Crowds in the Keys ?

[gmctoyman]

Trying to decide whether to head for the Keys, or go to Q'site again. I know what the crowds are around Q'site, but have no knowledge of the Keys.

[mlts22]

Key West is nice. However, there are plenty of other places than Florida and AZ/NM to go winter at. There is Padre Island in Texas which has a good amount of dry camping. Inland, there is always San Antonio, Kerrville, and many other places that have reasonable temperatures at this time of year. Of course, it doesn't hurt to high-tail it out of the region come April due to the hot/humid climate that starts around May persists to September.

[rhagfo]

GoPackGo wrote:
There is nothing that compares to watching the sun set in the Florida Keys. Traffic actually stops on the highway. Everybody pulls over on the west side of the highway and gets out the camp chairs. I was amazed.

I know we've all seen sunsets. But this is something different. You have to see it to believe it. I can't explain it - It's just an amazing sight. Especially if you get to see the Green Flash !

Tim

The great part of the keys, that you can watch Sunrise in the morning, walk at most a couple miles (KW) likely a couple hundred yards and watch Sunset!!!

[GoPackGo]

Going often . . . . What a great idea.

I had thought it was a myth too, but I read last year that the scientific types have confirmed it's existence. I believe it has something to do with the angle of the sun as it sets and the different wavelengths of light.

This subject cries out for more data collecting. At a west facing tiki hut. I just love science.

[holstein13]

GoPackGo wrote:
I know we've all seen sunsets. But this is something different. You have to see it to believe it. I can't explain it - It's just an amazing sight. Especially if you get to see the Green Flash !

Yes, I had forgotten about the mythical "Green Flash." You'd have to be pretty lucky, indeed, to catch that. Better go often if you have any hopes at all. 😉

[GoPackGo]

There is nothing that compares to watching the sun set in the Florida Keys. Traffic actually stops on the highway. Everybody pulls over on the west side of the highway and gets out the camp chairs. I was amazed.

I know we've all seen sunsets. But this is something different. You have to see it to believe it. I can't explain it - It's just an amazing sight. Especially if you get to see the Green Flash !

Tim

[kakampers]

Quartzsite and Key West are both destinations that everyone should visit at least once!! We love Quartzsite for boondocking and just chilling...Key West is my destination of choice any time I can manage to make it there...absolutely love everything about Key West!!

[holstein13]

I was at Quartzsite last weekend and I can now say that I think Key West is more enjoyable than Quartzsite. Both are very different. You wouldn't easily confuse them.

I value the warm weather, tropical breezes, blue waters and eclectic city over the beautiful desert with the hugely entertaining crowds at the big tent.

[Klueck]

Never been to "Q" but I've read tons of blog posts. It seems like a fun place but I can't believe it could compare to the Florida Keys in the winter.

We have been going down to the every winter for the past several years. We liked it so much we bought an rv lot there near Key West.

Key West is crowded and crazy, and it takes a little getting used to, but it's a super fun place, especially during the nightly sunset celebration.

We find the lower Keys (from Big Pine Key and down) to be less crowded. It's crazy up towards Islamorada and Marathon, but nice and quiet where we are on Cudjoe Key.

Check out my blog if you want to see all the fun things to do in the Keys. Here is a link for a fun night in Key West, but there is so much more. Never a dull moment.

Sunset Celebration in Key West

[tegu69]

Go back and actually read the posts. You started comparing beaches, I didn't. I said there was white sand mostly UNDER the water, in response to what another poster had said and you took issue with for some reason.

[Guy_Roan]

tegu69 wrote:

NanciL wrote:

tegu69 wrote:
I don't think its misleading. There is plenty of white sand, mostly under the blue water.

Misleading again!
We are kayakers and have been to every off shore Key there is down her.
There is a smattering of sand here and there, but mostly the bottom is hard dead coral (marl) or sea grass and mud
My biggest disappointment 40 years ago was the "beach" at John Pennekamp SP
Now I like to tall it like it is just so newbies won't be disappointed.
With all that said, the colors of the water are absolutely beautiful and we know where there are some nice sandy beaches out at the end of the Snipe Keys and the Mud Keys and a few others. You just need a kayak and a proper tide to get there and back in a day.

Jack L





Jack L

That's impressive that you have been to 1700 islands in your Kayak. People give their opinions on what they have seen. The "Keys" is not one small area. Over 100 miles by road and if you want to get technical, extend from the area of Ft. Jefferson to Elliot and Soldier Key and you could probably include Key Biscayne off Miami(where I was born). So it is an area of close to 200 miles.
Where do you get off saying that I was misleading. The poster was just saying that there was sand and I agree. I have dove in a lot of the entire area and yes there is sea grass and mud (and patch reefs), but there is sand under water as well. Maybe you should get out of the kayaks and get under water to look. BTW who goes to Pennekamp to see the beach.

I agree with what Jack L says.

We just got back from the Florida Keys, and it was nice and warm there, but there are hardly any nice sandy beaches the way we know them up around the Gulf side.

Guy

[NanciL]

tegu69 wrote:

NanciL wrote:

tegu69 wrote:
I don't think its misleading. There is plenty of white sand, mostly under the blue water.

Misleading again!
We are kayakers and have been to every off shore Key there is down her.
There is a smattering of sand here and there, but mostly the bottom is hard dead coral (marl) or sea grass and mud
My biggest disappointment 40 years ago was the "beach" at John Pennekamp SP
Now I like to tall it like it is just so newbies won't be disappointed.
With all that said, the colors of the water are absolutely beautiful and we know where there are some nice sandy beaches out at the end of the Snipe Keys and the Mud Keys and a few others. You just need a kayak and a proper tide to get there and back in a day.

Jack L





Jack L

That's impressive that you have been to 1700 islands in your Kayak. People give their opinions on what they have seen. The "Keys" is not one small area. Over 100 miles by road and if you want to get technical, extend from the area of Ft. Jefferson to Elliot and Soldier Key and you could probably include Key Biscayne off Miami(where I was born). So it is an area of close to 200 miles.
Where do you get off saying that I was misleading. The poster was just saying that there was sand and I agree. I have dove in a lot of the entire area and yes there is sea grass and mud (and patch reefs), but there is sand under water as well. Maybe you should get out of the kayaks and get under water to look. BTW who goes to Pennekamp to see the beach.

I'll stand by what I wrote. There are several posts here including yours that are misleading people that have never been here.
I won't reply any more, but it would be nice if someone who has never been here before would come back and tell us about all the white sand beaches they have found !
I love the keys. They are as good as it gets for boating, fishing, and sunshine, but their beaches can in no way compare with the long sandy beaches of the east coast and Gulf coast and are few and far between

Jack L

[tegu69]

NanciL wrote:

tegu69 wrote:
I don't think its misleading. There is plenty of white sand, mostly under the blue water.

Misleading again!
We are kayakers and have been to every off shore Key there is down her.
There is a smattering of sand here and there, but mostly the bottom is hard dead coral (marl) or sea grass and mud
My biggest disappointment 40 years ago was the "beach" at John Pennekamp SP
Now I like to tall it like it is just so newbies won't be disappointed.
With all that said, the colors of the water are absolutely beautiful and we know where there are some nice sandy beaches out at the end of the Snipe Keys and the Mud Keys and a few others. You just need a kayak and a proper tide to get there and back in a day.

Jack L





Jack L

That's impressive that you have been to 1700 islands in your Kayak. People give their opinions on what they have seen. The "Keys" is not one small area. Over 100 miles by road and if you want to get technical, extend from the area of Ft. Jefferson to Elliot and Soldier Key and you could probably include Key Biscayne off Miami(where I was born). So it is an area of close to 200 miles.
Where do you get off saying that I was misleading. The poster was just saying that there was sand and I agree. I have dove in a lot of the entire area and yes there is sea grass and mud (and patch reefs), but there is sand under water as well. Maybe you should get out of the kayaks and get under water to look. BTW who goes to Pennekamp to see the beach.

[NanciL]

cjoseph wrote:
I don't think it is misleading at all.

I simply stated that if the OP is only looking for warm weather, anyplace warm will do. In addition to warmth, the Keys have two things that you won't find anywhere else assessable by RV in the winter. Those are white sand and blue water. What's misleading about that?

I don't think I said miles and miles of white sandy beaches. Anyway, a person can only enjoy one beach at a time, so what difference does it make if there are only a few.

We love Sandspur. You can wade out to what seems like a mile in soft white sand and still see the bottom. That right there is worth the cost of the trip in our book.

Sombrero Beach on Marathon is one pretty nice white sandy beach too. We don't go to Pennycamp,but we do go next door to the Navy Annex. That beach has a lot of ground up coral, so water shoes are a must. We go there for the kids to snorkel without the need for a boat trip to get there. I imagine once our 7 year old gets bigger, we won't go there anymore.

So OP, rest assured that there is white sand in the Keys, and it does look beautiful next to that aqua-marine blue water. If you are looking for white sandy beaches, they are there too, but you have to look for them.

Evidently you have never been to the large open beaches on the east and west coasts of south Florida.

jack L

[holstein13]

I'm heading to Quartzite this year for my "once in a lifetime" visit. So I can't comment on the crowds there.

However, I've been to the Keys many times in my life and have camped there often in the winter and I've lived in South Florida for most of my life. I would not worry about crowds in the Keys. As far as campgrounds are concerned, you can expect them to be 90 - 100% full so if you don't like campgrounds that are almost full, you probably won't like campgrounds in Key West.

As far as Key West or other popular destinations are concerned, I wouldn't worry about crowds there either. I've found that the biggest surge of crowds comes from the cruise ships that dock in Key West. As long as you can avoid them, the crowds are rarely unbearable.

If the Big Tent in Quartzite is as uncrowded as Key West this time of year, I'll be very happy.