A timelapse of boats passing by our site in Yacht Haven Park & Marina.
Month: March 2024
Yacht Haven Park & Marina
We stayed at Yacht Haven Park & Marina, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A canal-front site, with a boat docked in front, and food onsite.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-02-18
- Check out: 2024-02-25
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny; rainy on the first day
- High temps 72-80°F, lows around 49-57°F
- A little wind, gusts to 24 MPH
Noise:
- Nearby freeway noise
- No train noise
- Nearby airport noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #425a, front in, astroturf
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
- Unlevel, high in front and right; used hydraulic leveling
- Wedge-shaped astroturf site about 45 feet long by about 13-40 feet wide
- No picnic table
- No fire pit
- Clean site
- Waterfront (canal)
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located (with no breaker switch)
- 20 PSI water, very conveniently located
- Decent sewer connection, very conveniently located (2 2-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 25 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 28 ms ping
- AT&T: 200 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
- Verizon: 14-24 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 20 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: 0.05 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 22-72 ms ping
Amenities:
- Pool
- Package delivery to office
- Garbage pickup from site
- Food boats and trucks
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Mega yachts and pizza!
This was a nice enough place, but a bit expensive for the current amenities. They’re building a new pool and clubhouse, but it’s not there yet. We had a Grand Waterfront site, but our particular site (425A) seemed to also be a bit of a placeholder site. We parked directly on the astroturf and our power pedestal wasn’t a pedestal, just a raw outlet with no breaker switch. Other sites in the row had nice brick driveways with landscaping. If they finish installing this site, it will be lovely. As it was, it was just kind of meh and we were paying for the nice view of the canals. Watching the big yachts come and go was very entertaining. There’s a nice NY-style pizza place onsite which was pretty decent. We camped at Yacht Haven Park & Marina in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Canal view:
Superyacht:
The boat out front had a couple of cats, one of which visited Paladin through the door:
Rental Airstream trailers:
Other sites:
Yachts and RVs:
Party boat across the canal:
Food boat:
Pizza trailer:
Pizza menu:
Pool:
A new pool and clubhouse is coming soon:
Shelter:
Bathrooms:
Rental tiny home:
“Royal Point Waterfront” site shelter:
Office:
Video: Ohio Key to Fort Lauderdale, Florida motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 148 miles from Ohio Key, Florida to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
Travel from Ohio Key to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
We drove our coach 148 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ohio Key, Florida to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading back up the Overseas Highway out of the Keys:
An interactive map:
Leaving the resort:
Heading up the Overseas Highway:
Florida’s Turnpike toll road:
Rainy:
Service plaza lunch stop:
Paladin at the service plaza:
Roadworks:
Hard Rock hotel:
Turnaround:
Our destination:
Island ‘Ting with Sebago Watersports
We’ve previously done a few small sailing cruises, with about six guests. This time we did a larger one, “Island ‘Ting with Sebago Watersports”.
We wanted to do a sailing catamaran excursion. This one had snorkeling, kayaking, and a couple of meals and drinks:
A small breakfast:
Dolphin:
Pelican:
Main sail:
Ladder:
Sitting up front:
Catamaran:
People sitting up front:
We wanted to do a sailing excursion, but the wind wasn’t conducive to sailing, so they motored all of the way, with a little token lazy sailing:
Underwater pics from the snorkeling stop; these photos from the 360 camera, which didn’t do a great job:
These photos from my iPhone, which did a better job:
A small lunch; they really didn’t have enough food:
Ladder to kayaks:
They had enough kayaks for half of the people, so they split everyone up into two groups. We were in the second group, 45 minutes later. But we were right about the weight limit for the two-person kayaks, and moments after we got in, it capsized, dumping us in the water. So we bailed on that part of the experience. Disappointing. (It wasn’t just us, either; another couple also capsized when getting out.)
Portuguese Man of War jellyfish (GIF):
The sister boat of ours at least bothered to raise the main sail:
Back at the dock:
Overall, a disappointing experience. We’ll probably stick with smaller tours in the future.
Dry Tortugas National Park
We visited Dry Tortugas National Park, one of the most difficult national parks to get to, requiring a ferry, seaplane, or private boat to reach it.
An interactive map:
We opted for the seaplane, since it was much faster than the ferry, and we’d never been in one before. It was a great experience.
The seaplane is offered by Key West Seaplane Charters, flying out of Key West International Airport (a rather small airport).
An info sheet:
Our seaplane:
Jenn got to ride up front, since she said it was her birthday when they asked if anyone was celebrating (we did go on her birthday in February):
Just 10 passengers:
Flying fairly low over the keys:
Sunken ship:
Approaching Dry Tortugas:
A close pass by a nice catamaran when preparing to land; sailing here on your own boat would be amazing:
Our pilot, who flies in Alaska in summer, and the Keys in winter:
Landing on water:
Handing gear to shore:
Us in front of the plane:
The other seaplane and the fort:
Fort Jefferson, the largest brick structure in the Americas, started in 1846, but never finished:
Old dock and the beach where we left our stuff:
Moat:
Cannonball furnace, where they heated cannonballs to slice through wooden ships like butter, and set them on fire:
Mariners Beware! I was wearing a Seattle Mariners shirt, so found that sign amusing:
Birds; Dry Tortugas is an important habitat for some seabirds. the adjacent Bush Key was closed for nesting season:
Pelicans:
The ferry arriving. Another nice thing about the full-day seaplane option was that we got to enjoy exploring the island for a couple of hours before most people arrived; just the 20 people from the two seaplanes, and a few overnight campers:
Once the ferry arrived, we headed back to the beach where we had left our stuff:
A hermit crab:
Bricks on the beach:
We went for a swim. Here’s the fort from the water:
We brought our snorkel gear, but the water was too murky to see much at the time.
Another pelican watching us:
We went back into the fort to kill some time:
Then back to the seaplane for the return journey:
Departing Dry Tortugas:
A private island:
Key West and Fort Zachary Taylor:
The “Southernmost” Point:
Marina:
Disembarking our seaplane:
A fun bucket-list experience.
Video: Sunshine Key RV Resort and Marina campsite timelapse
A timelapse of our site in Sunshine Key RV Resort and Marina in the Florida Keys, looking towards the beach and Overseas Highway.
Encore Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina
We stayed at Encore Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina, in Ohio Key, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A large park in the Florida Keys.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-02-04
- Check out: 2024-02-18
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy; rainy in the first couple of days
- High temps 66-76°F, lows around 61-74°F
- Windy most days, gusts to 32 MPH
Noise:
- Significant highway noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #406, front in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
- Very level; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel site about 50 feet long by about 40 feet wide
- Picnic table on gravel area
- No fire pit
- A bunch of small bottlecap-sized garbage on site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, inconveniently located on passenger side (when fronted in)
- 35 PSI water, inconveniently located on passenger side
- Loose sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2-3 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 40-50 Mbps down, 40-50 Mbps up, 22 ms ping
- AT&T: 830 Mbps down, 70 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- Verizon: 10 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Pool
- Swimming beach
- Marina with kayak etc rental
- Package delivery to office
- Garbage dumpsters
- Frequent food trucks and other vendors onsite
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Waterfront and road noise
We have a Thousand Trails Adventure membership, but that did not help us get a reservation here at all. Considering how hard it is to get a reservation in the Keys, we bit the bullet and paid retail for a two-week stay in a waterfront site that was the most expensive site we’d ever booked. I should point out that site 406 really shouldn’t be considered a “Premium waterfront” site. There is a peep of the water through the mangroves, but nothing like a panoramic view. However, we enjoyed watching the water and the ibises hunting in the mangroves from our front window, so I’ll let it slide.
While the peek of the water was nice, the constant highway noise was not. No matter where you are in the park, there is a constant hum of the Overseas Highway, although it’s somewhat reduced on the far edge and towards the marina.
The park has definite drainage issues. We arrived after a major thunderstorm swept through the Keys and there was a large lake at the entrance and in several other places around the park, including the road our site was on. They had pumps going to try and divert the worst of it out to sea, but it took days to completely dry up.
They allow motorhomes to front-in at the waterfront sites, which is nice even though the hookups were then on the wrong side of the coach. Luckily, we have pretty long power cables and hoses, so we’re able to reach across the nice wide site.
One downside of the waterfront site is that people think it’s okay to walk through your site on their way to the beach. It is not.
There are lots of activities and a robust social scene if you’re into that. We liked that it was convenient to everything we wanted to do in the Keys, but $300/night would be a dealbreaker if we wanted to visit the Keys again. We camped at Encore Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Our power and water hookups were on the passenger side, since we fronted in. Fortunately we have a long power cord and hoses, so it wasn’t a problem (I didn’t even need to use my power extension cord).
I flew my drone for some aerial views; this first one is above our site:
Entrance sign:
Direction sign:
Rental golf carts:
Rental Slingshot:
Mail room; quite well organized. People go in to claim their own packages:
They regularly had food vendors onsite:
Birds in front of our site:
Our coach next to a rental tiny home:
More tiny homes:
Rental trailers:
Other sites:
Dog park:
Swimming pool:
Marina:
Fish in the marina:
Sunset Pier, with a swimming area and fishing:
People checking out a grounded boat:
Beach access down from our site:
An old bridge, now a walking path:
The old bridge next to the newer Overseas Highway bridge:
A glimpse of our coach from the water:
A large, nice RV park. It would have been nicer if we could have stayed for free via our Thousand Trails membership, but the premium site was nicer.
Video: Sugarloaf Key to Ohio Key, Florida motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, just 19 miles from Sugarloaf Key, Florida to Ohio Key, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
Travel from Sugarloaf Key to Ohio Key, Florida
We drove our coach just 19 miles, less than half an hour of driving, from Sugarloaf Key, Florida to Ohio Key, Florida.
This was a late change, to avoid bad weather; we decided it was better to do most of the drive a couple of days earlier, then just a very short drive on the bad weather day. As a bonus, we got to experience another RV park in the Keys.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading back up the Overseas Highway in the Keys:
An interactive map:
A map showing the storm; the worst of it was past by the time we left:
Departing:
Toading up outside the resort — which we did out of habit, though it occurred to us after we’d done so that we didn’t really need to for such a short journey. But it doesn’t take us long, so doesn’t matter:
An Overseas Highway bridge:
Pelican:
Another bridge:
An old decaying bridge, slowly falling apart:
Arriving at our destination:
Arrival area, where I untoaded while Jenn checked in:
Heading to our site:
Pulling in to our site:
