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RV Camping at Jetty Park Campground in Cape Canaveral, Florida - A review

Jetty-park

Our family just finished up spending three nights at Jetty Park, located in Cape Canaveral, Florida. We reserved the camping trip over 6 months ago. We didn't get to choose our campsite space, rather it was randomly assigned. When I messaged them about switching it to an outside space, I never heard back from them. We were in space number 335, which is on the inside. I've heard numerous people refer people to this park, so we were eager to check it out.

Heading back to Jetty Park, I was surprised at how industrial-like it all is. Turns out, that's most of the area where the bike path is, so many people are biking around that area where there is not much of anything to see. Once we got checked in I was a bit shocked at the campsite when we pulled up. It was ridiculously close to other RV's in all directions. It was the worst I've seen it in all of our campsite experiences. I honestly didn't know if we'd fit in and be able to open our slide. Out our dining room window (picture below) the view was of another RV at close range, and their vehicle. We got set up, continuing to be shocked at how close everyone was. We began calling it "cramping" because of how crammed in everyone was. However, I am determined to have a good time anywhere we go, so we were going to enjoy ourselves despite the ridiculously close spaces they have. 

Jetty Park campground offers RV camping, tent camping, and they have some small cabins that you can rent. The cabins were quite cute (there are some videos of the inside of them on YouTube). There is beach access, a pier, a camp store, community restrooms (they were clean), recycling, playground, and a restaurant. Each campsite has a picnic table, a cement pad to park on, and a built-in grill. The big draw here is that every evening around 4 pm, everyone grabs their chair and walks over to the water to sit and watch the cruise ships all head out on their trips. Seriously! That is a big piece of entertainment around there. So, we took part, too. It was relaxing just to sit there by the water and watch the 3-4 ships that would head out each evening. I was surprised at what a crowd gathered each evening for it. Another popular thing there is to watch the rockets launch from the space center. We got lucky, because there was a rocket launch while we were there. We had no idea that one would take place when we booked it, and didn't actually know about it until the day before we left for our trip. The park filled up so that people could get a great spot on the water to watch the rocket launch. I have to say that it was great! The sound of the rocket taking off and the booster coming back to land was awesome. That was a good experience!

While there, we would take evening bike rides. I loved the short paved ride through a nature area that is in Jetty Park. It was so pretty! Then, we'd head out and go back by the condo's, where there was hardly any traffic and we could take a leisure ride. We also spent some time at the beach, watching the sunrise, and running. We all ran a 5K (3.1 miles) on the beach on this trip. From our campsite space, the beach is literally a 3 minute walk, which is great. We also took a morning to go to the Enchanted Forest, around 30 minutes away, so we could do some hiking.

What I didn't like about Jetty Park RV camping: 
The inside spaces are ridiculously close together. I've never seen a campground so cramped. You have zero privacy and even your picnic tables are next to each other. You don't even know if you can fit your slides out properly because everything is so close. I didn't care for how the area is so industrial-like back by Jetty Park. I'm much more into going somewhere that offers lots of nature all around. I didn't like how the campsites don't have fire pit rings. You can only have a bonfire if you have your own little portable pit, or use the community one (which filled up quickly with teenagers at dusk). 

What I did like about Jetty Park:
If you can stay there for a rocket launch it is great! You can grab your chair and walk just a few minutes over to the viewing area to have a great view of it. I also liked how close it was to the ocean. Within a couple of minutes walk you can be on the beach. The campground, despite it being absolutely packed and cramped, was very quiet. People seem to adhere to the rules, the campground was clean, and it was quiet.

Overall, I'd say that Jetty Park campground (or should I say crampground) is just "okay." In all honesty, it's not a place I'd go back to for camping, simply because I know there are much better options out there. Almost everyone else camping there that I saw was from out of state. They were from cold, northern destinations, so I think they were just happy to be in the sunshine and close to the beach. I asked one of the people next to us this morning what he thought of the campground. He shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't care for how small the spaces were (he didn't know if he was going to be able to extend his slide all the way), but he enjoyed the rocket launch. While I booked our three-night stay many months in advance, he had called the morning they arrived and got that space. They wanted to stay there for the rocket launch. If you can go when there's going to be a rocket launch, then that alone may make staying there worth it, or if you are someone who enjoys fishing you may love it (because there is a nearby fishing pier). But otherwise, you may be disappointed. If you do go, I highly suggest requesting a spot on the outside roads, if they are available. I think they are likely hard to get, but I think the best spots there were 313-322. Those spots back up to the perimeter fence, have slightly more room (although no privacy) and are literally 2 minutes from the beach. Those spots seemed a bit better to me, but the spots on the inside where we were at left a lot to be desired. We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves, despite the campsite cramping! 

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Pictured above: View out the dining room window. Below is the view out the other side. There is also a video of this closeness below.

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