Florida December Vacation

Daytona Beach. The Encore resort nearby in Ormond Beach might have a spot. We really enjoyed it there.

We are trying Fort Desoto in February for the first time. We prefer state parks and this one gets good reviews. 6 days, $272.00

spoon059 wrote:
Gulf coast is GORGEOUS!.... We have stayed at Holiday Cove which is an RV RESORT ($120+ a night!!!)....

Try as I might and I certainly could afford to do so.....I just can not get past paying $120.00 a night for a "CG site". :W

Gulf coast is GORGEOUS! I love Anna Maria Island, just south of Clearwater and just north of Sarasota. There are several campgrounds in/around the area. We have stayed at Holiday Cove which is an RV RESORT ($120+ a night!!!). The last 2 years we have stayed at Buttonwood Inlet. Buttonwood is actually closer to the gulf, less than half mile across the Intracoastal Waterway to the gulf.

There is a state park about 20 minutes further inland, as well as several 55+ parks.

You get the water of the Gulf on one side of the island and Tampa Bay on the other side. Absolutely amazing and beautiful public beaches and plenty of bike/walking paths throughout the island!

Last year over Christmas week, we went to Falling Waters State Park, about 50-75 miles North of Panama City. The temperatures were in the low 60's to low 70's the entire week. Cool, not good for swimming at all, but very nice for exploring and outside activities.

This year, over Christmas week we are going to St. Joseph (South of Panama City) and have a camp site across the road from the beach. It's just the wife and I and dog and cat (no kids), and we do enjoy site seeing and vegetating! It might be a bit boring for kids, unless they have active imaginations and can turn a shell into a secret decoder and a stick into a laser fighter. But if you want a beach close by, this state park looks like it might fit the bill. I've never been there, but sure does look interesting to me.

If a pool is on your must have list.

Be sure to call ahead and see if the CG pool is open. I ran across a lot of them that they shut the pool down for 'their winter'. :R

A. they don't have a pool heater or B. they don't want to turn it on for what THEY call the colder months. Yup that was an eyeopener for me.

Not saying all of them do but I stayed at quite a few that did close the pool. The big resort CG's usually have them open.

I can't see there being a problem at Christmas as we go to the Tampa area each year to visit with MIL and have not seen any place even close to being full though we do not stay on, but near the beach. Places we have stayed in the area are Bay Bayou, Silverdollar, and even Hillsbourgh River SP. Jan, Feb and Mar. is a different story.

I personally prefer the Gulf Coast side of Florida. You probably won't have any great difficulty finding an RV park somewhere in Florida, if that's what you're looking for (you didn't really specify that you were coming in an RV). While a lot of snowbirds will be there at that time many don't head south until after Christmas, but the warm area nearer the beaches will be difficult.

You might try doing some research using RV Park Reviews.com (see below). Select a city or use the map feature to locate a city and then search info about campgrounds.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Florida/

"Warm & close to the beach" may be difficult, but the further inland you go the more likely you'll find something. A heated pool may work better than the beach, especially if you have kids. Check out the greater Orlando area or a bit south from there. There's a lot in the Orlando area for families. You can always do a day trip to the beach if the weather is going to be nice. If not, you can always hang out at the pool.

There is a beautiful campground, Periwinkle Park, Sanibel Island, that comes close to what you want. The problem is that in the winter it's usually full. Likewise most of the other prime campgrounds where it's warm.
On the Atlantic coast the New Smyrna Beach RV Park is close to the beach. Bring your bikes because people ride them and their cars on the beach (believe it or not) but you can view a New Smyrna Beach webcam to prove the point.

trop-a-cal wrote:
You never know about winter weather in Florida, so even if you go farther south, sometimes it's real cold. The ocean is very damp, and usually windy. Finding a spot is at this late time by signing up for standby spots that may already be reserved but last minute cancelled. This happens about 5% or less of the time. Pick the area you think you would like and contact spots asking for a site standby reservation where as soon as they know they call you and probably will want payment ahead of time. Good Luck

"The ocean is very damp" ????????

Last I heard it is wet also

Jack L