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New to this, advice for Georgia/Florida

luvmydogs
Explorer
Explorer
Looking for somewhere to stay preferably the top half of Florida, SC or Georgia, where ever its less expensive. Any ideas on how to find somewhere by the week or month without breaking the bank? I'm Good Sam and Passport America and AAA if that helps. Advice welcomed, have never been south with RV in December.
31 REPLIES 31

luvmydogs
Explorer
Explorer
OMG Hankjoe, you couldnt be more RIGHT. We have found this to be the case all year and all over. There are way to many people with Rv's now and being able to come and go which is one reason we started to Rv is almost impossible to do anyore. I think our Rv is getting sold after this year. It's just to stressful anymore trying to find a place to land.

Hankjoe
Explorer
Explorer
What I've found going to this area N. Fl on & off for over 10 years is that it isn't "forgotten anymore" Years previous we could walz in,stay at a CG for a few days in J/F time period without reservations. Last year we found this very difficult or impossible without a reservation. There seems to be more people doing the same thing - but staying a couple wks moving on -- we like the idea of picking up when we like without planning ahead, but think those days are over.

johnhicks
Explorer
Explorer
It's not the forgotten coast anymore, it's the "gouge 'em" coast. Presnell's is climbing on the bandwagon of Coastline and going "resort" and doubling previous prices. And Cedar Key Resort isn't in Cedar Key; it's down the road.

That's not going to change. It's prohibively expensive to open a new RV park in the area so the only option is to buy an older park and "resort" it.
-jbh-

tatest
Explorer II
Explorer II
Not sure what size bank you might be breaking, but the areas that work as low cost for me are near the Gulf Coast between Port St Joe down to Crystal River. Think US-98 west of Perry, US-19 south of Perry. This area is mostly coastal lowlands, piney woods, lacking beach resorts and other attractions that draw lots of winter visitors or winter residents, yet close enough to the coast for the Gulf of Mexico to moderate the temperature extremes.

Higher and dryer areas a little more inland will be somewhat more expensive, and by the time you reach I-75 you get into areas that are becoming heavily developed and thus have higher property values (equals higher rent), pretty much all the way to the Atlantic Coast.

I'm not familiar with southern Georgia, as I approach Florida from Alabama, so can't help you there.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B

Dog_Trainer
Explorer
Explorer
Dick_B wrote:
Why limit the locations to north Florida when one has to be at or south of the Orlando latitude for the weather to be decent ie. 60's in the winter.
Check out the Clerbrook Golf and RV Resort in Clermont which is right on that line. www.clerbrook.com/

Absolutely false. We have been in N. Fl. 18 Miles south of Gainsville for the past 5 winters. It is rare to have consistent days below 60. We get many days in the 70's and many in the 80's. Why would you spread BS like that.
2016 Newmar Baystar 3401
2011 HHR Toad
Daktari & Lydia Cavalier King Charles , Annie get your guns, our English setter (fur Bearing Children)

jim1521
Explorer
Explorer
GoPackGo wrote:
I don't disagree with your statement because I haven't visited either, but B's has only one review and it's over a year old so there's a flag. The other has two raters, with one person loving the place and the other not liking it at all - thus the '7' rating. So which is correct ? - I would lean towards the negative review because it has more detail. Still, with only 2 reviews . . .

You gotta read the reviews to get a feel for the place !

The more people that review a place, the better one can determine what it's really like.

Many people on this forum like and use RVPARKREVIEWS.COM. I'm not trying to defend it and have no vested interest. It's just the best one I've found.

I think the reviews and ratings for Presnells are very helpful. Ar first glance the 7+ rating seems a little low, but if you read the reviews (13) you find out that there are newer owners that have completely renovated and improved the place. All newer reviews are very high, while older reviews (old ownwers ?) rate it much lower (no sewer hookups, etc).


GPG,
Hopefully I didn't come off as though I was sniping; definitely wasn't the case. I've used RVPARKREVIEWS.COM as well in the past, and I use them as well. The problem is that you've really got to apply a fine eye to picking a camp site. As you said, only one post in a year - when it's a very flattering post, it makes me wonder who actually wrote the review.

GoPackGo
Explorer
Explorer
I don't disagree with your statement because I haven't visited either, but B's has only one review and it's over a year old so there's a flag. The other has two raters, with one person loving the place and the other not liking it at all - thus the '7' rating. So which is correct ? - I would lean towards the negative review because it has more detail. Still, with only 2 reviews . . .

You gotta read the reviews to get a feel for the place !

The more people that review a place, the better one can determine what it's really like.

Many people on this forum like and use RVPARKREVIEWS.COM. I'm not trying to defend it and have no vested interest. It's just the best one I've found.

I think the reviews and ratings for Presnells are very helpful. Ar first glance the 7+ rating seems a little low, but if you read the reviews (13) you find out that there are newer owners that have completely renovated and improved the place. All newer reviews are very high, while older reviews (old ownwers ?) rate it much lower (no sewer hookups, etc).

jim1521
Explorer
Explorer
GoPackGo wrote:


I full time and always use RVPARKREVIEWS.com to find places to stay. I hate surprises. In 4 years of traveling it has never let me down.


Go look up B's Marina & RV Resort in Yankeetown, FL. I can guarantee you that it is not 4.5 stars.

Now look up Eleanor Oaks as well (in Yankeetown, FL).

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/florida/yankeetown

jim1521
Explorer
Explorer
luvmydogs wrote:
So Jim, can you give me towns and states the top 3 are in? Presnells,Yellow Jacket and Cedar Key. Boy you got it right about pictures. I've always been amazed at how some of these places look online and then how they look when you get there. I also am amazed when we figure because a park has all 8's and 9's in the camp book that "gross" wont be a word that comes to mind when we get there. NOT THE CASE! lol Thank you for all this info, we need to be moving soon again and not sure where to go.


Presnell's: Port St. Joe, FL
Yellow Jacket: Old Town, FL
Cedar Key: Cedar Key, FL

GoPackGo
Explorer
Explorer
luvmydogs wrote:
So Jim, can you give me towns and states the top 3 are in? Presnells,Yellow Jacket and Cedar Key. Boy you got it right about pictures. I've always been amazed at how some of these places look online and then how they look when you get there. I also am amazed when we figure because a park has all 8's and 9's in the camp book that "gross" wont be a word that comes to mind when we get there. NOT THE CASE! lol Thank you for all this info, we need to be moving soon again and not sure where to go.


Try Google - I googled Presnells and went to their site - it's on the North Florida Gulf coast.

I full time and always use RVPARKREVIEWS.com to find places to stay. I hate surprises. In 4 years of traveling it has never let me down.

luvmydogs
Explorer
Explorer
So Jim, can you give me towns and states the top 3 are in? Presnells,Yellow Jacket and Cedar Key. Boy you got it right about pictures. I've always been amazed at how some of these places look online and then how they look when you get there. I also am amazed when we figure because a park has all 8's and 9's in the camp book that "gross" wont be a word that comes to mind when we get there. NOT THE CASE! lol Thank you for all this info, we need to be moving soon again and not sure where to go.

jim1521
Explorer
Explorer
jim1521 wrote:
Wife and I are going on a road trip next weekend. We will be visiting 10 campgrounds in FL. 6 of the campgrounds are in the Eastpoint/Carrabelle, FL area, and 4 are in the Crystal River/Homosassa Springs area. We're planning on checking them all out because in a couple of years we're going to begin moving around the FL/GA/SC/NC/AL area and want to look without having to tow the trailer around.

CRYSTAL RIVER/HOMOSASSA SPRINGS AREA
http://www.carefreecommunities.com/rv-parks/florida/homosassa-river/
http://gulfcoastrvfl.com/
http://bmarinacampground.net/index.html
https://www.eleanoroaksrvpark.com/
http://www.cedarkeyrvresort.com/index.php
http://www.yellowjacketrvresort.com/

EASTPOINT/CARRABELLE, FL AREA
https://presnells.com/
http://www.coastlinervresort.com/
https://www.hohumrvpark.com/ho-hum.html
http://www.sunsetislerv.com/


UPDATE: This past weekend we drove up to N. GA to look at a campsite up in the mountains. While on the way up, we stopped at each of the above listed campgrounds and visited them personally. For off: PICTURES CAN BE VERY DECEIVING!



Here's our impressions:

HOMOSASSA RIVER RESORT: Nice, but packed pretty tight; a little too tight for our liking.

GULF COAST RV PARK: Nice, clean park, sites spaced out well, so you're not one on top of another. Clubhouse was very small.

B'S MARINA AND CAMPGROUND: Terrible. Not a campground at all. There's a dock/boat ramp/marina there, and then there's about a dozen trailers all in very close proximity to one another just across the path in front of the dock.

ELEANOR OAKS: Similar to B's (in fact, just down the street). Very tight spaces, and looked rather unkempt.

CEDAR KEY RV RESORT: Beautiful! Large sites, well spaced out, lots of amenities - EXTREMELY CLEAN AND WELL KEPT. Definitely put this site on your "short list".

YELLOW JACKET RV RESORT: Very nice campground. You're right on the Suwannee River - I mean RIGHT ON IT. Nice campsite, plenty of amenities, lots of things to do.

There were two deal-breakers for us:

1) ZERO cell phone coverage (at least for AT&T). I could not get the slightest of signal, because you are REALLY out in the middle of nowhere.
2) There is nothing around (gas stations, etc. are about 8 miles away, large grocery stores are even further. You're out there on your own.

For me, because I'm still working and really need my cell phone (I work from home) that was a killer. Other than those two things for us, we loved Yellow Jacket.

Next, we headed further north up to the Carrabelle, Eastpoint, Port St. Joe area.

Presnell's Bayside Marina & RV Resort: BINGO! HOME RUN! This is the place for us. Absolutely beautiful and everything we were looking for in the winter. On the water. Boat ramp. Boat storage. Jet Ski storage. Gulf access. Port St. Joe is a beautiful little town. Very charming with everything you'd need right there. We fell in love with it.

We took a look at the remaining sites on our list, but unfortunately (for them) we just happened to see Presnell's first, and that ended up setting the bar that the others just couldn't get up to. They were all nice, clean, good locations - they just didn't have what Presnell's had to offer.

Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer
Explorer
jim1521 wrote:
Wife and I are going on a road trip next weekend. We will be visiting 10 campgrounds in FL. 6 of the campgrounds are in the Eastpoint/Carrabelle, FL area,


We've stayed a couple of times at HoHum in Carrabelle, and really enjoyed it. It was just laid-back, peaceful, beautiful. During low tide, we were able to walk down the "beach" for quite a way ๐Ÿ™‚ The only drawback (for me) is that I don't like to cook, and we had to drive quite a ways to find a restaurant for dinner. Our last visit was probably 5 or 6 years ago, so that may have changed?
Ed, Deb, and 2 dogs
Looking for a small Class C!

John_Joey
Explorer
Explorer
rockhillmanor wrote:
Here is why I do NOT live, RV, or plant in Wisconsin any more!!

Yup those are minus signs in front of the temperature.


Give it time. Won't be long till you're cold at 50 degrees and complaining about it full time to the neighbors.

Nice thing about the minus temps it keeps bugs, rodents, snakes, gators, and vagrants all at bay.
Thereโ€™s no fool, like an old fool.