Best Glamping near Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL

In southern Florida, campgrounds don’t usually come cheap, but we found Larry & Penny’s to be a great value with close access (30 minutes) to Biscayne National Park.

At $17/night for a tent site, we got wifi, access to laundry, great showers, and a perfectly adequate site. We weren’t spending much time at the actual campground, so we didn’t mind that it wasn’t the most scenic place we’d seen during our year on the road. Larry & Penny’s was a perfect place to crash!

Visiting Biscayne National Park was a bit more frustrating. We knew going in that they had not been running regular tours out to the keys, the heart of the park, because of issues with switching to a new concessioner. We thought that our 10 days in southern Florida (visiting Biscayne and Everglades) would be plenty of time for us to figure out a way to get to the keys, but a private charter from Miami wasn’t worth it to us, so we disappointedly stuck to the mainland park.

Since we had our own kayak, we were able to skirt the shore and paddle through some of the mangrove forests in Biscayne. This was the highlight of our two short days at Biscayne, since the only other activity we could do was explore the visitor center and walk the very short boardwalk trail.

We’ll be back, Biscayne!

You can read much more about our two days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Biscayne)

Good location in the middle of urban area, cabins to rent. We’ve used for daycamp without overnight, but you can do that if you want

Hard to believe that this oasis is so close to major urban centers, but it's true. It boasts 15-miles of trails in more than 1,000 acres! You can bike, snorkel, paddle, run, picnic, rent cabins, primitive camp, and even get married. No bugs during the day. Some bike trails get flooded and are closed sometimes. The website gives the latest updates. It's quite easy to get to the park from I-95 or US-1. In October, some of the pavilions remained closed unfortunately. They have water spigots but no electricity. Lots of kayaks available as can be seen in the pictures and videos. Super ample parking. Youth programs. The only thing missing is water/electric tent sites!

This place has cabins and a shared bathroom, but it is such an amazing park right in the middle of an overcrowded city!! I love going here is like 55 bucks a night or so!!

Called to inquire pricing and was told they do not have RV sites

Camp site were $90 a night. Our campsite have a nice view of the maintenance building. It was kind cool hearing the lions roar / huff during the night and morning though...

This campground that sits just outside of the only drive through animal safari with over 1,000 different types of animals, is great for families to enjoy. This has all the amenities as a typical KOA campground except you get a bonus by hearing the Lions roar in the morning. The campground is gated during evening hours with the gate closing at 10:00 pm, so you will need to get a gate key card with a $20.00 deposit which will be refunded when you turn the key back at the end of your stay. The staff are very friendly and the campground is very clean. They also do a great job with abiding by the CDC guidelines for Covid-19. The Raccoons like to come out in the evening, so make sure you pick up you garbage at night. The rabbits were having fun playing in the primitive camping area every evening and early morning hours. They offer cabin and platform tent rentals for slightly more than a tent site. There are many seasonal campers from the North along with weekend campers trying to escape the everyday stress in their lives. We live 1 hour south of this campground but we will definitely be going back fir weekend trips.

When we were pulling in we noticed a train of 7-8 RV’s and trailers leaving. Didn’t think much of it. Went ahead and checked in, got to our camping site, etc. That’s when we noticed that it was literally swarming with mosquitos. Pulled out 3 thermacells but the swarms were so bad they didn’t even touch it. Couldn’t even open the trailer door for a split second without 10 mosquitos flying in. Ended up packing up and leaving within the hour and getting a nearby hotel for the night. Manager refused a refund, and suggested we go to John Prince Park in the future. Have never had such a terrible experience with KOA in the past. 0 stars if I could.

The campground staff was great: while going from 15% to 100% occupancy in 24 hours, they still kept up the cleanliness support, and friendliness. It was a great experience in a trying time like evacuating for a hurricane. We did hear the lions from our campsite. Sites were decent sized. Some were gravel, most weren't.

So, we were here a bit long term in the summer. Staying here in the summer is as bad as being in Vermont in winter. You need a reason to be there and sadly we did.
First off, waking up to lions roaring and bonobos scream in the morning was freaking amazing! I will treasure this memory for the rest of my life. The facilities are aging but are clean. The ladies in the front office were awesome and accommodating. We purchased a new RV while there and they had no issues moving us and making sure we were good with moving up from a 30 Amp to a 50 Amp site. At $99/night it is expensive and by not having the facilities of a KOA Holiday and being so far away from the Highway as a KOA Journey I can't give it 5 stars but, it is damn close.

First of all, this was a great location to visit the lion country safari. We stayed in a tent site.

Pros: The facilities were well kept and nice enough for a campground. People were not too noisy. The lions were plenty noisy, and it was so cool to hear them in the morning!

Cons: There was no privacy whatsoever between sites and the sites were very close together. The lampposts were plentiful and bright which isn't so great when sleeping in a tent. Also, no fire rings.

Great location near the Safari park with discounted tickets available. I recommend staying here if you are going to the Safari Park and need a place to stay. Big Rig friendly with nice pull through sites and a wilderness feel that I enjoyed. :)

Very nice KOA , clean well presented , friendly staff. The lions waking you up in the morning is really pretty cool. LOTS of local channels and good internet. It's pretty far from most everything but its really the only game in town. Very peaceful and quite. Discount tickets to Lion Country Safari which is next to campground.

We tent camped here. Site small and sandy but location is the key to this KOA. Right next to Lion Country Safari. We are used to hearing birds and frogs when we camp, but here it is lions...and other noises I was not able to identify. Weather great to explore park in late Winter. Kids loved it and we will be back!

Great facility, big spaces, free WiFi, pool. Clean, friendly staff.

The reason why I titled this “relaxing” is because I enjoy the feeling of the place! The people (mainly the snowbirds) the come down seem to be the friendliest! My favorite is their drum circles!

Rustic. Freedom. Old timers. Families. AANR. Pool is heated comfortably year round. Sauna. Hot tub restaurant fitness laundry pool table clubhouse. Pavilliin. Much is centered around the above area. But more is being done for trails and sites.