Best Campgrounds near Islamorada, Village of Islands, FL

A well-kept campground with just enough greenery between sites to suggest a whisper of privacy — rare and welcome. The real charm, though, is the direct access to the shoreline. Not exactly a swimmer’s paradise, but perfect for sitting in quiet contemplation, watching the light play on the water and pretending — briefly — that time isn’t real.

The sites are leveled, clean, and smartly set up. I had barely started wondering how I’d stake down the tent against the wind when I noticed the perimeter already fitted with anchor rings. A small detail, but one that says: “We’ve thought this through.”

Power and water? All good. Bathrooms and showers? Clean, well-maintained, no notes. There’s no A/C, only a ceiling fan — which worked fine until the midday sun decided to get philosophical about what "shade" really means.

We camped with a tent in June, and while the breeze was nice, the ants liked our car and the mosquitoes liked us, sprays or not. Still, it’s a solid campground — quiet, thoughtful, and worth the stay. I’d absolutely recommend it.

Starlink - excellent coverage

We stayed one night in June with a tent - and that felt just right. This is a large, RV-oriented campground where sites come with water and power, even if you're pitching canvas rather than parking chrome.

Privacy is minimal - the spaces are close, separated by the occasional brave shrub or decorative palm. Restrooms and showers work, but very much in the mist of centuries past. Be prepared to walk, and leave expectations of modern sparkle at the gate.

The mosquitoes were determined, but so were we (some sprays do help). The ranger at check-in was warm, helpful, and probably the best-maintained part of the place.

Our Starlink connection was excellent — wide open sky and solid signal made remote work completely doable.

Not a hidden gem, but for a one-night stop, it did the job.

MAKE SURE YOU TAKE EXTRA WATER, OR FILL YOUR TANKS. We stayed three nights in T-loop, site 42 in mid-April. Only a handful of sites have any shade, so be sure to request shade when making reservations and you may get lucky like us. No water at sites, any only some have electricity. Potable water at bathroom unless pump goes out. It was towards the end of the busy season, so only one of two bathrooms were open. But the one bathroom was clean. Lots of angler groups, so a little noisy at night, but all in all they were respectful. Out last night the water went out and all bathrooms in all loops were closed. Apparently this can be common with pump going out. Understand things happen, but communication was horrible. Just a sign on bathroom that it was closed, no water. No indication that we should go to the visitor center for toilets, sinks. And the next morning the water was back on, but only put up boil advisory sign at CG entrance, not at bathrooms. So people using sinks without knowing water was compromised. Again, awful communication, especially when this happens with some regularity. ONLY AT&T SERVICE, with Wi-Fi at visitor center one mile away.

Had a nice experience at John Pennekamp. There is so much to do we biked to nearly everything including nearby restaurants, we hung at the beach, kayaked and did trail walks with the dog. Water was a bit cold for us to snorkel but lots of folks did. Nice quiet campground, no issues whatsoever. Site 20 was great, full hookups, only issue was the no see ums - make sure you bring a thermacell bc they are no joke! Only complaint was the set up for women’s showers - there were 2 side by side and you have to come out of the shower into a common area with the other to get to your dry clothes. Luckily no one else was showering when I was there. If you have a shower in your camper this wont be an issue for you.