Sunset Isle RV Resort — Local services in Cedar Key

An Update to my previous post

I heard Camptel, who bought this resort in 2019, had sold it in 2022. Camptel had done everything they could to ruin the things that made this place special. Before Camptel, It was affordable, it attracted campers to stay all winter and return year after year. It was a community of fun people. Camptel raised price that made that impossible and discouraged long term campers. So the charm was gone.

The new owners in 2022 have reversed the damage caused by Camptel. So I decided to come back. They've returned reasonable prices and welcome snowbirds to stay long term. But unfortunately those who stayed here prior to 2019 have moved on.

Before Camptel, the resort had a social director, who camped here. There were poker walks, bingo, $1 hotdog & chips dinner night, coffee and donut morning, pot luck dinner, organized outings, music night and campfires every night at the community firepit. This was special as it brought new and old campers together every night, allowing you got to know most other campers

The new owners do not appeaer to have brought on a social director so that comradery is missing. This may partly have to do with Covid as some of those events I mentioned may not be appropriate in a pandemic.

It's still a nice rustic, small resort. I'm enjoying my stay again but that community charm is missed.

It may not be everyone's type of RV resort, if you like those paved subdivision like RV resorts that's in perfect order, with a pool, then this place is not for you. It was built in the 50s when small trailers were the norm so the layout is tight with modern slideout RVs and its a bit sporadic on layout which I like. But the location is still fantastic being right on the water, close to this old Florida type town that time has forgotten which is a simple place that is not overrun by tourism.

My previous post in 2019 I was going to give it a 4 star and with just a little work to the place, it could be. The location is great, it's right on the water and only 1.3 miles to Town. The town is small and a mix of a fishing village/tourist town. Very unique with a collection of restaurants and bars that are all great. There is no pool, gym facility or recreational facilities other than a club house because the site is small. It's located a 5 minute walk to a very unique bar, The Tiki Hut, that has an eclectic atmosphere and great seaside drinking joint. The people have been coming back to this place for years, which says something about it. Because it's a small rv park, everyone knows each other and it's got a great community vibe to it. The long term patrons put on dinners and events to keep you occupied including nightly bonfires, bingo, poker walks, and Fridays is a music night were a collection of good amateurs put on a 2hr show of blue grass/pop/country songs. The park is older, and therefore not really designed for the modern RVs with multiple slide outs, therefore the spots are a bit tight. The place needs some minor upgrading, the driveway through the site is a mix of gravel, reclaimed asphalt pavement and sand. When the wind blows or when a vehicle drives by, there is dust and at times it can get dirty. Management could do a better job of maintaining the driveway although I was told there are environmental restraints on what they can do here, not sure that eliminates all the alternatives for dust abatement. The recent hurricane took out all the docks that were once here so now there is limited access to the water and that takes away from the enjoyment of have a seaside location but if you get a seaside spot, you will enjoy the best sunsets you will ever experience. The drawback is if it's windy, it can be cool being on the water. But with all its downfalls, I've chosen to return again because the Town and the resort is bit quirky and unique, making it a pleasant stay and away from the hustle and bustle of the cities and large parks of South Florida. If you can get a spot, give it a try, but it is northern Central Florida so early winter can be cooler than the...

I've been coming here since 2017, except during covid years. I'm so glad to be back again for a few months once again. I personally love this place. Ya it's tight, because it was built in the 50s when campers were typically smaller, but there is a great sense of community here, which makes the tightness more tolerable. The location is wonderful, so close to a town, Cedar Key, a town that time has forgotten. The resort is on the Gulf but not on open water, it's in a protected bay with humicky islands scattered about. The water and beach front is not used le for swimming however, they have a large dock where many gather every evening to watch the sunsets. The sunsets over the water here are spectacular. During low tide the water is almost all gone leaving a less attractive view of the mucky bottom, but that also forms part of the character of the place. If you like order and those subdivision like rv parks where you have paved roads and everything is neat, organized and tidy and with a pool, then you may not enjoy here like I do. It's worth checking out though and if you aren't into it then move on. Because it's an older resort, it needs work and capital investment that hasn't been done in a while. Hoping the new owners have a business plan to do that, but that will likely also cause the fees to increase. The community events of the pre covid era, like potluck dinners, music night, campfire at The Club House area, card night, etc are coming back here, but it's not all back. There use to be an event coordinator that stayed in the resort and maybe that's something for them to consider once again as it really made this place even more special. The place however, now has quite a few full timers, which brings the owner year round revenues, but with living in a trailer full time comes stuff, and more stuff then you can contain in your trailer, so it gets stored outside. And it's near the point here where it's starting to distract from the rustic charm of the place. I think the owners should create rules about the cleanliness of sites and not permit outside storage or fencing of sites and outdoor storage buns, etc. Staff here are very nice and willing to help out. But I don't believe they would want to enforce any rules other than asking to comply if it was an obvious beach of a major rule. I don't blame them as you never know how some people may react and there's no reason to risk your health over it. But the Corporation, three House Communities, should consider regular inspection and give orders to comply to their rules. Overall, I give it a 3.5 stars but with just a little effort it can easily be a 4 star And with some annual capital investment, it could become a 5 star in my opinion. A diamond in the rough so to speak. But I will say it may not satisfy...

This is a great, funky, well-run RV Park situated on the road leading into Cedar Key, about a mile from the city.

Lured here by new full-timer RV friends, I was lucky enough to get a waterfront space with its own dock - not private by any stretch, on which I enjoyed sunsets and talking with the locals, one of whom had a crab trap in the water and caught several large blue shell crabs.

And by Florida standards, it was not that spendy.

To top it off, they have an on-site cafe with excellent burgers, Grouper sammies and some of the best ribs I have ever had, smoked right on site.

After three months of engine noise and angry, drunk clients in the parking lot at my previous RV park, this sounded like a Nepal Monastery by comparison. With the lights out at night, there was almost zero light pollution, a gazillion stars and blessed quiet.

Bruce, Melissa and Roberta, the owner, wife and front desk person, respectively, could not have been nicer, friendlier and more helpful.

A significant number of the friendly campers I spoke with were regulars who book there spot as much as a year in advance. It's easy to see why. It's a very nice park.

The WiFi was surprisingly accessible for a shared environment, but I still recommend you bring your own if you want reliable, peppy throughput.

The actual city of Cedar Key is small, funky and low-key. I spoke with a number of small business owners there, always asking how the BP Oil spill affected their business. Without exception, they said they were dealt far more damage by the news media than the oil spill, which never got within 125 miles. But the media scared away a very large percentage of their business.

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