Campground Review: Venture Out Resort
While campgrounds are plentiful along Route 1 in the Florida Keys, finding availability can be another story! It is recommended you plan these types of trips well in advance. We lucked out booking Venture Out Resort back in December. Venture Out Resort is a mixed park of both modular homes and RV sites, totaling about 650 lots. All sites are privately owned with about 60% available for rent. Most of the lots at Venture Out are modular homes, with roughly 20% being for RVs.
The resort features a large, clean pool area with water views and a secluded hot tub. We could be found just about every afternoon along the North edge of the pool watching boats come in and out of the channel. There is no shortage of palm trees adding to the tropical feel. The temperatures were about perfect during our stay which apparently is the norm. The last few days of our stay were greeted with heavy winds which made ideas of kayaking and paddle boarding just a fleeting thought. However on a calm day, there is plenty of water to paddle a kayak or a SUP. One of our favorite parts of Venture Out was its convenience to the bike trails that line Route 1. We were just a short peddle from the trail and we could ride for miles and miles in each direction. In case you were wondering, bike trails lined with turquoise waters aren’t too shabby!
There are three tiers of sites - “dry” meaning no water access, canal front, and oceanfront. The majority of the sites are waterfront with boat docks. If you have a boat, bring it along as there are two boat ramps and fuel pumps in the middle of the resort. There are lots of activities going on everyday, with a large community center to host the big ones! Pickle ball is a big deal at Venture Out, so start training before your next visit.
It’s important to remember these three words that validate the reason for the $100+ per night rates - LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Venture Out is located on the Atlantic Side of Route 1. Beyond every corner as far as the eye can see turquoise blue water dotted with mangrove islands. Cudjoe Key is located at Mile Marker 23 which is about 19 miles North of Key West, in other words known as a 35 minute drive. While a few day trips to Key West are nice, we enjoyed being far enough away from the “crazy” of Duval Street to relax a little.
For us, the biggest downfall to Venture Out Resort was the limitation of only being permitted to park one vehicle per site. This meant we had to park a vehicle in the paid overflow lot. While we thought the rates were super reasonable ($2/day), it was still an added expense. In addition, be prepared to pay a $53.75 resort fee upon arrival.
