First-Time RV Rental in the Florida Keys
Reviewed by Ben Kiser, RV rental operator and fleet consultant.
Your first RV trip, and it's the Keys. Two ways to do it: have a trailer delivered and set up on your site, or collect a motorhome near Homestead and drive it down US-1 yourself. Both work. Whether you want to drive the RV once you arrive decides which.
How this trip works
Start with one question: will you drive the RV once you are there? If it will sit on the site while you get around by car, a delivered towable is the easy first trip. A host brings it, sets it up, and you arrive whenever you like. 39 of the 81 listings that can reach the Keys are towables, and Jolly Roger in Marathon says it works with several companies that deliver and set up RVs.
Some parks answer the question for you. Bluewater Key bars using the RV for transport once you have checked in, Class B excepted, so a motorhome there is parked for the stay and you need a car anyway. Grassy Key in Marathon accepts no one after 4:30 p.m. A delivered trailer clears both, because the host lands it and you only have to turn up.
If you want to tour in it, take a drivable RV, and the drive becomes part of the trip. It also puts you on someone else's clock. El Monte RV in Princeton, south of Homestead, hands over weekdays only, with standard pickup after 1 p.m., and takes no after-hours pickups. The Key West end of the road is 3 hours 33 minutes from there by OSRM routing. Leave at 1 p.m. and you reach it at 4:33 p.m., before any stop for fuel or groceries. Bluewater Key, at MM 14, closes check-in at 5 p.m. on weekdays and refuses late arrivals. No drive time to its gate is published, so treat that afternoon as having almost no slack.
A missed check-in has no fallback. No source permits overnight RV parking outside a campground. Monroe County bars it on the US-1 right of way from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., and the rules in Islamorada, Marathon, Layton and Key Colony Beach were not researched. So if you choose the motorhome, pick a first night in the Upper Keys, not at the far end.
Two sources, read together
The fact that decides it
- What the source says
- Bluewater Key bars using the RV for transport once checked in, Class B excepted, and refuses late arrivals. Grassy Key accepts no arrivals after 4:30 p.m. Jolly Roger works with companies that deliver and set up RVs. 39 of the 81 listings that can reach the Keys are towables.
- What to do about it
- Decide whether you will drive the RV during the stay before you pick one. If not, a delivered towable fits both parks' rules and takes the arrival clock off you. If so, rent a drivable RV and book a park that lets you move it.
- If you do not
- A motorhome you may not drive after check-in, or a 4:30 cutoff missed on the way down, and no source that permits overnight RV parking outside a campground.
What the RV gets you here
- A trailer delivered and set up means no hitching, no backing in and no hookups to learn on day one.
- A motorhome means the Seven Mile Bridge from the driver's seat. It is 6.79 miles. Someone rounded up.
- Full hookups at Pennekamp and at the private parks that publish their hookups, so water, power and sewer are at the site.
What to rent for this trip
Travel Trailer
A travel trailer is the RV most Keys renters never tow. The host brings it down US-1 to your site and takes it away again, and you keep your own car for the run into town. It is also the cheapest way to stay in an RV here, around $110 a night in the middle of the market.
Class C RV
A Class C is the motorhome with a bed over the cab, the usual pick for a family of four to six who want a bathroom and a kitchen in something that drives like a big van. 20 can serve the Keys, from $165 to $399 a night.
Camper Van
A camper van is a van with a bed and a galley, for one or two people who want to drive the Overseas Highway themselves. In the Keys the choice is thin: 2 can serve the islands, at $175 and $245 a night.
Before you book
- 1Check the age rule. 50 of the listings that can reach the Keys require a renter of 25, and 31 accept 21. Key Largo Kampground requires the guest checking in to be at least 25. Outdoorsy's own under-25 limits are on the insurance guide.
- 2Only 16 of 81 listings are instant book. The rest are requests a host has to accept, so allow time.
- 3El Monte RV hands over Monday to Friday only. A Saturday start from there is not possible.
- 4Bluewater Key and Grassy Key both require an RVIA-certified RV. Ask the host to confirm the seal.
- 5Book the site first. Pennekamp showed zero sites for a weekend when checked on the Thursday before.
Questions people ask
Should I tow or drive for my first RV trip to the Keys?
If you do not already tow, have a trailer delivered and set up on your site. The host handles the hitching and the hookups, and you arrive by car. If you want to drive, a Class C or camper van from the mainland works, but plan the first night close to the pickup.
How long is the drive from Homestead to Key West in an RV?
From El Monte RV in Princeton, south of Homestead, it is 137 road miles to Key West, about 3 hours 33 minutes, by OSRM routing. Key Largo is 35 miles and about 51 minutes. Allow longer in an RV and for stops.
Can I pick up a rental RV on a Saturday?
Not from El Monte RV in Princeton, which hands over Monday to Friday only and takes no after-hours pickups. Outdoorsy hosts set their own handover times, so ask the host, or have the RV delivered.
Do I need to be 25 to rent an RV for the Keys?
For most listings, yes. 50 of the 81 RVs whose hosts can reach the Keys require 25, and 31 accept 21. Some parks set their own rule: Key Largo Kampground requires the guest checking in to be at least 25.
Site booked? Now pick the RV
Choose from RVs whose hosts can reach the Keys. The rate, the delivery fee and the cancellation policy are on each listing.