Sandi Land: The Sand Tree at Holiday in Paradise, West Palm Beach

Spending Christmas in Florida can be a little hard to bring on the holiday cheer when you’re still wearing shorts and tank tops in December. But Florida finds some unique ways to bring out the Christmas spirit. You’ll find lights on palm trees, a boat parade with the boats decked out in Christmas lights and Sandi Land, the sand tree at Holiday in Paradise.

If you find yourself in South Florida during the holiday season, this is a unique thing to do in Florida for Christmas.

About Sandi Land + Holiday in Paradise

Sandi Land’s main attraction is Sandi, the 35-foot sand tree made from 700-tons of sand. Each year, Sandi is constructed on the great lawn with a decorative theme for Christmas. It’s fun to check out and also happens to be right next to West Palm Beach’s bar street, so there’s a lot to do in the area. (Scroll down for the 2023 schedule!)

There are other sand sculptures too that you can walk around and check out. It runs from Dec 1st-31st and 2023 is the 12th year of Holiday in Paradise. By the way, you’ll hear it called Holiday in Paradise and/or Sandi Land. I’m not entirely sure what the official name is.

What to Do

Sandi Land isn’t a huge theme park or anything, it’s simply the sand tree + sculptures and a few other cute things to look at and walk around.

Check Out Sandi the Sand Tree

Sandi is the name for the 700-ton sand tree that sits in the middle of the Great Lawn. Construction begins in early November with loads of sand being brought in. The tree is carefully crafted by Team Sandtastic and is usually ready for visitors around the start of December or end of November.

Each year, Sandi has a different theme–for 2023 it’s ‘Treasure West Palm Beach’. The idea is a fictional storyline of a pirate and his parrot seeing the lights of Sandi from the water and going ashore in search of treasure. But they discover riches in spending time with family and friends.

For 2022, the theme was “Big Deal, Big Wheel” which came from Sandi Land taking the #1 spot in USA Today’s ‘Best Public Holiday Lights Display’ contest of 2021. The designs are different each year so it’s fun to see what they come up with.

Walk Around the Sand Sculptures

In addition to Sandi, there’s 100-tons of sand that make up the surrounding sand sculptures nearby. These smaller sculptures are situated near the water on the boardwalk and are very detailed and creative.

Watch the Light Show

Head to the Great Lawn at night to see Sandi Land all lit up! A synchronized light show starts on the quarter hour every hour from 6-10pm. Sandi will be lit up and syncs with the centennial fountain and the Ferris wheel.

I assume that Sandi stays lit when the light show isn’t happening, but I’m not entirely sure. We showed up around sunset and the lights came on the tree as we were leaving, but it wasn’t the light show. It was around 5:30pm when the lights started coming on.

Ride the Ferris Wheel

A new addition to Sandi Land for 2022 was a 65-foot Ferris wheel. It’s right next to the Sandi tree so you’ll get a bird’s eye view from the air (as well as views of the water). Rides are available in the evening from 6-10pm and are $5 per ride or $20 for unlimited rides in one night. You’ll need a ticket for everyone ages 3+.

The Ferris wheel, called ‘Ferris’, also lights up at night. It’s synchronized with the light show of the Sandi Land tree. So if you time it right, you’ll get to see the light display also.

Photo Ops

Sprinkled around the lawn are usually several photo ops for kids. Some are cardboard cutout type things, others are plastic figures. They usually have a little red ornament seat that is cute.

Monthly Events

Apart from the nightly light shows and sand sculptures that are available to view throughout the day, there are also several events throughout the month of December. It will be different each year, but they usually do a Sandi Land tree lighting on the first night. There’s also movies on the lawn and Santa meet and greets.

Where to Go

The Sandi tree is located on the Great Lawn in Downtown West Palm Beach. It’s situated alongside Flagler Drive at 101 S Flagler Dr or at the end of Clematis Street at 100 N. Clematis St. Sandi is right in the middle of the lawn and the smaller sand sculptures are located along the waterfront. You can walk right down Clematis Street (the bar street by night, restaurants by day) to the Great Lawn and waterfront.

Parking

Clematis Street and the park you’ll be heading to, don’t really have a main designated parking lot. Parking on the street is few and far between during busy times, but if you come across a metered spot, grab it. There are also a few designated lots nearby, but those are usually the most expensive as they will charge a flat rate fee.

Your best parking option for Holiday in Paradise is to park in one of the nearby parking garages and walk over from there. The Clematis Parking Garage is straight down Clematis or you can head to the City Center Public Parking Garage or the Evernia Garage.

Things to Know:

• This goes without saying but do not try to touch the sand sculptures. They are blocked off by barriers for a reason. And don’t be the jerk who throws something on them either. One of the sand sculptures had a glass of wine thrown on it–not cool.
• Barriers are put up and there are canopies over the sand sculptures (minus the tree) to help protect them from the weather.
• There is a tiki hut on the edge of the lawn where you can buy drinks and snacks.

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