Campground seems to be under new management. Staff is not very friendly. We called before going to the campground and asked the following questions. 1. Do they have a pool? They said that they just put in an olympic size pool. There was no pool there. 2. We asked about the marina and if they rented boats. They did not rent boats there but was told that they did. 3. We asked if they had wireless internet. We were told there was free wireless internet access onsite. Also on their internet site ( which is no longer up ) it states they have a grocery store. Well not entirely true, they do not even carry bread or milk. I traveled there in a 40' Holiday Rambler Diesel pusher. It took me forever to get to my site (narrow roads with cars and bikes parked all over it ). Then I had to back into a spot (we opted for beach front) and that took even longer. We travel to Florida all the time and this is the worst experience we have yet to encounter. If you complain to them they just say they are training new staff. There is wireless internet there but no one knew how to access it or where to get a card for user name and password. My wife and I were traveling with four kids. If we could have gotten our money back we would have left the first day and went on down to Sugarload KOA in Key west. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Review Rating
[ 8 / 10 ]
January 2005
$90
Outstanding park. Some of the nicest people we have ever met. They turned out to help everyone. The employees were also great. Sites are nicely shades and about 35' wide but short. A 40' rig would be a squeeze. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We stayed here in high season without reservations and had to take the most expensive waterside site. We checked in at 2pm and had to wait until 7pm for our site because the party in it was using the beach and did not wish to leave. The management gave us a site near the dumpster "to wait in until they leave, we really can't do anything about it." The campground itself is very crowded, dense with vegetation and seems to be a community on its own. Every night there is a BYOB cocktail gathering at the nice beach. There were a lot of quite old vehicles of different types (old VW bus with tents attached, etc.) but the vegetation was good cover. Looks like a lot of people return year after year. The beach is very nice sand and water and good sized. Nice little snack bar/bar and dock. Considering how few beaches there are like this in the Keys that have a campground on them at any price, it's hard to complain. It certainly beats the KOA Fiesta Key by a mile. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Although expensive, park has to be the nicest we have stayed in to this point. We opted for the beachfront site ...right on Florida Bay. Beach was very clean as was swimming area. Sunsets were nothing short or spectacular. We had no trouble making reservations. We found sites clean and adequate for our 37 ft motorhome with slide and toad. Shopping is close to resort. Fuel prices (away from resort) were the same as mainland if not cheaper. Laundry facilities are a little expensive. Park was well maintained and security was excellent!!! The only problem was lack of access to propane as attendant had left for vacation during our stay. For our money America Outdoors Camper Resort will be the only resort we use on our next rip to the "Keys". We camped here in a Motorhome.
Review Rating
[ 3 / 10 ]
2003
$50
We arrived at night and had no hope of backing into our assigned site. Roads are ridiculously narrow and cars are parked sideways in front of each site. Sites are very short. Had to take a lousy site on a corner so we could back in. Horrible noise from highway kept entire family up all night. We left the next morning and they refused to refund balance of deposit. Many sites have permanent residents. Beach was okay, but not too impressive. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 8 / 10 ]
2002
$30
I rate this park better than our experience here because we were there right after Christmas and the place was very crowded. All the good spots were full with seasonals and the only sites left when we checked in backed up to the highway. We should have made reservations earlier, but did not know better. If you can get a good site by or near the water, this would be a great place to stay. Some sites actually are right on the ocean with GREAT views. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Review Rating
[ 3 / 10 ]
2001
$60
Very narrow roads and cars parked on roads because sites are not big enough for both rig and cars. Sites are narrow for slides. Odor from on site sewer tratment can be very bad when wind shifts from west to east. Prices in store really out to clip you. Noise from highway is constant. Beach is good. Generally clean but staff needs a refresher course in being pleasant although they blamed everything on owner. Generally over priced for site and service. We camped here in a camper.
This is a nice park and there were no mosquitoes. Staff was very pleasant. In fact, we stayed here twice on our holiday. We would return. We camped here in a Motorhome.
These are privately owned sites that are rented. Mostly permanents. We requested oceanfront and paid $110 per night over Christmas holidays. Trust me the only sites to have are ocean front because the rest are small. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The very first campground you see when going south on Highway 1, and enter Key Largo. We found it to be a good value for Florida in the height of the season. Grassy sites among large shade trees, very nice pool and spa area, and terrific people in the office. CG has its own large pond for fishing. The sewer hookup in our site was a little strange as it was elevated, but we saw lots of others that were okay. Even though close to the highway, it was fairly quiet because of all the trees. Would definitely stay here again -- especially since it was half the price of other campgrounds in the rest of the Florida Keys! We camped here in a Motorhome.
Review Rating
[ 4 / 10 ]
December 2005
$61
Price was tolerable for Florida Keys (extra $5 per child) but park shows its age and general lack of attention. Hook ups were awkward to unreachable in most sites (we walked nearly all sites to find one where sewer, water and electric hookups could be reached from our 2006 38' Itasca - not many candidates). Electric boxes are in state of partially completed upgrading. Pool and jacuzzi look newer and were nice, although lots of huge millipedes in spa and on pool deck. Bathrooms poorly kept up and one crawling with millipedes. Lots of racoons in trash bins. Location, people and open grassy, treed sites are the pros. Age, hook up funtional obsolescence and restroom-shower cleanliness were the cons. Would not stay there again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
When we pulled in late morning the front doors were chained with a padlock! They were in the office. The place has been through a hurricane in the last couple of months, and has not recovered. The laundry facility was riddled with rusted old machines that were $2 per machine per load! The only redeeming quality was that they just finished re-wiring the 50 amp service so as long as we didn't leave the motorhome we were OK. Certainly not worth the fee. It appeared that there were lots of abandoned trailers in the park, which was of concern to us. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Location and price combine to make this an excellent choice for the Florida Keys. The sites we chose had enough room for 2 35ft motorhomes with slides on both sides to open and put out the awnings. We chose the campground because it is at the base of the Keys, and to enjoy the coral reef. It was incredibly convenient to walk to the snorkel tour and glass bottom boat tour. The coral reef tour is a must see. Since this is one of the few places to visit a Coral Reef in the continental US, please take advantage of it. The showers were clean and washers and dryers were located at the bath house. There were two young men using their computers while doing laundry. Besides the snorkel tours, you can boat,kayak, dive or swim at the park. So if you like watersports this is a great spot. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Pennekamp is a fantastic park if you enjoy water sports are aren't looking for a RV resort type place. This is a State Park not an resort. With that being said..what a great place with so many activities to keep you busy. We camped here for 4 days and are looking forward to returning. Sites are deep and not all that wide but still plenty of room. The park is close to all your needs. Pubs,places to eat and shopping/supplies. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 2 / 10 ]
March 2007
$23
Beautiful park and facilities except for the camping area. The campsites are on dirty dusty roads, everytime a vehicle goes by your in a cloud of dust. I was on the main road in the camping area. For such a nice park they should have planned the camping area better. I was booked for 5 nights and left after 1. Went next door to Key Largo Kampground and Marina which is my usual place to stay in Key Largo. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We like to camp at state parks and at up-scale RV resorts. And this state park is now one of our favorites. We have already made reservations for April of 08. The sites are not wide but some are very deep, and we had no problem backing our 30-foot Class A in and leaving my motorcycle trailer attached. For the price, this is the one of the best deals in a camp site the Florida Keys’ has to offer. Amenities include: Very clean bathrooms and shows, 50 amp hookups, good water pressure, space to leave a boat in the water, two nice beaches, bike paths, tour boats leaving the park for the reef. The only set back is there is no sewage hookup. And bring a couple DVD with ya… Not much TV reception. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We were very disappointed in this park. The sites were very close together and very short; there was no room for the table beside our trailer and barely room in the rear. It is a good location for visiting the Everglades, and if you are into boating and scuba diving you would probably be happy here. We would not come back. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Stayed here 3 times, 1 week each, over the past several years. Clean, quite, secure (there's a gate that is closed after hours, they give you the combo to get in). Nice visitor center with large aquarium containing various fish and sharks. Pet's were allowed in the park this year, which must be a new policy. Snorkeling and scuba diving tours are available right from the park, at a slightly lower rate than the private operators on Key Largo. However, I'm sure the boats are packed during peak periods. I dove 3 days with the on site scuba shop this past trip. Nice sized catamaran with head. Each trip was about half full, which was nice, would have been a nightmare if full. I recommend Quiesence if you want small boat diving with personal attention. Cons: bugs bugs bugs. Mosquito's and noseeums are so bad, you can't be outside, especially at dusk. I had ant infestations in the RV each time I've been there. Good luck getting in without a reservation during the busy seasons. Some sites can be pretty tight for big rigs. All that said, it's a great value in the keys. I'll be back for 3 weeks next year. We camped here in a Motorhome.
While this park is widely known for the coral reef, it could (with a bit of work) also be known for being a nice place to stay. At the present time, however, this is not the case. The sites are VERY small, the shore power is volatile (it dropped to almost 107v and we had to fire up the generator), the water pressure is low (gauged it at 37) and the "famous coral reef" was a disappointment (at $30 per person, a snorkeling excursion to the "famous reef" yielded little more than a view of brown rocks amid grass and sand). All in all, it's not a very good place to camp. Try Bahia Honda State Park or Curry Hammock State Park instead - both are nearby and a LOT less crowded (and you'll also save $30 on a lame snorkeling tour). We camped here in a Motorhome.
The park has a lot to offer with nature trails, snorkeling, visitor center to name a few. Our site was located next to a stream and we enjoyed watching the snowy eggrets. We camped here in a Tent.