
- Camping florida keys free#
- Camping florida keys windows#
Fortunately, there is plenty of parking there. The only place left are residential streets. If you try to park in a supermarket lot or beach lot, someone will wake you up in the middle of the night to kick you out.
In Key West, overnight parking is not allowed in most public and private parking lots. Now I've returned to the same location and find it has been PAVED OVER and replaced by expensive paid parking. I last used this facility for my sleeping needs about 3 years ago. This was essentially a big vacant lot within walking distance of downtown Key West. In the many times I have visited Key West in a rental car, I could always count on the Truman Annex for overnight parking. THEY PAVED PARADISE, PUT UP A PARKING LOT. Lots of space, no one to bother you and restroom facilities in the bushes. 2021, my most comfortable overnight sleeping spot on the Keys is about in the middle, in the long rest area across from the Amara Cay Hotel. I would expect less leniency in Key West. They asked me to move my car 20 feet so I wasn't on private property (in the vacant lot across from Bud n Mary's) otherwise they let me stay. Of the 100+ nights I have slept in a car on the keys, I have been woken by police only once. At dusk, the sand flies come out and start biting. The only time bugs have been a problem is when I was parked directly beside the ocean (at Higgs Beach in Key West or Geiger Beach on Boca Chica Key). I have never needed mosquito netting on the windows.
Bugs aren't usually a problem on the Keys.Fortunately, I have rarely experienced rain at night on the Keys. Rain can be awkward, since is forces you to roll up the windows.All the supplies you need can be found at Walmart's in Florida City and Homestead. In the "winter", nights can get chilly-that is, into the 60s, so you need a blanket or sleeping bags.
Camping florida keys windows#
(If the windows are nearly closed, you can park anywhere a car would normally be parked overnight, but if you have to open the windows, you are more vulnerable and have to choose you location more carefully.) You need to leave the windows open at least part way to let out your own body heat, which may affect the places where you can comfortably park. Summer night are usually in the 70s, which I find is the limit of the temperature in which you can comfortably sleep in a car.
There isn't a lot of difference between summer and winter temperatures on the Keys, but summer could heat things up to the point where sleeping in a car isn't comfortable. You don't want the cops to come by and say, "What's that car doing here?" Avoid places where you car would stick out, like a vacant lot or along the side of a remote road. You can park anywhere that I car would normally be parked overnight. Don't expect it to work for you right away. It takes practice to get used to it and understand your body's own needs. Sleeping in a car is an acquired skill. (You can often get away with it, but it's bad form.) "No Overnight Parking" signs are plentiful on the keys, and I try not to park overnight where a sign tells me explicitly not to. Camping florida keys free#
Free RV parking is difficult, but overnight car parking is relatively easy -as long as you are not obvious about it. It will take only one or two big storms to knock out the Keys forever. See the Florida Keys soon! Like Venice, they will soon be reclaimed by rising sea levels. Below are my notes on car camping on the keys. The Keys aren't nearly as exciting as they appear on the map, but they have exactly the same environment as Caribbean islands like Jamaica and Cuba. Flying to MIA or FLL is usually cheap and so are car rentals there. THE FLORIDA KEYS are an easy way to visit the tropics at minimal cost-provided you are comfortable sleeping in a rental car, because lodging is expensive. 2021): See my Car Camping Advice in a Tweet Thread.