Flordia in January?

@ Bob Shaw I'm in a rural community about 30 miles north of Pensacola and about 15 miles south of the Alabama line. We love the state parks for the natural look and the some what privacy between the sites. We are not much for the RV parks they remind me of a parking lot and don't like looking at the back of my neighbors rig, that is also the reason we live in rural area (country) so that the neighbor are not right out our back door

Read rvparkreviews.com to get a feel for the parks you are asking about. Red Cocoanut is very pricy.

Pine Barren wrote:
@Laman. What you just said about the parks being booked up in the central and south part of the state also happens up here in the panhandle at certain parks. This is the reason that my wife and I have started planning almost a year and a half out on certain places and times and when the window comes open to make the reservations we go ahead and make them. We are not the type of people that make a bunch then cancel later we can't afford that. We have certain times we like to go and we go ahead and book them way ahead and so far we have been able to stick to those dates. Don't get me wrong we still do some last minute trips and also try to get some trips in and don't have any luck. It is always better to be camping and enjoying the outdoors than being at work.

Not sure where in Florida you're from, but, for winter camping, you may want to try Fish Eating Creek State Campground in Palmdale (South of Lake Placid on US 27). When I lived in Florida, that used to be one of my favorite campgrounds (along with Long Key State Park), and I've never seen it full.

Bears Den wrote:
I live near Red Coconut and have driven through the beach sites, they are so close together that I don't see how anyone can get their awning or slides out. If you sneeze your neighbor will bless you. I don't know about the inlet side as I have never been through there. Also there is a major road renovation going on Estero Blvd so it may make it hard to even get to Red Coconut.

We did get the inlet side (beach side is full), but are still very close to the beach. I figure we are only there for 4 days, and being close to the beach will be very nice. Thanks for the update on the construction, we will keep that in mind as we travel!!

Thanks everyone for your help!! We decided to choose staying 4 nights at Little Manatee State Park, and 4 nights at Red Coconut RV Park, Fort Myers Beach! It helped learning the people like the Florida State Parks!! Looking forward to our trip!! We wanted to see a little more of the Florida life in January, and wanted to explore the west coast south of Tampa. We are empty nesters and checking things out for our future. Full-timing sounds very appealing someday.

@Laman. What you just said about the parks being booked up in the central and south part of the state also happens up here in the panhandle at certain parks. This is the reason that my wife and I have started planning almost a year and a half out on certain places and times and when the window comes open to make the reservations we go ahead and make them. We are not the type of people that make a bunch then cancel later we can't afford that. We have certain times we like to go and we go ahead and book them way ahead and so far we have been able to stick to those dates. Don't get me wrong we still do some last minute trips and also try to get some trips in and don't have any luck. It is always better to be camping and enjoying the outdoors than being at work.

Pine Barren wrote:
As had been said before the state parks are very nice and most of them offer some privacy between sites. They are also alot cheaper than the rv parks

The SP's are also almost always booked up during the winter months in the central and southern part of the state. This fact leads to one of the greatest frustration's for us RV'ing residents of the state, when the weather finally cools off for pleasent camping, guess what the SP's are full with winter visitors I was actually warned about this by a friend of mine who has camped for years in Florida and he was right. Now before you flame me I agree that everyone, regardless of residence, has the right to use our parks, although I would be all for a SP rule limiting stays to 7 days instead of 14 with a two week breaks.

To the OP make reservation for that time period, I was at a central Fl large campground last week and they told me they were totally booked for most of Dec. and all Jan thru March. That is a very common occurence particularly near the coast.

South of I-4 is more crowded and expensive because the majority of folks want to be near the water and have temps in the 80s. My thought is if your coming from somewhere that is in the teens even 65 for the high in Florida is better. To me north of I-4 would be where I would be looking for sites, cheaper and not as crowded. By the way, the winter out look for the country shows the south colder than normal and wetter than normal thanks to El Niño.

I live near Red Coconut and have driven through the beach sites, they are so close together that I don't see how anyone can get their awning or slides out. If you sneeze your neighbor will bless you. I don't know about the inlet side as I have never been through there. Also there is a major road renovation going on Estero Blvd so it may make it hard to even get to Red Coconut.

As had been said before the state parks are very nice and most of them offer some privacy between sites. They are also alot cheaper than the rv parks