Where to mingle and make new friends in Miami

There are so few magical spots where all the elements come together just right, but that's what you get at the Freehand Miami’s backyard. These elements include its anchor, Broken Shaker—one of Miami’s best bars for a craft cocktail (and, ahem, one of the 50 Best Bars in North America)—a vast pool area with lounge chairs aplenty and the Eagle Room, which mimics a cozy house party all the damn time.

Freehand Miami itself is a backpacker haven with dorm-style rooms and bungalows alike. It all adds up to a super-social environment with genuine mingling. Keep a lookout for special events, too, like beach clean-ups and restaurant pop-ups that bring together the regulars that much more. 2727 Indian Creek Drive, Miami Beach. Broken Shaker is open 5pm to 1am Monday through Thursday, 4pm to 2am Friday and Saturday and 4pm to 1am on Sunday.

Tennis is one of those sports that brings people together. You can play it at any age. You can take it as seriously as you want. And guess what? South Florida is absolutely loaded with tennis courts. Slice Girls Tennis Club, founded by a group of local Miami ladies, is all about being a platform for building new friendships and connections in Miami through the sport. The club has weekly classes Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Moore Park where you can learn new skills, break a sweat and, perhaps, find your new brunch squad. The organization also has a big monthly clinic that really draws the masses. 765 NW 36th Street. Dates, times and prices vary.

Whether your drawing skills peaked in grade school art class, you're a serial doodler or a bona fide arteest, Raw Figs provides the perfect setting to relax and let your pencil and imagination flow. The donation-based pop-up with live models partners with cool Miami spaces like Soho House, Pérez Art Museum, Paradis Books & Bread and Understory to promote good vibes and great drawings in a laid-back, social atmosphere that's perfect for striking up conversations. At the end of class, compare canvases and perhaps even exchange IG info with a new pal. Dates and locations vary. 

Daybreaker has become a movement of 500,000-plus people, across five continents and nearly 30 cities. Miami is one of those cities. So, what is it exactly? Well, it’s all about bringing together people to dance, rock out and share good/wellness vibes. These events have taken place at the likes of Faena Miami Beach, Club Space and, oftentimes, the location is kept secret until peeps RSVP.

A couple of pro-tips: these are non-alcoholic shindigs, and there is typically a theme to dress for and prepare to take in some dance lessons. If you like the idea of a club but hate all the B.S. involved with it, Daybreaker experiences are total bliss. Dates, times and prices vary.

Sure, Soho Beach House is definitely an “it” spot for its high-profile parties during Miami’s biggest weeks (e.g., a tent party with Rick Ross during Art Basel). But, on an average day, this is a leading haven for Miami’s creative community that likes to kick it on beach chairs while remote working, hunker down in its library that has panoramic ocean vistas or gather around a table in its dining room for a brainstorming sesh. Beyond collaborative spaces, Soho Beach House regularly hosts creative lectures, classes and more as part of its programming. Miami Pool House also recently opened on the border of Wynwood and Edgewater with similar happenings. 4385 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. Memberships run $2,600 annually with 50% discounts available for those under 27 years old.

Welcome to Miami's first vinyl listening bar. These intimate experiences—which are super-popular in Japan—bring together music lovers in a cozy, living room-like space for high-fidelity musical experiences. Dante’s regularly hosts evenings with a musical theme (e.g., NYC dance floor bliss) and tributes to beloved artists spanning The Smiths to De La Soul. Pro-tip: Keep an eye on Dante’s Instagram page for the latest slate of listening sessions and prepare to join good-vibes peeps who share your same taste in tunes.

Google STAY FIT 305 and you’ll see that it’s an online hub for Miami fitness news. But the organization takes its sense of community well beyond the interwebs, hosting sweat sessions aplenty throughout the year. These have included multifaceted workouts at Eden Roc with a boot camp, Zumba and a pool party; yoga sessions at Regatta Park; and a monthly run club. If surviving a heck of a workout under the Miami sun doesn’t bring you together with peeps, what will? Dates, times and prices vary.

This is not your average wine-tasting, folks. More of a party than a sit-down formal affair, the Grape Crush pop-up goes down on the final Tuesday of each month. The locations vary, but the core experience remains the same: trying six or so different wines anad learning about the varieties in a fresh, trendy setting. The shenanigans can include wine decanted from a water gun, a porrón competition (where you guzzle wine from a special Spanish pitcher) DJs and food pairings. Dates, times and prices vary.

The Miami Design District is growing before our eyes, with new fashion, dining and architectural hotspots emerging seemingly by the day. And there's a ton of public art popping up in between it all. Biweekly, the Miami Design District hosts public art tours that are free and open to the public, meeting at Palm Court. And, no, these aren’t tourist-heavy tours where you’re forced to ride around in a motorized duck. Local art and culture lovers congregate to learn about the latest installations and then often keep the convos going at hotspots like Pura Vida and the newly opened Tablé by Bachour. Every other Saturday from 11 a.m. to Noon at 140 NE 39th Street, Miami