6 Florida Keys campgrounds with VIEWS + things to do nearby! 🌞 Florida Keys state park camping trip (tent camping + RV camping) 🌞 Florida travel blog

Hi there!

You can go camping in the Florida Keys!

Although it requires a bit of planning and/or patience and/or luck! The most popular campgrounds in the Florida Keys get booked up, but they also get last minute cancellations!

The list below of Florida Keys campgrounds includes Florida state park campgrounds.

There are state parks in the Florida Keys that are located between Key Largo and Key West that offer camping.

This includes tent camping and RV camping… and car camping, van camping, etc!

This list will basically take you from north to south in the Florida Keys.

You can make it a great Florida Keys road trip!

I spent 2 weeks in the Florida Keys, and I was camping the entire time.

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Explore the map.

Now here are the Florida Keys campgrounds for state park camping on the way to Key West!

There are links to these Florida Keys campground reviews that you can also read. You might need to filter out for “campground” or “camping.”

1. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Campground

Explore the map: Key Largo to John Pennekamp State Park campground to Key West

Proximity to the best of the Florida Keys

The John Pennekamp State Park campground is for RV camping and tent camping.

Key Largo is the first major key of the Florida Keys.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is located in Key Largo, so it can be a perfect first overnight stop during a Florida Keys camping trip.

John Pennekamp State Park is one of the most popular state parks in the Florida Keys.

Going to the “coral reef” that is in the name of the state park is THE thing to do in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park!

And, it requires a boat to get there!

So the 2 most popular things to do in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a snorkeling tour or a glass bottom boat tour, both of which include a boat ride out to the reef.

There are also scuba diving tours.

There are beaches in John Pennekamp State Park.

You can go snorkeling on your own at the beaches with a chance to see little fishies, in particular at Cannon Beach.

But for the best snorkeling experience in John Pennekamp State Park, you really need to do the snorkeling tour!

Key Largo to Key West is around a 2.5 hour drive.

Campground map for John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

See more for planning your Florida Keys camping trip:

• John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park campground
• Best snorkeling in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
• Glass bottom boat tour in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

Read the Florida Keys campground reviews: John Pennekamp State Park

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2. Long Key State Park Campground

Explore the map: Key Largo to Long Key State Park campground to Key West

Proximity to the best of the Florida Keys

As of 2022, Long Key State Park is tent camping only. It requires a walk of around 5-10 minutes to get to the campsite from the parking lot.

Your campsite will be just across the walking path from the shoreline.

The Long Key State Park campground for both RV camping and tent camping is under construction.

The location of Long Key State Park can make for a perfect overnight stop between Key Largo and Key West.

Key Largo to Long Key is around a 45 minute drive.

Long Key to Key West is around a 1.5 hour drive.

At Long Key State Park, you can go swimming along the shoreline. It can be really shallow – for you to determine if that’s good or bad!

You can rent kayaks at Long Key State Park to go ocean kayaking.

There’s also a picnic area with ocean views!

So even if you’re not camping, Long Key State Park can make for a perfect quiet scenic spot to break up the drive.

You’ll find Publix grocery stores in the Florida Keys, including on your way to Long Key. You can stop by Publix to pick up some prepared food or picnic food to eat at Long Key State Park with views!

Long Key State Park is around a 20 minute drive from both Islamorada (to the north) and Marathon (to the south).

So, it is in a convenient location as you are driving through the Florida Keys to Key West.

But, do you want to stay here?!

Whenever I saw campground availability at a Florida state park in the Florida Keys, I felt I had to jump on it or it would disappear!

So, when I was doing a check to see if there was any availability at any of the state park campgrounds in the Florida Keys and saw that Long Key State Park campground was available… 😱 OMG I need to book NOW!!

Well, first I needed to think quickly to see if I could make the open date work. I decided okay maybe I can, and then I quickly booked.

And then right after I booked, I started reading the reviews for Long Key State Park.

Here is what Jo said in January 2022 on google maps about the Long Key State Park campground:

Overnight we had been greeted by fellow campers who said there was a “rat problem”.

This is DEFINITELY TRUE.

We had rats attacking our tent all night.

Not only did they torment us in the night, I discovered that they had chewed through my car seats to get to the food that we locked in the car.

Umm… RATS?!

Then I started furiously trying to find out more about rats at campgrounds in the Florida Keys.

And I decided that was not a risk I was willing to take.

So I canceled.

See more for planning your Florida Keys camping trip:

• Horrifying reviews of rats at Long Key State Park campground

3. Curry Hammock State Park Campground

Explore the map: Key Largo to Curry Hammock State Park campground to Key West

Proximity to the best of the Florida Keys

The Curry Hammock State Park campground is for RV camping and tent camping.

Depending on your campsite, it is just a couple minutes walk to the shoreline!

The location of Curry Hammock State Park can make for a perfect overnight stop between Key Largo and Key West.

Key Largo to Curry Hammock State Park is around a 1 hour drive.

Curry Hammock State Park to Key West is around a 1 hour and 15 minute drive.

Kitesurfing is a thing at Curry Hammock State Park.

You can also rent kayaks.

Curry Hammock State Park is around a 10 minute drive from Marathon.

Sombrero Beach is in Marathon, and this beach is often listed as one of the best beaches in the Florida Keys.

Read the Florida Keys campground reviews: Curry Hammock State Park

4. Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds (x3)

Explore the map: Key Largo to Bahia Honda State Park to Key West

Proximity to the best of the Florida Keys

Key Largo to Bahia Honda State Park is around a 1.5 hour drive.

Bahia Honda State Park to Key West is around a 1 hour drive.

There are no state parks with camping in Key West.

The state park campgrounds that are the closest to Key West are the Bahia Honda State Park campgrounds!

This might seem a bit of a drive, but it’s still an easy day trip to Key West from Bahia Honda State Park.

And, you don’t have to go to Key West for the best of the Florida Keys, because Bahia Honda State Park is a “best of” on its own!

There are the Bahia Honda beaches which can be for swimming and snorkeling.

Although there’s never any guarantee to see little fishies, I had fun snorkeling experiences in Bahia Honda State Park! This includes snorkeling at Calusa Beach and Loggerhead Beach.

And then directly from Bahia Honda State Park, you might also be able to take a snorkeling tour that goes to one of the best snorkeling spots in the Florida Keys.

That is, a Looe Key snorkeling tour from Bahia Honda State Park! (This does not always run for various reasons, but you can look elsewhere for Looe Key snorkeling tours if you can’t get a Bahia Honda tour.)

You can also go ocean kayaking in Bahia Honda State Park. There are kayak rentals available.

There are 3 campgrounds in Bahia Honda State Park:

• Buttonwood Campground
• Bayside Campground
• Sandspur Campground

All campgrounds have waterfront campsites. (Although not all campsites are waterfront!)

So, you are never too far from seeing amazing views!

Now, Bahia Honda State Park is one of the most difficult campgrounds to find availability for in the Florida Keys, if not all of Florida.

But again, people do cancel. It’s how I was able to stay at a Bahia Honda State Park campground for 10 days!

So unless you are attempting to book a campsite 11 months out, which campground you choose may be decided for you based on the availability you can find!

Also, if you are tent camping, you might want to bring ear plugs. It made a big difference for me.

Bahia Honda State Park is along the Florida Overseas Highway, which is the main road that goes through the Florida Keys.

It can be loud enough where it can disrupt your sleep.

There have also been negative reviews in the past of the bad smell of seaweed.

Seaweed in the Florida Keys is a thing. It’s said to be a natural part of the coastal ecosystem, and there are no proactive measures to remove it in the state parks.

There was no noticeable smell when I was camping in Bahia Honda State Park, but it seems like it is a possibility.

BUGS.

Camping in Bahia Honda State Park in May, the tiny little bugs (which I understand to be called no-see-ums) were a serious nuisance in the evening!

Otherwise, I would say late April and early May was almost perfect to be camping in the Florida Keys because the water temperature was great for swimming and snorkeling.

Although it also did start to get hot towards the end of my trip, which was mid-May.

Bring a small portable fan! It can make SUCH a big difference!

So your essentials for tent camping in Bahia Honda State Park and the Florida Keys: ear plugs and portable fan.

Buttonwood Campground, Bahia Honda State Park

Buttonwood Campground is for RV camping and tent camping.

The campground comes with views of the Florida Overseas Highway!

Nice for pictures, bad for tent camping with the noise!

People go swimming in front of these waterfront campsites. It seems that you also have a chance to have a fun snorkeling experience by swimming at this campground too. Although for safety it’s probably best to not venture too far!

Even if you don’t get a waterfront site, there is a sort of community site where you can enter the water without going through other people’s campsites. There are parking spots here too.

Once at the campground, there is a campground road that goes under a bridge that will take you to the Bayside campground and cabins. The community site can be found along the side of the road just before you go under the bridge.

This would still be for campers only, as the campgrounds are gated with access by code only that you will receive at check-in.

So it’s a private campers snorkeling spot!

Bayside Campground, Bahia Honda State Park

Bayside Campground is for tent camping only.

There is no electricity at your campsite.

There is a modern bathroom at the campground, and there are outlets here too if you want to do some quick charging of devices. (A good spot to charge a portable fan!)

There are no showers at the Bayside Campground. Instead, you can use the showers at Buttonwood Campground. 

All campsites are waterfront campsites! There’s the bay right in front of you.

There is no swimming allowed at this campground, but if you look down you might be able to see some little fishies swimming around. In the morning you might also see some big fish jumping out of the water. I don’t know fish, but someone mentioned it’s tarpon.

The Bahia Honda State Park cabins are also in front of you.

Sandspur Campground, Bahia Honda State Park

Sandspur Campground is for small RV camping and tent camping.

The Sandspur Campground is on the other side of Bahia Honda State Park compared to the other campgrounds and the main Bahia Honda beaches.

Sandspur is the side of the state park that took the longest to re-open after hurricane damage. (It took YEARS!) It only re-opened in 2022.

Out of all the campgrounds, the waterfront campsites at Sandspur Campground come with the best views!

Camping at Sandspur Campground, you will be near Sandspur Beach.

See more for planning your Florida Keys camping trip:

• Camping in Bahia Honda State Park
• Things to do in Bahia Honda State Park
• One day in Key West

Read the Florida Keys campground reviews: Bahia Honda State Park

Florida Keys camping reservations

In short… good luck! 😜

Finding open campsite availability at state park campgrounds in the Florida Keys is known to be (very) difficult.

State park campgrounds in the Florida Keys are often fully booked 11 months in advance when campsites open up for booking!

But don’t worry, not all hope is lost if you aren’t capable of planning that far in advance. (And even if you were, it’s also known to be difficult. Reports indicate state park campsites in the Florida Keys can get snatched up within the first 5 minutes… or less!)

If your hopeful Florida Keys camping trip is just a few months, weeks, or even days away, cancellations do happen.

You just have to get lucky and search for campgrounds immediately after someone cancels.

Your “luck” will increase the more you search, and the closer you are to your travel date.

Searching over and over (and over 😜) does really work.

I spent 2 weeks camping in the Florida Keys in Florida state parks!

My Florida Keys camping trip was in April and May 2022. I made camping reservations in April and May.

And, I was able to make a camping reservation at ALL state parks in the Florida Keys! (Note that this does not mean I stayed at them all… I canceled one reservation after reading reviews at one of them… 😜 more on that in a bit.)

In case you are not able to find availability and/or you just want to get something booked, a good back-up campground near the Florida Keys can be Long Pine Key campground in Everglades National Park.

This is just outside Homestead FL. I camped there for one night and the campground was practically empty when campgrounds in the Florida Keys were full.

I have found camping availability open up weeks away, days away, and even the day before.

There was one day that I was looking for a campsite for the next night and ALL state park campgrounds in the Florida Keys had availability!!! (Decisions! Which to stay at?! I ended up choosing the one that was furthest north since I was heading to a North Miami camping cabin next!)

So, while next night availability is not something to depend on, it’s something you can look for.

1 night stays will generally be easier to find than multi-night stays.

You will find the greatest difficulty in finding open campgrounds for Saturday nights.

You make state park camping reservations at the official Florida state parks camping reservations website.

👆 Florida Keys state park camping reservations: Red means FULL campground! Check the “next available date” to see if that works for you, or keep checking back to see if there have been any cancellations! For the state park campgrounds with a lot of competition (aka campgrounds in the Florida Keys!), I don’t think the “notify me” is particularly useful but you can still give it a try. When I tried it for other state parks, the notifications came once a day in the morning. For Florida Keys state park campgrounds, availability can come and go during the day!

How to make Florida Keys camping reservations

The way to make Florida Keys campground reservations for state parks is through the official Florida state parks camping reservations website.

See more for your Florida Keys camping trip and beyond:

• Miami to Key West
• Things to do in the Florida Keys
• Best camping in Southwest Florida
• Best camping in the Florida Panhandle
• Tampa to Miami
• Things to do in Everglades National Park
• Things to do in Southwest Florida
• Things to do in the Florida Panhandle
• Ocala National Forest (camping in Central Florida)

HAPPY CAMPING IN THE FLORIDA KEYS!