The dry season has reached the Leonida Keys: warm days, nights in the sixties, calm water over the reef and far fewer mosquitoes than in summer. It is also the busiest time of the year at the campground of Coral Shoals State Park, on the ocean side of the Keys.
Campsites can be reserved up to eleven months ahead, and winter weekends at Coral Shoals are already booked through the end of February. Weekdays are another story: from Sunday to Thursday night, tent and RV sites are still open in December and January, and annual pass holders get 10% off on weekdays.
Reserve a site
- Tent sites at $18 a night, RV sites with hookups at $28, settled at the ranger station on arrival
- Up to 14 nights in a row; check-in from 2 p.m., check-out by 11 a.m.
- Up to eight people and two vehicles per site
- The reservation is confirmed at once and appears in My Leonida
In the Keys this winter
- Coral Shoals: a living reef 300 yards offshore, snorkel gear rented at the dock from 9 a.m. and glass-bottom tours for those who prefer to stay dry
- Old Rail Bridge Historic State Park: two miles of the 1912 rail bridge for walkers, cyclists and anglers, $2 per person, no reservation needed
- Sawgrass Gate State Park, on the way down: the best dry-season birding in the State, primitive sites only, so bring your own water
Winter cold fronts still bring a few windy days each month. When the wind is up, rangers close the reef to snorkelers and post it at the dock. Fires stay in the fire rings, raccoons still open coolers, and touching the coral still costs a fine.
In winter the Keys are at their best and the campground is at its fullest. If you can come on a Tuesday, the reef is just as clear and you will have it almost to yourself.
