperwork Behind The Price
The application asks for more than an address. For a new card, the city's checklist is:
- Government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport
- A current deed for owners, or a lease of at least one year for renters
- For renters, a letter from the condo or management office stating who lives in the unit
- Two of the following: current vehicle registration together with insurance, a utility bill from the last three months, or a credit or debit card statement from the last three months
The city adds a condition that catches people out. Mobile phone bills are not accepted as utility bills. Electric, home phone and cable bills are. Every document has to show the same address as the application. In a furnished, turnkey residence where the owner pays the electric bill, the tenant may have only one of those proofs, or none.
The lease rule appears twice, once for new cards and again for renewals. A renter who signs a one-year lease, gets the card and then switches to a shorter term won't be able to renew. Cards last one year from the date of issue and have to be renewed every year.
The page doesn't cover several situations common in a building like this one. It says nothing about owners who split the year between Sunny Isles Beach and another home. It doesn't say whether each member of a household gets a separate card, or how minors apply. The safest approach is to ask the city's desk before assuming a "yes" or a "no."
Why A Hotel Guest Pays Less At The Courts
Intracoastal Sports Park at 15800 Collins Avenue opened with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, September 3. It has multi-use tennis and basketball courts, exercise equipment and a pedestrian walkway along the water. It is the most direct look at how the city prices access.
The fee schedule has four tiers. Cardholders reserve for free. A cardholder's guests pay $5 an hour each. Guests with a valid hotel reservation pay $15 an hour per person. Non-residents pay $30 an hour per person. A seasonal tenant with a four-month lease at The Mansions who books alone falls into the non-resident tier, so they pay twice what a hotel guest booked for a long weekend pays.
The booking rules make the gap wider. Only cardholders can reserve online, through the city's activities portal, up to seven days ahead, with one-hour slots that start on the hour. Non-residents can book only in person. Each household gets three reservations a week, at most one a day, and only one court at a time. Basketball courts can be reserved from 5 to 8 p.m. A cardholder can bring up to three guests per tennis booking or nine per basketball booking, at $5 per guest per hour. Guests need waivers on file but don't need to be city residents. Players without a card, including a seasonal tenant, still get on court through a cardholder's reservation. That costs $5 instead of $30.
The rules include a refund clause for anyone who paid the non-resident rate but believes they qualify. They have to bring proof of residency and apply for the card within five business days of the reservation. The refund is issued only if the card is approved. Missed reservations also count. Three no-shows or late cancellations in a 90-day quarter bring a one-month block on online booking.
The park keeps sunrise-to-sunset hours, and court hours run from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Parking there is also in flux. At its September 17, 2026 meeting, the City Commission approved raising the non-resident meter rate from $5 to $10 an hour at the Intracoastal Sports Park lot and at beach lots including Pier Park and Ellen Wynne Beach Access, while keeping the resident rate at $3. The October Islander doesn't give a start date.
The Calendar Sets The Deadline
The city says to allow 7 to 10 business days for an approval notice, for applications made either online or in person. Counting from Monday, October 5, that puts approval somewhere between October 14 and October 19. Booogie by the Beach is on October 23 and 24, so there is time, but not much room for a missing document. Winter Fest, with the park lighting on Saturday, November 21 and more entertainment on Sunday, November 22, gives applicants more margin. For the November 13 charcuterie workshop, priced at $25 for residents and limited to ages 21 and up, cardholders also get the advance registration the city lists among the card's benefits.
Applying in person is easy from here. Government Center, at 18070 Collins Avenue, takes applications at its Visitor Center Desk on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pelican Community Park, at 18115 North Bay Road, is open later: 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Gateway Center, at 151 Sunny Isles Boulevard, keeps weekday hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The online form is at sibfl.gov/residentid.
An owner needs a deed and two recent proofs. A renter needs a lease of a year or longer, a letter from the building's management office and the same two proofs, none of them a phone bill. A renter who has those documents in hand on October 5 can be paying $10 at Pelican Community Park by the weekend of October 23.
For owners at The Mansions who are setting lease terms, the length of the lease decides which side of these prices a tenant lands on. Acqualina Rentals structures seasonal and long-term placements with these details in mind and can coordinate the management letter a qualifying tenant needs. Request a private viewing or owner consultation, and Adriana Vargas will go through the lease terms with you.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
