Since I'm heading to Florida this winter I wanted to spend some time in the Keys. The problem is that you can easily spend $600 per week for an RV spot during peak season. Since I now have some extra time on my hands I figured I'd do a bit of searching to see if I could head down there a bit early and skirt the high peak season rates.
One great web site to get an idea of what a RV park is like is RV Park Reviews. Here campers write reviews for places they have stayed. As with any review site you have read them closely, some people will ding a park because there was some small thing they felt was important while that may not be an issue for you.
Using RV Park Reviews I searched for parks on the keys. It appears that most of them are really nice but are in the $500+ per week range even in the off season. I finally ran across Sunshine Key RV Resort located on Big Pine Key. This is about half way down the keys and they are running a special of $359 a week for the month of November. The reviews weren't bad so it was time to see if there was anyplace else I could find.
I have always heard that the Florida State Parks are great but that it is impossible to get a reservation in them. I figured I'd have little luck finding anything open in the keys but what the heck, might as well have a look. There are a number of State Parks in the keys and it took some time to look at them all.
I finally found a site with 4 nights open at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park located at Key Largo. Key Largo is located at the top of the keys. I then when back to the Sunshine Key RV Resort web site to see if I could tie in my stay there with this opening. Sure enough, I was able to secure 7 nights at Sunshine, leave there, drive up the road a few miles and stay 4 nights at John Pennekamp.
That will give me 11 nights on the Keys at the end of November at a fairly reasonable rate to enjoy everything in the area. Yes, $550 for 11 nights is a bunch but I figure this may be the only time I will be able to do this. I can't wait!
You will love Big Pine key. Make sure you go to the No Name Pub on No Name Key. It’s not easy to find but great food.
have fun.
Yeah, heard about but couldn’t remember the name… or should I say the no name of it
BTW….We have a Crossroads Kingston which is the same basic floor plan as your Patriot. We have also been impressed with Randy and the crew at the Crossroads repair facility. They do awesome work.
Maybe we will see you on the road in Florida. I take the rig down to the Punta Gorda area in ten days. I would love to go to the Keys but it’s not in the cards this year.
Happy travels.
P.S. We’re from Caledonia. Small world , huh!
Maybe we’ll cross paths. Doing the Keys the end of Nov. Ft. Myers in Jan. and Crystal river in Feb. Funny, I meet a lot of people from SW MI. Wouldn’t think so considering all the places there are to go in the winter.