Florida Keys RV Parks in Winter

jplante4 wrote:

dalenoel wrote:
Don't know about the Keys but just north of Tampa some of the parks only accept reservations for a 4 month period.

Is that Rock Crusher? That's too bad. We stayed there for a week a few years ago. Nice campground. Lots of Michiganders...

I spoke with some returning snowbirds last week that stayed in Mexico Beach area. They said it was still a mess from last hurricane season.

I don't know if four month minimums are necessarily bad, but it's not hard to see how events quickly shaped the market in the area. We spend our winters in the Spring Hill area, north of Tampa. We recently bought a site in the park we frequent. We made the decision to buy as it has become increasingly difficult to find a nice place to stay, in the area. Prices are constantly rising, and most places worth staying at are booked a year ahead. When we started staying at our park, six years back, you could randomly pull in, in January or February, and get a site. It was only 80-90% full at peak. By March of this year, without any extended stay requirement, the park was 100% booked from Dec 1st to April, 1st, 2020.

There are supposedly 10K boomers retiring, every day of the week. Given that fact, record RV sales, and a few really nasty winters for northerners, the pressure on availability continually rises. We have stayed in several top notch parks from Tampa north to Gainsville, and have seen monthly site rentals increase in price by 20-80% in that six year span. It's possible however,to find a nice park in central Fl. north of I-4 for 75-80% LESS than top parks in southern Fl. Our park is still extremely accommodating with folks seeking short stays, but they still fill up a year ahead. I can see why others do the three or four month minimum. They have far less work and drama while running the operation, and they often require first and last month's rent, and a deposit for electric. By doing that, they not only have a fully booked facility, but they know that they will be getting paid for all four months. You can leave anytime, but you lose your last month's rent.

We came through Mexico Beach and Panama City on the way north, this year, and it is still an ongoing disaster, with lots of basic clean-up still waiting for funds. Everything from homes and hotels, to the air base look like they just suffered an extended bombing campaign. Driving through three million acres of planted pine forests, that have most trees snapped clear off, at 10-20 feet off the ground, for as far as you can see, is pretty mind blowing also.

Stay at either Sunshine RV or Bluewater RV. I don't recommend Venture Out at Cudjoe Key unless you have no pets. Beware of love bugs. They just did $2,000 damage to the front of my mh protective shield...

If you're military active/retired and/or DOD you can camp at the NASKW Sigsbee/Trumbo campgrounds located right on Key West. Limited FHU's during the winter, but there are dry camping options until a FHU becaomes available.

jplante4 wrote:

dalenoel wrote:
Don't know about the Keys but just north of Tampa some of the parks only accept reservations for a 4 month period.

Is that Rock Crusher? That's too bad. We stayed there for a week a few years ago. Nice campground. Lots of Michiganders...

I spoke with some returning snowbirds last week that stayed in Mexico Beach area. They said it was still a mess from last hurricane season.

We stay at Rock Crusher for the winter months and while they often get busy during the January - March, especially February and early March, time period there are a lot of the few days to weeks type snowbirds there. We reserve for 4 months at a time, but there are usually openings for shorter periods.

jdarwin wrote:
Do RV parks in Florida require you to stay a min. of 30 days?

We're newbies. We just purchased our first 5th wheel and are planning to winter (Jan-Feb 2020) in Florida. We joined Good Sam and started looking for parks to book. We wanted to stay in the keys for 1-2 weeks. From looking at the list of parks on Good Sam they only seem to offer 30 rentals. Are there parks with weekly rates in winter? We'd like to spend a week in Daytona, 1-2 weeks in Miami, 1-2 weeks in the keys, 1-2 weeks in Ft. Meyers, 1-2 weeks in Tampa, 1-2 weeks in Panama Beach.

What about COE/BLM or Nat'l parks? We'd appreciate any input and ideas from more seasoned campers. Thanks

Vicke and John

We go to the Keys ,You can figure on paying in the area of $4000.00 a month, that is if you can find an opening
...C

Welcome to the fray! I started asking the same sorts of questions about a year ago. It's pretty complicated finding a place to camp in Florida during the winter, especially in the Keys. You have to either book way ahead (as in 11 or 12 months ahead) or work the "cancellation" routine. I found this article to be really helpful in getting started.

Also, concerning COE and other forest service possibilities, go to recreation.gov and choose all the appropriate filters. There are a couple of COE campgrounds in southern Florida, and a bunch of forest service campgrounds in the Ocala National Forest area.

Don't overlook county parks as well. The tricky thing is, there are a lot of counties in Florida, and you have to find each one's website and explore whether or not they have parks that have camping. And most of them give early preference to reservations from county residents (as they should).

Good luck. Maybe we'll see you down there. It's doable, but it takes effort and either advanced planning or a laid-back attitude. Last month I met a couple who had been on the road in Florida for 4 months, and as far as I can tell they didn't have any reservations anywhere. They were having a good time moving around from one available short-term stay to another. That's great if you have the temperament for it.

-Speak

dalenoel wrote:
Don't know about the Keys but just north of Tampa some of the parks only accept reservations for a 4 month period.

Is that Rock Crusher? That's too bad. We stayed there for a week a few years ago. Nice campground. Lots of Michiganders...

I spoke with some returning snowbirds last week that stayed in Mexico Beach area. They said it was still a mess from last hurricane season.

We go to Blue Water Key -- during the winter, they have a 7 day minimum. Most sites are booked a year in advance. Call and see what you might find.

We winter in the Florida Keys and most of the RV parks there rent by the day, the week, the month or several months. The only problem is they are usually all booked way ahead of time.
If I were you, I would be trying to book now for next winter

Guy

Don't know about the Keys but just north of Tampa some of the parks only accept reservations for a 4 month period. I know when they have cancellations they will let shorter ones happen but there is a great demand.

You can find some with weekly rates but a suggestion is to use http://www.campgroundreviews.com/ and search the area you want and then call each park. Some may help and others, like around Daytona, will let you know that Feb and March are only $2250/month. Not what we like but they can get it so they charge what the market will bear.

Good luck in your search and start now.