There's never been a better time to go to Art Basel Miami Beach

Tropical allure, world-class private collections, and a heady mix of European and Latin American influences have helped make Art Basel Miami Beach, now in its fourth year, a prime art-world destination. Beyond the constellation of dealers at the convention center, artists, collectors, curators, and critics converging in Miami this month will find a citywide celebration of art and design. This year marks the debut of "design.05 Miami," exhibitions of top postwar- and contemporary-design dealers in the Moore Building, a twenties furniture showroom whose soaring central atrium will be transformed by Zaha Hadid with an installation she describes as having "a chewing-gum effect." The building also houses the Moore Space, a nonprofit venue whose December program features a labyrinthine roller coaster by Danish artist Jeppe Hein.

And all across Miami's Design District, for the week of the fair, dozens of temporary exhibitions are sprouting. Jeffrey Deitch is bringing the Brazilian twins known as Os Gemeos, makers of gargantuan puppets whose graffiti once adorned the streets of Sao Paulo. Colombian-born, Miami-based artist Federico Uribe's latex-and-plastic sculptures will hang from the ceiling in an environment filled with futuristic Edra furniture.

A few blocks south, in Wyn-wood, Miami's benefactors are also thinking big: The Rubell Family Collection, the Mar-gulies Collection, and (new this year) the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation display their ex-ceptional art holdings in the area's vast warehouses. Also in Wynwood, Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art, under Bonnie Clearwater's dynamic direction, is opening a giant temporary annex for its permanent collection. Meanwhile, MOCA's home base, in North Miami, is hosting innovative exhibitions like its current retrospective devoted to under-recognized German painter Albert Oehlen and next month's anticipated Malcolm Morley show.
The Miami Art Museum is the final stop for "Ana Mendi-eta," a retrospective of the Cuban-born artist's affecting films and performances. At the Wolfsonian. "In Pursuit of Pleasure" explores the history of hotel design, from Jazz Age masterpieces like the Waldorf-Astoria to Miami's renaissance in the fifties. And nestled among its exotic blooms, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is displaying Dale Chihuly's vividly colored, biomorphic glass sculptures.

Tired of walking? Boats will ferry you to collectors' homes and to Aqua, art patron and real estate impresario Craig Robbins's luxurious new development on Allison Island, where sculptor Richard Tuttle will unveil a ten-story-high ceramic mural based on a splash of water. Need to catch up on the latest gossip? Attend an exclusive party, like the one announcing the artists shortlisted for the Guggenheim Museum's coveted Hugo Boss Prize. You can recover the next morning with breakfast at the home of Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz, whose private collection, housed in their Key Biscayne mansion, focuses on cutting-edge, contemporary work. "It's a big house," says Mrs. de la Cruz, who had 2,000 people over the night before Art Basel Miami Beach opened last year, "but there's just one bedroom. The rest is devoted to art."