Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Palmetto Bay, FL

So first ...the lits are privately owned. There is an HOA. Owner of site has authority over site not the staff. So if the staff makes an error with dates of your visit and the owners show up to stay at their site....you will need to pack up. Happened to us. The area is mostly fulltime/permanent traders that have been converted into a trailer house. Laundry room is not air conditioned. The "store/gift shop" is more of a check in and mail/package pick up. Dog friendly but not alot of grassy areas for dogs to play and do there business. 90% of area is like sand seashell material. There is a very small beach area...no dogs allowed. Kids playground is nice. Pool was opened...I did not go into pool area. We took our 2 digs down to Marathon FL to a dog park. Very nice and quiet with nice walking trail. I would not recommend this camp site.

This is a very nice campground which is part of the Miami-Dade County park system.  It is close to the Encore Everglades park (about 4 miles) so we stayed here after we departed.  The campground is divided into pods and each pod has about 15 or so sites.  We were in pod 4 site 20 (420 lol).  We booked this camp with the intent to stay for a month or longer as my husband had an opportunity to Captain boats in Miami.  

The park was very quiet.  Most of the campers were retirees, a few families with kids, but we were there in early January.  The grounds are nicely maintained with lots of places to walk and open space with trees.  They don't allow dogs off-leash and although it is adjacent to the rest of the Larry & Penny park, dogs are not even allowed in the main park, at all.  We did however find a few dog parks within four miles or so which were nice.

They have a very nice pool which was open daily Wed- Sunday 11am - 5pm.  It was raining and rather dreary during our stay so we didn't use the pool.  They have a nice Clubhouse and it looked okay with tables, chairs, books, puzzles, but again very quiet.  Not many activities except for a few and we didn't stay long enough to participate.  After a week, we decided to make moves back home to Lake Tahoe.  It was unseasonably cold, raining so no boat work and not an ideal spot for the dogs.  They don't have WiFi and since we were planning a longer stay, purchased the Starlink system since I work remote during the winter.  Starlink worked great, but costs $500+ to get started and then $120 or so a month.  If you are looking for an affordable long term/monthly stay, it is great.  The rates were $850 a month for full hook-ups.  They had last minute space available, too.  

If you are in the area, check out the Miami Zoo.  We were there when they had the "Zoo Lights" a super fun evening event.  They have other events at the Zoo and lots to do nearby.  You are closer to town than Everglades Encore, but still close to the agricultural area.  I recommend but not as fun or as many activities as some other places.

We stayed thirteen nights at this park.  We really enjoyed the stay and recommend.  The campsites are mostly nice.  There are a lot of seasonal campers and it seems those sites are nicer.  The sites closer to the cabin area are closer together.  I wouldn't recommend this campsite for actual campsite, but rather the excellent location and fun activities and amenities of the park.  

The park has lots to do and while dated, it is kept in good shape.  The pool is lovely with lounge chairs, palm trees and a tropical feel.  They have a hot tub, too.  Everything clean and had a resort-feel.  There are an abundance of activities: pickle ball, shuffleboard, a nice mini-golf course, walking trail, clubhouse, fire pits and large open grassy space.

We have two active dogs and they have a huge field where we were able to run our dogs off-leash and chase the frisbee.  I am not sure if it is allowed, but there were others as well so seemed okay.  This was a real benefit when camping with pets that like to run.  

The park is in a beautiful, agricultural area in the town of Redlands.  It is very tropical with farms, nurseries and lots of tropical fruit stands and interesting parks.  It feels rural but it is close enough to town to go to the Miami beaches or other activities.  If you go, check out all the agricultural farms, the Fruit and Spice stand, the 'Robert is Here' fruit stand and the Knaups Berry Farm for world class cinnamon rolls.  The lines were too long for us to wait, but we heard they were the best.

This is one of the most friendly parks I have stayed.  We were there on Christmas and New Years and had a total blast.  They had music, karaoke, dancing and potluck dinners. The staff was nice too, we met Jason who was super helpful.  My friend flew in to visit and she rented one of their deluxe cabins.  It was really nice, with a fireplace, fenced patio, loft, kitchen.  The entire experience at this resort was enjoyable and felt like being at camp.  Highly recommend a visit.

I am writing this review to shield anyone who is camping & going through a difficult time in life, because no one deserves to be treated as we were. Unfortunately, I would never stay at this KOA ever again. It makes me very sad & upset to know that such unkind, greedy people run this campground- one of the few KOA’s in all of Florida. My family and I are going through a very rough time due to illness. We come here to be at a family wedding, to forget, to be happy & comfortable. We are big travelers all across the continental United States, and have stayed at nearly every KOA in the entire country. This is the first and hopefully last time I have ever had to write a review to protect people from coming to a campground. If you HAVE to stay here do not stay in spot 89. The KOA workers walk dogs they cannot control, that bark VERY loudly at 8AM. And all throughout the day, dogs walking past and barking. Absolute torture. We were charged for having 2 cats, $10. Never been charged for two cats that don’t leave the camper but, okay. When we got to the site, we discovered that we paid $120 for a spot with an enormous pile of dirt & construction on it. Not being dramatic. But honestly, I really didn’t care about that much. What bothered me was how they treated people. I pride myself on always being kind to people because you don’t know what anyone is going through. What bothered me was a man with facial hair on a golf cart telling me (who owns the camper & paid for the spot) to leave immediately because my sisters rental car was “not registered at the office”. He saw us come in and drove all the way back to the office to look at our registered cars. How bored and and angry at life do you have to be to care about that? Just wow. He tried to charge us money to register my pregnant sister coming to visit us for 2 hours because we “didn’t register her rental car at the office?” I have never experienced anything like that. Turns out there was one nice woman who is shorter and has dark brown hair in a ponytail, she was kind enough to tell us the TRUTH that we just had to park it in a designated spot. LOL. Why wouldn’t you tell someone that in the first place? Because you can get money out of them the first way. How cruel and greedy is that? I will never associate myself with this campground ever again. The nasty looks we received from staff during our stay was laughable. I look forward to sending a very accurate depiction of our lovely stay at the Davie KOA to the KOA Owners Association Board of Directors. I hope you desperately unhappy people can heal yourselves and find true happiness & love in this life.