Red Coconut RV Resort

When we were blown off our westward course by tornadoes in the midwest, we found ourselves waiting out the weather reservation-less in Florida at the start of snowbird season.

We scrambled to see what was out there and make the best of our detour, with the following parameters:

* close-ish enough to visit family in Sarasota
* beach-ish enough for me to enjoy my time off between Christmas and New Year's

Fort DeSoto park in St. Petersburg was our first choice (I used to hang out there in my college days - shout out Eckerd College!) but it was all booked up. After snooping around state parks and various RV resorts, we stumbled upon a cancellation at the Red Coconut in Fort Myers Beach.

Fort Myers Beach is your typical touristy central Gulf Coast beach town. Traffic was congested on and off of the island.

When we pulled up to the Red Coconut, staff were available right away to help us get situated. We were shocked at how tight the sites were. The protocol for travel trailers is to let the park staff pull and back you in to your site with their tractors, which we gladly accepted. I have no idea how some of the big rigs made it in.

Once situated...

The good: While staying at the Red Coconut, we rode bikes to Lover's Key State park (12 mile RT), had grouper bites and rum drinks at Junkanoo, the beachside restaurant across the street, and waited in line at Heavenly Biscuits for...heavenly biscuits. While we didn't stop in, the drive-by of the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers proper looked impressive. Then of course, there is the beach, with powdery sand and plenty of space even in the busy season. The photo of the campground shows the beachfront sites, which are booked well in advance - word on the street is that they generally go to repeat visitors. We stayed across the street in a "standard" site.

The bad: the traffic on the one road that spanned Ft. Myers Beach was constant (bring or rent a bike - locals ride on the beach!), the sites barely had enough space for us to pull out our awning, and the costs of this place qualifies as a major splurge.

Fellow RVers at the park were friendly, quiet, and respectful.

If you love the beach and warm weather, aren't claustrophobic, and are OK with the expensive price tag, this is a decent option for Florida at this time of year. If you want solitude and space and hate sand in your toes, this is definitely not a good choice.

Protip: there is a nature preserve out behind the RV park where I (illegally?) would walk the dog and get some solitude. If you aren't afraid of some real deal Florida swamp funk, it is a neat contrast to the beach and creepily cool to explore.

This was a rare luxury for us. At the price of nearly a week's site fees for one night we wouldn't stay regularly, but we knew that would be the cost for the experience. The staff was more than helpful and did all they could to get our 40 foot bus nestled into place amid torrential rain. The inbound road is narrow and traffic unforgiving of the needs of a rig the size of ours but that's just a word to the wise and has no bearing on the capable and willing staff of Red Coconut. Highly recommended if you're in the area.

Wife and I had a great time in Fort Myers Beach and the Red Coconut RV park which is on the beach! Our 3 day escape from the kids was awesome.

All beach front sites where booked, but we were on row 2, a little tight, but well worth our stay. Great views and just a couple feet off the beach.

Great friendly office staff and rv park maintenance staff.

We will return!

Very tight spaces, but full access. Full hookups with 20/30/50 amp service. Full cable tv hookups with a $50 deposit for cable box. WiFi was adequate, although the handouts warn against streaming services. The staff with park your trailer with a tractor if you are iffy about the tight spaces. I had no issues. Road is pretty noisy, splits the beachside loop from the rest of the park. We were next to a big rig that spilled over into our small space. $3 per night per pet. Only a few steps to perfect white powder sand beach. Beach is dog friendly. Weather was perfect- highs of 80 in December. Ideal beach weather for me. This was a park my wife had camped at previously with her sister, and we were lucky to get a cancellation site. The most expensive place we have stayed so far, but still cheap for direct beach access in season.

This is a great spot if you’re looking to spend most of your time at the beach. If not, it’s low on amenities. Very tight spots but they will park you if needed with a tractor. A lot of permanent residents.

Not the cleanest campground we have ever been to. Overgrown grass on permanent lots.

Outside laundry
No WiFi to speak of
No pool and clubhouse closed for COVID

Nearby library has WiFi if needed
The Doghouse has great burgers!
IMAG was a fun science and nature center in Ft Myers.
Scoops on 1st had great ice cream.

I don’t know what euphoric high any of the folks that wrote good reviews were on, this park is a trash dump!
Dirty, beat up and in a shambles. Electrical boxes were all falling apart. I saw several with housing held together in pieces. Ours was hanging by one screw. I literally had to put the breaker back in it’s socket because it was hanging out by a wire.
Our site was dirty. Picnic table warped and very old. Cable did not work.
VERY TIGHT spots. Noise at night, I had to step outside my rv at 1 am and scream at the ghetto idiots doing fireworks.
This place is a dump.

I was so excited about this booking; I've been calling for weeks to try to get a spot. Finally, they had one open! I got here only to find out I was in, LITERALLY, the dumpster area BEHIND the park. I am next to trash cans facing dumpsters and maintenance equipment. They have stuffed several of us back here..... but the real icing on the cake? We've paid the full $70/night like the folks in the actual park. This is horrible... called the office to ask for a discount; nope. They do not care. They also treated me like a leper (I have a medical condition which prevents me wearing a mask...).. I have been to 15 RV parks all around Florida in the last 9 weeks, and this was the first mask shaming I experienced down here (I left my home state because of the discrimination I faced daily there.) Very disappointed in the whole experience. Will not be back. Periwinkle Park on Sanibel Island was much nicer and friendlier.

There is a lot to say about Red Coconut. When we first got there I was so disappointed. The sites are tight and the park isn’t all that pretty. Our site was fine. We seemed to have a little more privacy than most and everything worked well and by the time we left I’d become attracted to it. The weather was fantastic and we spent most of our time at the beach or bike riding to the shops and restaurants. The location can not be beat! The beach can not be beat! You will have campsite envy if you don’t have one of the beachfront sites. We are hoping to snag one in the future. I did see some folks put in more than undesirable sites like at the dumpsters with tons of raccoons. Personally, I would have left. All that being said we are coming back next year and are looking forward to it.....location and beach!!

We stayed here over spring break time, so it was pretty busy. Had a great on-the-beach spot. We reserved months ahead, but still needed some luck to score this site. Views were great. It is tight quarters, and the camp had to pull us in, which I didn’t mind. Nice trails on the channel side of the park.

This was our first-time camping on this campground. We tried to get beach side but there was nothing available. Smaller rigs have a better chance to get beach side. We were hesitant to camp here because I like my privacy, but we totally loved it, and the kids had a blast.
The sites on the beach are really tight and the ones on the park side are still tight but not as much. We lucked out and got a corner lot which was a close walk to the beach which we did not mind at all.
Our site did have the electrical box on the front, and we needed an extension but luckily, we were able to rent one for $200 returnable deposit.

The only reason why we would like to stay on the beach side is because all our friends stay there but honestly, I really appreciated not having our camper and truck full of sand every day. We have small kids and that would have been a nightmare for me.
We booked again next year on the same site, and we can't wait to go back.