Ho-Hum RV Park's 50 campsites sit on the shoreline of the sparkling aqua-hued waters of the Gulf of Mexico. While snowbirds usually get the best spots just a stone's throw away from the gulf, overnight RVers can find sites under tall pines less than 250 feet from the beach. Restrooms, showers, a camp store, laundry and recreation hall are spread across the park's three waterfront acres. Sun-drenched days are filled with relaxing beach-centric activities, such as combing for sea glass, building sandcastles and sunning on sugar-white sands while watching dolphins frolic in the surf. Boating, canoeing, kayaking, saltwater swimming and licensed fishing off the on-site pier keep campers active. When the sun goes down and warm breezes roll in off the Gulf, guests get together for bingo, cards and cookouts.
Try your luck at sport fishing, or dive into one of two waterfront swimming pools at year-round Sunset Isle RV & Yacht Club Resort on Timber Island. Campers can roll in with an RV or arrive by boat to sleep to the sound of gentle waves lapping at the shore near the resort's 33 full-hookup sites, cottage rentals and 44 deep-water slips. Amenities include restrooms, showers, a fishing dock, hot tub, clubhouse and cook shack, but the facility's real attraction is its incomparable views of St. George Island, Dog Island, Apalachicola Bay and Carrabelle River. Boat rentals, canoeing, kayaking, charter fishing and licensed saltwater fishing are steps away, and a public swimming beach is down the road.
Year-round Carrabelle Beach provides more than 100 full-hookup RV and tent sites directly across the street from the Gulf of Mexico. Campers who prefer a less hardy experience can rent cottages with lofts, kitchens, baths and water views of the gulf. Cable TV and wireless Internet are at your disposal, and a sanitary dump station, camp store, restrooms and showers are on the grounds. Spend the day refining your backstroke in the swimming pool, exercising in the fitness center or playing a rousing game of horseshoes or bocce ball. Beach access is in walking distance, and the adjacent boat club offers watercraft rentals, charter fishing trips and dolphin cruises.
If you're perusing a map of Carrabelle, you'll notice that a couple of state parks are within 30 minutes of town. Mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers like Ochlockonee River State Park are almost as thick as humans, so pack a suitcase of bug spray. The more than 500-acre park contains thick groves of pine trees, oak thickets and swampy ponds where these insects party with campers at youth group tent sites and partial-hookup RV sites. Plenty of splash-worthy activities, including swimming and licensed bass, catfish and trout fishing, compensate for the pest issue. You might prefer a stay at Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park, a barrier island jewel with 9 miles of sugar-white beaches for unlimited boating, birdwatching and beachcombing opportunities. Hiking, swimming and licensed saltwater fishing fun also rank high on the list of recreational activities here. Restrooms, showers and a dump station are conveniently located to two distinct camping loops that are steps from the beach.
Keep your road maps handy for a trip back into time at Apalachicola National Forest. Roughly 35 miles from Carrabelle, the park has three primitive campgrounds popular with anglers and boaters. Besides a gently sloping boat launch into a creek that flows into the Ochlockonee River, Wood Lake has a limited number of tent and RV sites, toilets and drinking water. Hickory Landing is also a no-frills facility. The campground has 10 primitive sites for tents and self-contained trailers dotted throughout its hickory and oak groves. A mineral spring is near the on-site boat ramp, and drinking water and chemical toilets are available. With 18 tent and trailer sites with electricity and water, flush toilets, hot showers, a swimming lake and interpretive hiking trails, the secluded campground at Wright Lake is commonly referred to as the KOA of the Apalachicola forest. The wetlands, flatlands and rolling terrain surrounding the campground are suitable for bicycling, but watch out for wild turkeys, alligators, bobcats and black bears.
