Best Glamping near Boca Grande, FL

We camp Koreshan because it is literally less than 10 minutes from our house. We can set up camp and stay throughput the week even if the kids have school. It’s hard to book a weekend at any Florida campground in season so plan ahead if you want a Florida State park. This campground has short trails to hike through beautiful bamboo forests. A ramp for putting in your kayaks or SUPs as well as kayak rental. Locations to fish the river. You are a 20 minute drive to the beach from here. Very centrally located to shopping and farmers markets. Koreshan has a farmers market there at the park I believe on Sundays. The campsites have a fire pit and wood is sold at the entrance. It is a historic site of the early settlers of the area from the late 1800’s so there are historical buildings on site to tour. It is a pet friendly campground. The only reason I give this campground 4* rather than 5 is because of the road noise from Hwy 41 that it is off. It’s quite peaceful until you get a motorcycle racing up and down the highway at 2am. They do have specific sites if you wish to camp in hammocks. If you google the campground you should be able to find out which sites those are.

I've visited Cayo Costa about 8 times now. I have tent camped and rented cabins. The island setting presents both positives and negatives. The biggest thing to consider is how much gear you want to have to carry. Access to the island is by ferry ( Tropic Star of Pine Island) although it is possible to kayak to it from Pine Island. This would involve some open water crossing and about a 7 mile total one way trip. Another way to access via kayak would be from the southern end of Boca Grande but this passing is across a deep channel with strong current. When you arrive via ferry you will unload all your gear at the docks and move it to the tram stop area on the island. There is a check in process and the opportunity to buy ice and wood from the camp store. The camp store is small but also offers soda, candy bars, some snacks, and some basic first aid items. They use a tram to shuttle campers from the arrival area to the camping area which is on the western ( gulf side) of the island. The tram ride is about 5-10 minutes with a stop at the tent camping area and then at each cabin. Given the tram and ferry loading and unloading processes you may want to travel as lightly as you can. The tent sites are a mixed bag, some larger than others and some with decent privacy although on the whole the separation between them is not great. Teh tent sites I liked most are 11,12,and 13 primarily because they are away from the main area and have some separation. Cabin camping is a different scenario, It's easier as it demands less equipment. The cabins have three sets of bunks, each bunk has two mattress pads. So technically they sleep 6 although i'd say 4 will be much more comfortable. Each cabin has a picnic table inside it and outside. My two cabin picks would be 5 and 7. 5 has a very large "yard area" 7 is somewhat set off from the rest of the cabins. Find more details on camp sites, cabins, pricing and booking at reserve america which is the site used to book Cayo Costa camping.

Camping on the island is wonderful. You have miles of beach with very few people and the nighttime skies are truly cosmic. The island also rents bicycles and I highly recommend doing so. There is a series of trails that run through the wooded sections of the island to explore. There are some truly great views to take in as well as an island cemetery which provides some historical contest to waht Cayo Costa was used for

The Dyrt or inside information:

Cayo Costa can book out as much as 6 months in advance. Plan your trip accordingly.

Cayo Costa in January is not like Cayo Costa in July. This may seem obvious but do not underestimate bugs,particularly noseeums on this island.

Travel light if you can. Ice & Firewood is available at the camp store.

Tropic Star Ferry typically travels to the island every day. They will upon request bring you beer from the very limited selection at the Tropic Star marina store. The Ferry also makes a trip to nearby Cabbage Key Inn and you can get a ride there too.

The campground located inside the historical state park has a total of 54 sites, 39 are RV or tent, 3 only RV, and 12 Tent only. There is a bath house on the inside loop of the sites, it has hot showers and flush toilets. Each site has electrical hookup, with picnic tables, fire pit, and utility pole. Each site has good foliage and privacy from other sites. The park has water fountains and water faucets for portable water. Each site has a gravel drive and sandy/grassy area for tents, no tent pads. It is also pet friendly. Two sites I have stayed at are 020 and 009, both are large sites with lots of privacy from neighbors. From October-April it is fairly busy, and availability is scarce, so planning a head is usually necessary to get the site you want. It is $26 a night with a $6.70 nonrefundable reservation fee, reservation is on the park website.

This state park is part of a Historical Settlement of a religious group that built this particular settlement in 1893, there are lots of buildings still preserved and available for you to walk through. A couple short and nice trails, some along the Estero river. Kayaking and fishing are also permitted.

   Let me start by saying that I live very close to Myakka River Sate Park and it has been a place that four generations of my family have been enjoying for over 40 years. It is very large for a state park. You can spends days hiking the trails and paddling the river and lakes. The wildlife is everywhere! What would you like to see? Deer, wild hogs, alligators, birds of all kinds? You will probably see these and more at just about any time of year.

   There is a nice interpretive center, picnic grounds, boat tours, canoe and kayak rentals, and a tram tour through the park. Don't miss the canopy walk. It's a great way to see a part of the park's ecosystem that we normally only see from below. You also get a great view of the park in all directions from the top of the tower. Florida is flat and views like these are hard to come by. There is also a restaurant and store where you can get pretty good food with a view of the lake. My wife wants to make sure you know you can also get ice cream at the restaurant. 

    There are three camping areas for tents and RVs. The two older areas are called Big Flats and Old Prairie. The sites in these areas are close to each other and there is little or no under story between them. There is water and electric at each site with clean but older bathroom facilities. Both of the campgrounds are also close to the main road with some sites backing up to the road. There is a convenient dump station inside the park but no sewer hookups in these two campgrounds.

  The third and newest campground is called Palmetto Ridge. This one was obviously built primarily for large RVs with water, electric and sewer connections at every site. The bathroom facilities are more up to date and very nice. They are also not used as much by the campers because this area is mostly filled with huge motor coaches and fifth wheels that all have their own facilities and do not need to worry about their holding tanks because they have full hookups. The sites are pretty roomy and there is plenty of under story in between to keep you from feeling like you are right on top of your neighbors. There are quite a few pull trough sites in this area. They are improved gravel sites and most are very level. The sewer hookups are a little higher than you would expect. It will take some supports to keep a positive flow. If you know how much it rains here in the Summertime you will know why these must be kept above the flood stage level.

   A note about rain: Florida gets a lot of rain in the Summertime. It is not uncommon to get multiple inches of rain in a very short time and this can happen almost any day between June and the end of September. The river and lake do flood and large parts of the park are in their flood plain. the Big Flats campground can be shut down because it is the closest to the lake. This is not a reason to avoid Myakka in the Summertime. We have camped there in June and August and if you find someplace cool to hangout during the day you will be rewarded with very pleasant walks and paddles with lots of wildlife to see in the mornings and evenings. Pro tip: If you are staying in the park, get up really early to see the sunrise from the top of the canopy walk.

    There are two other ways to spend the night in Myakka River State Park. There are cabins available to rent and primitive camp sites in the hiking areas. The cabins have recently been rebuilt and I must admit I have not seen the new ones. We did stay in the original cabins before we got our RV and they were very nice for a family getaway. With a kitchen, bathroom and air conditioning they are a very comfortable way to spend some time in the park. The original cabins were built with palm logs by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). The CCC was a program to create jobs and improve public facilities during and after the Great Depression. Some of that construction can still be seen at one of the picnic areas in the park. There is also a monument to the CCC inside the park. Backpackers can spend a few days hiking the trails and camping at the primitive sites. Haven't done that myself since I was a kid back in the 70s but they were great trips. No noise or light pollution. On a cool, clear night the star gazing in fantastic. My wife wants me to make sure you know that she won't be at the primitive campsites but hopes you enjoy yourself and not to forget about the ice cream.

   For native Sarasotans, Myakka River State Park is a beloved point of pride. Most people never leave the beach when they come here for a visit and miss what the rest of Florida looks like. It is well worth your time to spend a few nights away from the beach and see what else makes this such a special place. This is a very popular spot and the campsites and cabins book up early especially for the Winter months. Reservations can be made 11 months in advance on the reserve America website.

Sanibel Island is a great vacation spot full of vacation homes, white sand beaches, and world-class shell hunting. This is the only campsite available on the entire island, and as a result it is a bit pricier than most camp sites, but it is far and away the most economical way to see the island. It is driving f distance from most of the local tourist sites we stayed for a week and never ran out of things to do.

The campground is less than a mile from the beach, easily walkable and even easier to bike. The campsite is designed to acomódate RV camping and long term mobile home set ups, however there are some lots available for tents as well. Due to the RV and location in city limits there are no campfires allowed, but grills are allowed and the site has very well kept and clean shower/bathroom facilities.

This place is special.  Best beach oriented camping in Florida.  The shelling is amazing and you truly feel like you have traveled back in time.  We have camped there in a tent site three times in the last year.  The campground closed for several months in summer 2021 to eradicated the rodents.  It worked!  We did not see or hear one rodent when we stayed for three nights in November 2021.  If campers / visitors will keep a clean camp site and not leave food and garbage out, the rodents should stay under control.

  No problem with bugs in the dry season, but you still need some bug spray at dawn and dusk.

We stayed at Koreshan in site 38 for one night. It is definitely not as nice as other FL state parks we’ve been spoiled by... Sites are ok, a little smaller than we’ve had at other campgrounds and there’s some vegetation between sites. The trails aren’t very exciting at the park, although we did walk through the settlement later in the day (when no one else was around) and we got to see a gopher tortoise nesting. Our neighbors were the loudest we’d had at any park (watching an action movie outside), but the campground was quiet after quiet hours. Again - we have been spoiled by other FL state park campgrounds. Ok place to stay, but if you have a choice for another state park, I’d probably recommend staying elsewhere.

A group of us went down for the weekend in September. There were very few people camping and we had the tent section all to ourselves. We were 1 min from the beach with easy access to bathrooms and running water. Some of us also slept on the beach which was quite a treat. Great fishing as well. There were miles of trails and it was easy to get to and from the island. Even when we took a wrong turn getting back to the ferry, the ferry man waited for us and picked us up on a golf cart. The only thing was that the sea was a little "dirty" that time of year, but it was after a big storm.