The reason to make this trip is the water, not the beach — Fort Lauderdale's '300 miles of canals' give it a boating culture Miami doesn't replicate: ride the Water Taxi past waterfront mansions and dock-hop to Las Olas Boulevard for dinner and galleries. As a beach, it's a familiar, calmer version of Miami Beach and not worth 45 minutes each way on its own. Fit read: choose it specifically for a canal/water-taxi day or Las Olas dining; skip it if your Miami time is short.