Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Boca Grande, FL

Stayed here for a week in May - quiet, pretty campground with friendly staff, a petting zoo and vegetable farm on property. We enjoyed the produce market, but you could also go in the fields and pick your own. Camper sites had enough room between them, the electric/water sites had good tree cover for shade. There were cabins, a silo, and covered wagons you could also stay in. There's a big dog park, but not much shade there. There's a winery just 1 mile away. The Sarasota beaches and mangrove kayaking are an easy 45 minute drive away. The only thing I wished they had was a pool... Overall, we had a nice time here.

This is a beautiful Class A only resort.  100 sites on the Myakka River with Amazon 

 sunsets.  Sites are typically 70’ x 50’ . Large roads easy access.  

Extremely active community in season, a peaceful retreat in the off season.  

Sites are individually owned, some with Casitas, some with outdoor kitchens etc.  Great Wi-Fi, individual cat 5 cable to each site.  Boardwalk along the river, fishing pier, kayak launch.  They have 5 pickleball courts.  Large heated resort pool with attached lap pool. Two large dog parks.  

Water aerobics in season.  Small gym.  Yoga, on spite massages and facials in season.  Extremely active social calendar,  open to everyone.   Beautifully  remodeled clubhouse, with a large subset deck overlooking the river.   Close to everything, multiple beaches 20 minutes away,  great shopping and restaurants are close by.  Extremely friendly owners, they treat renters like members of their family.  We travel in a Newmar Ventana.

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.

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.

If you live on the Gulf Coast of Florida and don’t want to travel too far, or are just traveling through the area, this campground is a nice stopover. It’s quiet and offers some nice hiking and biking trails. But after spending 3 nights camping at Oscar Scherer State Park, we come away with a mixed opinion.

These campsites are small. In fact, they are the smallest we’ve encountered in a Florida state park so far. We had just enough room for our popup camper which is approximately 20 x 10 feet plus another 10 x 8 feet with the awning extended. Some are wider but the only sites that seem longer are the pull-in sites in Section 5 which is closed.

Keys to Choosing to your Campsite at Oscar Scherer

Given that only sections, 1 through 3 are available currently, you may see that the Reserve America reservations page will show a water icon on some campsites that appear to be along the creek. But you will not see the creek from your campsite. The vegetation in the park is quite dense and certainly so in the campsites in sections 1– 3. The shade is always important when camping in Florida, especially in the summer. The description on the Reserve America website regarding shade isn’t accurate. Our site,#2, was described as ‘full shade’. Not so, I’m afraid. From about 10 am to 4 pm we baked in the Florida sun. However, our friends had site#3 next door and had shade though out the day. Even though that site enters from the east, as do all sites along the creek, they had trees the canopied over the entrance and eastern side of the site. However, sites 22– 28 do have a lot of shade and are located on the opposite side of the campground from South Creek. If we were to go back, we would stay on that side of the Oscar Scherer Park.

Be Prepared for Bugs
Oscar Scherer State Park camping requires being prepared for bugs. Perhaps due to the amount of lush vegetation all over this park, and the proximity to the South Creek, there were more bugs than we experienced at other Florida state parks. Even though we take precautions including a very effective bug spray we came home with a lot of bug bites. So, bring your best bug spray and citronella candles. They are especially a problem in the morning until the sun comes up over the trees.

To read our full review visit https://lifestyleover50.com/oscar-scherer-state-park-camping-review/