Florida

[ttempleton]

3 week trip (Feb 2016) around the coast of Florida with 40 ft 5ver. Few days in the keys but would rather not make reservations anywhere due unknown length of time at any stop. Any ideas,opinions or experience would be appreciated!In your opinion is this doable?

[You_can_t_take_]

The Canadian $ has dropped substantially over the last year. Given that a lot of Canadians head for Florida in the winter months I'm guessing that there will be fewer than usual this winter and you should be fine!! Nice for you... not so nice for me!!

[phillyg]

We did a major house-hunting trip with our fifth wheel Jan-Apr. Started in the Panhandle and went down to the Keys and up to JAX. Also went across the state. Never had a problem getting a site at commercial parks, but state parks were almost fully booked.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Most folks believe there is no such thing as boon docking in Florida, but check out the 4 or 5 WMA divisions, as a few folks have found boon docking that way as a back up if struggling to find commercial type sites.

[GMandJM]

Florida gets ALOT of winter visitors. You might want to re-think not making reservations - especially if you're planning on doing Disney. Ft Wilderness sites are in high-demand during Feb.

The farther north you plan on staying, the more likely you are to get sites. But also more likely to be cold.

Monkey44 mentioned that Flamingo has water/electric sites, but unless there has been a change since last year, the sites do have electric but not water.

Water is available from a communial spigot near the showerhouse. Reservations there are not site-specific, so you can't go on line and just choose a site near the water source.

Just our experience. YMMV.

[Mr__Camper]

February in Florida without a reservation may be doable, but I'd add in a healthy dose of prayer.

[Vulcan_Rider]

It's a gamble. As long as you are willing to stay a night in a "rest area" or WalMart or CrackerBarrel if you get in a bind then you should be fine.

Having a large rig can be a drawback....as can a "requirement" for hookups.

I suggest that you start scanning for vacancies in January (or earlier) just to see what might be available later.

[Klueck]

Good luck. The past few years we've seen a huge increase in RV all year long, not just in the winter. February is the busiest month and you have a large rig. You might be able to find a spot for a few days here and there, but normally the sites available are the least desirable (small) and might not work well for you. I'm sure it could be done, but may be a tad stressful. We were in the Keys last Feb and out 600+ rv park was completely full, as most others, and even hotels were completely booked.

[monkey44]

Spend a couple days in Everglades on the way in, or way out. Great place. Flamingo has Elect/Water sites, but you need to reserve early. Otherwise, dry camps but water and dump, and showers available (cold shower, but it's the Everglades, plenty warm even in dead of winter) Make sure you take some time at Royal Palms too, inside the park entrance...

[Ivylog]

Yes it can be done, even in Feb. There are plenty of RV parks that do not advertise so use Google and a town to find places... even in the Keys as they will have several days between longer stays. It's actually harder to find several weeks in the winter than several days.