Florida site availability Dec-March?

jmencel · 03-08-2015, 10:59 AM

Hi folks. Canadian newbie here. I've just picked up a 17' Hybrid TT with plans to head to Florida next winter. I'm hoping to explore and stay at different RV parks every 5-7 days but don't know how full the Florida parks typically are during the winter months. Is this just wishing thinking or do I need to make reservations well in advance to be sure to find places to stay? I'm hoping some of you Snowbirds or Florida folks might be able to share the benefit of your knowledge on the likelihood of RV park availability December through March without reservations. Many thanks, John

SkipnTerri · 03-08-2015, 11:05 AM

Guess it may depend on what on part of Florida you're wanting to go and how deep your pockets are. We tried to make reservations last month around the Cape Coral area and found all the campgrounds full with the exception of two that wanted over $75 USD a night. Argh!!!

poppytoymaker · 03-08-2015, 12:04 PM

Camping in St. Augustine in 2 weeks in a 7 and half rated in CG reviews, four and a half miles out of downtown for $42 a night, and another one rated a 6 and $82 a night was booked for the whole month of March, go figure?

wfmdfm · 03-08-2015, 12:26 PM

Try the FLA State Parks. I know Lake Louisa has some with full hookups. You do need to reserve ahead for them. Also near Datona Beach there is another nice State PArk.

monte · 03-08-2015, 01:15 PM

You will find most RV parks full in South Florida. Those that aren't full will be $$$.

palmetto rogue · 03-08-2015, 04:17 PM

We just got back from Florida. Went down west side and back up east side all in state parks for about 6 weeks. This was our first time wintering in Florida and we did not start looking for sites until mid Jan. We stayed at 5 different parks. The state parks book up 11 months ahead of time- especially in the southern part of the state where the weather is warmer. All the parks have some non reservable sites. If we found a few days available in a campground we wanted, we went there with the plan of moving to a first come first serve site when available. After you move you can stay up to 14 days. Each park manages this differently so it can be a bit of a game waiting. We also found there are many first come first serve county parks. You need internet hot spot to keep checking Reserve America. This strategy is what the park rangers recommended for those of us with no reservations.

Still Kickin · 03-08-2015, 04:31 PM

Jmencel, send me a pm, i'll let you know a couple things as well.

CampingGator · 03-08-2015, 05:01 PM

Great question! We live in Florida and will be dealing with this on a regular basis. We live a busy life and cannot reserve every trip we want to go on way ahead of time. Things come up that you must work around, but we would like to be able to get away at least once a month or so. It is probably not as big a deal in our area, but if we want to go down south or to either coast, it will be a problem. We know of a few nice places in our area that are not maxed out in the winter.

Still Kickin · 03-08-2015, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CampingGator

Great question! We live in Florida and will be dealing with this on a regular basis. We live a busy life and cannot reserve every trip we want to go on way ahead of time. Things come up that you must work around, but we would like to be able to get away at least once a month or so. It is probably not as big a deal in our area, but if we want to go down south or to either coast, it will be a problem. We know of a few nice places in our area that are not maxed out in the winter.

And your response to the original poster is what exactly.

CAT-RN · 03-08-2015, 06:18 PM

If you are willing to stay in the middle of the state. You should have no problem. The farther north you stay you will have less problem finding campgrounds.

Lots of parks have overflow that you can use for a few days.

We were in Florida from 1-10. To 2-20-15. When we left home we had reservations for 3 days. We stayed in 6 different parks. We did find some parks full.

Russell

memere0211 · 03-08-2015, 08:52 PM

we live in a park in new port richey, both permanent units & RVs coming & going. there are several sites available all the time, cost i'm not even sure. close to half our park are canadian snowbirds. we have "stuff" going on constantly in the park plus close to tampa, orlando, clearwater, st. petersburg . . . oughta check it out . . . orchid lake rv resort . . .

justwinginit · 03-08-2015, 09:01 PM

I know you have to reserve well in advance for any State Park campgrounds. I've not had any problems around my immediate area (Tampa) in finding spaces in private parks. I use passport America that a lot of campgrounds take and it's half price on the site. But not during the peak season. You can get passport America online or camping world

jmencel · 03-08-2015, 09:46 PM

You folks have all been amazing in helping / sharing ! This is a great community of RV'ers
Anyone else out there with an experience / perspective on this thread please keep em coming.!! Many thanks, John

stillontheroad · 03-08-2015, 09:57 PM

If you want to move every 5 to 7 days, Start booking Florida State parks NOW. The other option is to pay big time at the regular parks. At Miami, The Larry and Penny Thompson park is $37.00 per night with full hookups but you have to book now for next year. Otherwise $70.00 per night is cheap becauses some prices go for more then $100.00 per night. Consider Texas or Arizona... It is far cheaper and the weather is great.(Ps we camp in Florida with our Thousand trails membership and it is very inexpensive but the number of parks are limited... Our nightly fee is from $0 to $5.00 per night. Yes $0. to $5.00 per night)

Hannah · 03-08-2015, 10:49 PM

Almost all Florida Parks (State and Federal) book on Reserve America and reserve 6-11 months in advance. Some county parks book on their own sites and book 6 months in advance. That said- you should be able to get central, panhandle and northern Fl sites by booking now. South Fl sites are a different story. I have been online at precisely 8 am everyday for the past 4 wks trying to book a site in the Fl Keys. No luck. Anybody have any tips on how to get a site in one of the 3 Fl Key state parks for Jan/Feb? I have been staying in FL state parks for the past year and try to avoid private parks due to cost and size of campsites. Also, prefer waterfront. Will be happy to answer questions about any sites that interest you. Happy (and warmer) than Canada camping.

nikita · 03-09-2015, 06:53 AM

We go to a County Park in Lake Worth, Fl. It is in Palm Beach County. You have to call them on the phone 90 days ahead of your arrival date. If you arriving around Nov. 1, you will have no problem getting a site, anytime after that forget about it. We call ahead and tell them we want to arrive Dec. 15, they tell us that there will be 3 sites available and on the 90th day of calling (you start calling at 7 am) - there are 75 people calling for those sites. So you keep calling day after day until you are the "lucky winner" of the one site available. Its like a radio contest "you need to be the 10th caller"!!! Rumors are they are going on the computer system - when you ask the people in the office they laugh at you! I heard that they have to keep about 20% of the sites open for traveling people. So for you short term, you might get a site.

rsdata · 03-13-2015, 12:19 PM

Just got back from 9 weeks in FL. As has been said, the southern parks reserve out early and are imposible unless you get lucky on Reserveamerica.com. Mid-state around Tampa area you can find sites NOW for next year... don't wait to book.

If you don't mind cooler weather I like Stephen Foster Cultrural Center SP near Lake City, FL and Manatee Springs SP near Chiefland, FL for easily available spots while traveling late Dec or early January. Also private RV camps in Carrabelle, FL had spots open in Feb and March and another called Presnell's Marina and Campground near Port St. Joe, FL had spots open. Mind you it can be 40 at night and 50 during the day, but it is often sunny in the FL panhandle and temps could be closer to 60-70 during the day also. Plus the beaches at St Joe SP and St. George Island SP are fabulous.

Saw a couple of small open spots in a county campground near Cedar Key mid-February... so they can be available.

Been doing this four years now, and each year we get more savvy as to where to stay and what to do/go to eat when we get there.

The SP near the Gulf in the western part of the FL panhandle are pretty but also hard to get into. Again great beaches...

Good luck... about 1/3 of the campers we see down there are from CANADA!

dkb74 · 03-13-2015, 02:13 PM

Agreed... book now! It's hard to find spots for the most popular parks. We are local, so tend to stay at off-the-beaten-path parks during snowbird season. Once March comes, we have no problem.

State parks will typically only let you stay for 2 weeks at a time.

poppytoymaker · 03-13-2015, 02:46 PM

That depends if you want to go near the water. When the snow birds go home everything gets cheaper and more available.

justwinginit · 03-13-2015, 02:46 PM

Well are Cardinal came off line on the 10th. So don't know yet when we get delivery. Hope soon. My house is a mess trying to clean out car parts from hubby's garage and pitching stuff. Had a roof put on the house and next painting. But think I'll have a garage sale before painting and get rid of as much furniture as possible. Can't do that until we have a camper to live in while we finish this all up. Then the house goes on the market and hopefully we can at least go camping again. *S* I'm so beat. I'm too old for all this work LOL

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