Went there and loved it! Our site backed up to a swamp where the ibis were wading all the time. The iguanas were an issue and we had to make sure and put away all our food but they were neat. The tent site didn't offer a lot of privacy but on the island theres really not much room so I wasn't shocked by this. Great bathrooms and laundry facilities. Very neat places to swim and we even tubbed around the offshoots. Beautiful sunrise.
I spent an entire summer here doing dive medicine research and enjoyed all aspects of the area. The camping is awesome although really hot in the summer (think tropical!). There are plenty of amenities, eateries, stores, and nightlife nearby. Plenty of outdoorsy adventure as well.
You can explore the ocean, gulf, and mangroves within only a mile of each other.
You don't have to be a diver to experience the water excitement either. Many of the sites can be seen and enjoyed via snorkeling as well.
I highly recommend Key Largo as a necessary stop for your bucket list and also a kicking off point for further adventures deeper into the Keys.
These sites are an ok size for tents, but they’re separated out and leveled with the broken cocina shell ground cover which makes having a ground tarp essential if you don’t want to end up damaging your tent. There is power and picnic tables, but you might initially be confused as to who’s table is who’s depending on how people before you have arranged things to fit their RVs….or at least we were for a few moments. These sites are right on each other with tiny strips in between to separate them, but that’s about it. The restroom facilities were nicely maintained like most Florida State parks
Stayed at the park a while ago with a friend as we were road tripping down to Key West. Wish we had taken a tour out to the main reef and done some scuba or snorkeling, but we had an amazing time renting a kayak and exploring the coves through the mangroves and doing some snorkeling there. We could swim around with some huge Tarpin which could have cared less about us being in their home.
New paved road in the gated cg. All the sites were narrow for a state park and no plantings for privacy. We were on site 43 with water/electric (50A). The sites are all gravel and ours, along with some others, were not quite level. We used our rubber stall mats and were fine. We had to drive through the day use area (pretty busy) to get to the cg. Very nice Visitor Center with aquarium, marina, couple of swim beaches, and canoe trails amongst the mangroves. Boat tours go out daily to the nearby coral reef for snorkeling. There is also a glass bottom boat that operates from the marina (maybe next time). Cannon Beach, one of the swim areas, is a nice place to practice snorkeling with a planted sunken shipwreck. We could see a few cannons and anchor along with a few fish swimming around.
Very beautiful area but the roads are very narrow that we could barely get our 5th wheel in. Very friendly people but very high traffic as well.
I love Pennekamp park. The snorkling and scuba diving there is absolutely incredible!
Seeing the colorful reef surrounding the statue of Jesus was breathtaking. We saw all sorts of colorful fish and flora, even though it wasn't the best weather day. It was cloudy, but the reef more then made up for it.
We took a snorkeling tour that lasted half a day and loved seeing the reef. As good as places we've been abroad. Bring your own fins & snorkel if possible so you can explore any body of water you find. This camp site is convenient to the water and snorkeling options, plus general beach lounging. Our campsite neighbors let us borrow their kayak. The State Park has educational films and programs all summer. There are no tent-only sites, as far as I remember, which is kind of disappointing but it wasn't crowded (May) so it was ok. There may be more private or secluded options nearby but the greater park area is surreal beautiful. Nice and clean, well-kept, basic amenities (aside from education programs, which are great). Wonderful area, looking forward to return.
Great park with fantastic snorkeling and scuba diving. Excellent area to visit with a lot to offer.
