Snowbird Season in South Florida: When It Starts and How to Book Smart

Here is the short answer. Snowbird season in South Florida runs December through April, and it does not ramp gently. Market data for our stretch of coast shows December through April carrying roughly 54 to 56 percent of a home's entire year of rental revenue in about five months. March is the single most expensive month to visit. September is the cheapest by a wide margin. If you want the best combination of weather and price, look at early December or late April, and book the winter months a season ahead rather than a month ahead.

We're Brad and Justina, founders of Yours Truly Hospitality. We manage vacation homes from Jupiter to Miami, so we watch this calendar move every year. This is what it actually looks like, with the months laid out and the reasons behind them.

The season, month by month

Rather than describe peak season in adjectives, here is the shape of it. The table shows what share of a full year's rental revenue lands in each month for comparable three-bedroom homes in two of our core markets.

Month	Pompano Beach	Fort Lauderdale
January	11.2%	11.0%
February	11.7%	12.0%
March	12.6%	13.7%
April	9.0%	8.7%
May	6.7%	6.7%
June	6.8%	6.8%
July	8.1%	7.5%
August	6.5%	5.7%
September	4.7%	4.4%
October	5.9%	6.1%
November	6.9%	7.0%
December	9.8%	10.4%

AirROI market data, comparable short-term rentals near southeast Pompano Beach and central Fort Lauderdale, monthly revenue distribution modeled on trailing-12-month comp performance, pulled August 2026.

Two markets, twelve months, nearly the same curve. This is not one neighborhood having a good winter. It is how the whole coast breathes.

Read it as a traveler and it says something simple. March costs close to three times what September costs. December is already a strong month before the season technically peaks. And the middle of the year is not dead, because July holds up on family beach travel while August and September fall away.

Why December is the hinge

Most people think snowbird season starts in January, after the holidays, when the long-stay guests arrive and settle in for two or three months. That is true of the long stays. It is not true of the pricing.

December is already the fourth strongest month of the year in both markets above. Two things stack on top of the general warm-weather pull.

Miami Art Week fills Miami Beach and the mainland design districts in the first week of the month. Art Basel Miami Beach runs December 4 to 6, 2026, with VIP preview days ahead of it, and the satellite fairs run alongside. Homes across the county tighten that week, not just in South Beach.

The Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade runs December 12, 2026, starting at 6 p.m. The route covers about 12 miles, from Stranahan House east along the New River, into the Intracoastal, and north to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach. If you have never seen a hundred lit boats go by in seventy-degree air, put it on the list. Waterfront homes along that route book early for it.

Then the holidays arrive, and the last two weeks of December price like the peak they are. Treat December as high season. It is not the discount month before the real one.

January through April: the long-stay months

This is the stretch snowbirds actually come for, and the market reflects it. January, February, and March each clear 11 percent of the annual total in both markets, and March tops the year.

Two patterns are worth knowing.

First, the guest mix changes. Winter here runs on long stays. People come for a month or three, not a long weekend, so homes come off the calendar in large blocks. A four-week booking in February removes the whole month. That is why "there is nothing left" happens earlier in winter than in summer, when a calendar can still fill a few nights at a time.

Second, spring break stacks on top in March and early April. Universities and school districts across the country run their breaks on different weeks, so the month arrives as a rolling wave rather than one spike. It is the reason March outperforms February even though the weather is close to identical.

April is the soft landing. The weather is still excellent, the long-stay guests start heading north, and the numbers drop to about 9 percent. If your dates are flexible and you want winter conditions without winter pricing, the second half of April is one of the two best windows on this calendar.

The monthly-stay question, and the 30-day myth

If you are coming for a month or more, you have probably heard that stays over 30 days avoid Florida's rental taxes. That is not the line. The line is six months.

Florida charges its 6 percent state sales tax on rentals of living accommodations for a term of six months or less, per the Florida Department of Revenue, and state law lets counties add a local option transient rental tax on top of that same six-month-or-less window. In Broward County that local tax is the 6 percent Tourist Development Tax, which applies to any home, condo, or apartment rented for six months or less.

So a 31-day February stay is still a taxed short-term rental. A five-month stay is too. What does change past 30 days is how homes are priced. Long stays cut turnover cost and lock in a block of the calendar, which is why most managers set real monthly rates rather than multiplying the nightly rate by thirty. If you want a month, ask for the monthly rate directly. It is a normal question, not a negotiation.

The two windows worth targeting

If you can pick your dates, two windows give you most of the winter for well under peak pricing.

Early December, before Art Basel week and the holidays, is genuinely warm, the crowds have not landed, and the season has not fully priced up. Late April into early May is the mirror image. Hurricane season does not begin until June 1, the water is warm, and the market has already stepped down toward its summer rates.

The outright cheapest month is September, at under 5 percent of annual revenue in both markets. It is also the deepest part of hurricane season, which runs June 1 through November 30. That is a real tradeoff, not a hidden catch. Read the cancellation terms before you book, not after.

One calendar note for the fall. The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show runs October 28 through November 1, 2026, across seven waterfront venues. It is the largest in-water boat show in the world, and it turns a quiet shoulder month into one of the tightest weeks of the year here. If your dates land there and you are not coming for the show, move them a week.

How to book the winter well

Decide your window before you shop. Pick the month, then the neighborhood, then the home, in that order, because in this market the month drives everything else.

For January through March, book a season ahead. Those blocks disappear in big pieces and they do not come back. For December, work backward from the specific date you care about, whether that is the boat parade, Art Week, or Christmas. For April and early May, you have room to be choosier.

Ask three questions of any home before you commit. Is the pool heated, because January and February nights get cool enough to matter. Is parking on the property. And what is the all-in total with taxes and fees, because in Broward the tax stack alone is real money on a month-long stay.

We give every guest the honest version of these dates for their exact trip, including the times we tell them a different month suits them better. If a South Florida winter is on your list, browse our South Florida vacation homes and pick your window before the calendar picks it for you.