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Nomadic_Nolazco's avatar
Nomadic_Nolazco
Explorer
Dec 28, 2014

Charleston, Sc- help!

Hello!

My husband and I are about to embark on our first fifth wheel adventure. I'm a travel nurse and he stays at home working with computers. Although I've booked my first month at James Island State park, I'm absolutely appalled at the prices. 1400 before a winter discount and about 1200 after the discount?! For the winter? I know CHarleston is a popular area but I'm so baffled and feel as though all of the other places were just as expensive. I feel like we wont be able to save like we had planned and even though I'm only going to be working there for three months, I can already feel my wallet quivering!

We don't have solar panels yet, we're just starting out. And it seems even boondocking is limited to 14 days at a time. Does anyone know where I could go more long term that's more affordable? Even if it means buying some panels and charging them in the beginning to get us going. It just makes me sick to shovel out more money than I paid for my mortgage before we sold our house!

I also need to stay within the immediate area due to being on call. Any help would be appreciated!

17 Replies

  • Tvov's avatar
    Tvov
    Explorer II
    Dec 29, 2014
    Do you have a time limit on this? Do you need to start fulltiming right now, or do you have time to plan?
  • Krease's avatar
    Krease
    Explorer
    Dec 29, 2014
    There are two KOAs- Ladson and Mt pleasant. I've heard good things about oak plantation. Too bad you have to be so close, because I'm out in the country with full hookups, but 45-50mins from downtown hospitals. Check Craigslist for RV spots. I've seen some previously on James island for around $300.
  • om's avatar
    om
    Explorer
    Dec 29, 2014
    Agree with suggestion to check rates at Oak Plantation.
  • Nomadic_Nolazco's avatar
    Nomadic_Nolazco
    Explorer
    Dec 29, 2014
    I wish I could go further away but I'm on call for the hospital and need a 30-40 minute response time.

    I did find through Passport American that I could get Lake Aire for 50% off so I'm thinking we might have to go that route
  • mgirardo's avatar
    mgirardo
    Explorer
    Dec 29, 2014
    Are you limited to Charleston? Brunswick, GA has a few much cheaper options. Coastal GA RV Resort charges $600 a month for 2 adults. Blythe Island Regional Park and Campground is about $477 a month. Both of these are a few miles off Exit 29 of I-95. Brunswick is an hour south of Savannah, 1 hour north of Jacksonville, FL and 3 hours to Charleston and Disney World.

    -Michael
  • accsys's avatar
    accsys
    Explorer
    Dec 29, 2014
    I believe the James Island County Park only allows stays up to 28 days which is longer than most State Parks which only allow 14 days at a time. To stay somewhere long term, you need to check out private RV Parks rather than public parks. Private RV parks usually provide smaller, less rustic sites and less privacy than the public city, county, state, and national parks but allow you stay pretty well as long as you wish and will often have weekly and monthly rates at a substantial discount from the daily rates. You normally pay for your electricity separate when renting by the month so keep that in mind when comparing rates.

    In Charleston, we have found Oak Plantation to be a very nice park but I have no idea what their monthly rates are - give them a call. If you haven't tried it yet, you need to get acquainted with the RV Park Reviews site where you can find public and private campgrounds by location and each listing will also have a link to the campgrounds own web site.
  • spoon059's avatar
    spoon059
    Explorer II
    Dec 28, 2014
    My only suggestion is to look a little further away from such a popular destination. I've been to JICP in February and its usually pretty empty... I'm a little surprised that monthly rates are so high. It is a very nice park and very convenient to downtown though.

    If you are willing to drive a little further, you might open up some less expensive places.
  • dezl_dr's avatar
    dezl_dr
    Explorer
    Dec 28, 2014
    Full hook-ups? If so, it doesn't sound that bad...$1200/month comes out to $40/per day. Hope you find something more reasonable that meets your needs.

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