# Homestead Lodging recs?



## David Porter

The Quality Inn in Florida City is nice, clean, and reasonably priced. I’ve stayed there often and never had an issue.


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## Boneheaded

Go fish homestead bayfront one day, mix it up try to find a bonefish.


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## dan_giddyup

h


Boneheaded said:


> Go fish homestead bayfront one day, mix it up try to find a bonefish.


Hmmm haven't caught a bonefish in YEARS.... like 18+ years.


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## kbanashek

I would not leave anything of value not locked down in the homestead more so FL city area


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## mro

kbanashek said:


> I would not leave anything of value not locked down in the homestead more so FL city area


Pretty much like that everywhere now a days. Only reason I use full size 3/4 ton vans is because your "stuff" is slightly more secure out of sight.


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## dan_giddyup

Thanks Fellas,

I'm gonna go with a tent in Flamingo for a night and then a funky school bus hippy commune lookin' place near Homestead for wi-fi access. Psyched.
Hoping to fool my first (and then second, third, fourth...) snook on a fly.

Any online forecast apps you'd recommend for checking the wind besides a basic weather app?

thx again


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## lemaymiami

If you send me an email to [email protected] I have a list of the places my anglers have stayed in the Homestead / Florida City area with phone numbers etc... The first place I recommend is the Best Western since they have have patrolling security there all night long... and it's an easy in and out with a boat...

If that "funky school bus place" you're talking about is the youth hostel in Florida City... you might just be getting into a lot more adventure than you're looking for.... 

Wherever you stay leave nothing visible in your car (stuff you want to keep goes into your trunk...) and never ever leave anything of value on a trailered skiff... Wherever you are if you see any kids on crazy looking home-made motorcycles, scooters, four wheelers, etc. be very careful around them... They make the Hells Angels look like old men.... Another of those "ask me how I know" moments I'm afraid.

Aren't boats fun?


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## dan_giddyup

lemaymiami said:


> If you send me an email to [email protected] I have a list of the places my anglers have stayed in the Homestead / Florida City area with phone numbers etc... The first place I recommend is the Best Western since they have have patrolling security there all night long... and it's an easy in and out with a boat...
> 
> If that "funky school bus place" you're talking about is the youth hostel in Florida City... you might just be getting into a lot more adventure than you're looking for....
> 
> Wherever you stay leave nothing visible in your car (stuff you want to keep goes into your trunk...) and never ever leave anything of value on a trailered skiff... Wherever you are if you see any kids on crazy looking home-made motorcycles, scooters, four wheelers, etc. be very careful around them... They make the Hells Angels look like old men.... Another of those "ask me how I know" moments I'm afraid.
> 
> Aren't boats fun?


Thanks for the tips and the laughs. Not at the hostel... I saw that one and opted to pass on it.


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## SFL_Mirage

Capt Ryan is a cool dude and a great guide. You should have a blast!!


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## lemaymiami

That tip about fine young men on motors was all too accurate. There’s an article in today’s Miami Herald about a shooting incident in south Dade (four shot in a drive-by, three in the head...). Whoever that fine young man was.... he was riding on a four wheel ATV.

Be careful down there... I’m towing through Florida City twice a day (like every guide that fishes Flamingo...) and had a run-in with a few of them about five weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon... While I was stopped in traffic at a light one of them deliberately smashed my driver’s side mirror as he rode by. Since I’m also a retired cop I was smart enough not to go after him....


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## tailchaser16

Travel Lodge in Florida City is very safe. 3 of us trailer our boats there twice a year for the last 5 years and never had issues. Push Poles & trolling motors go in your room overnight.
Call Vanessa or Sunny at the front desk and tell them you are bringing a boat.


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## DBStoots

I've stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott near the hospital several times. It is very nice and the GM is awesome. They let me put the push pole in the lobby behind the front desk and there is a security patrol 24/7. The GM asked him to make sure he kept an eye on my skiff over night. Still, like Bob said, I would not leave anything really valuable on the boat over night.


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## lemaymiami

Most of the places folks have mentioned are on that list I've compiled over the years - an email request gets anyone that asks a copy...
[email protected]


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## fatman

Doesn't the Park offer lodging in Flamingo?


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## Bateau

If you bring your own camper or tent. Now they have Yurts you can rent, its still a tent though with a hike to the shower. Last option is to rent their houseboat. No “lodging” outside those options..


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## Drifter

dan_giddyup said:


> Picking up my new-to-me Shadowcast 16 next Monday and headed to Flamingo Feb 18-21!
> I. AM. FRICKEN. EXCITED.
> Fishing one day with Capt Ryan Accursio and then adventuring on my own for the rest of the week.
> 
> Curious on any rec's for lodging in Homestead area? I will need some wi-fi to work at night and I'm on Verizon for cell phone.
> I see very few options on Air BnB so thinking hotel may be best option.
> 
> Worried about somebody trying to snag my push pole off the boat in hotel parking lot. Is that silly or a valid concern?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any advice.
> Dan from Colorado


For the record I stay in Florida City and Homestead quite a bit and I leave everything in my boat because Im careless. Nothing has been taken. I usually park under a light by the front of the hotel. I also slept in the Flamingo parking lot one night and no one said anything.


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## lemaymiami

All of the facilities were wiped out down at Flamingo in 2005... They restored the marina store, the campgrounds, but never replaced the motel, the cabins, or the restaurant...

In recent years the concessionaire has been doing quite a bit to improve things - bringing in new houseboats, yurts, etc. I’ve been told that they’re also planning on bringing back cabins as well, something I’m looking forward to.

Until then the nearest motels are fifty miles away in Florida City and Homestead...


That's why I go out of my way to assist folks planning a trip down to Flamingo (nothing like a little self interest....). All of the guides that work out of Flamingo have had their business hurt a bit by the fact that they never re-built the place - and that was after we went to meetings off and on for about two years working up the "restoration"... The National Park Service simply decided not to do much of anything....


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## Scott

I was just out to the park. Saw this area being cleared and mulched. It’s just before the eco tent area. Talked to the volunteer at the visitors center to see if I can find out the time line. He said that he wasn’t sure, but he thought that they were going to be modular units. So it should happen “relatively “ quick.


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## georgiadrifter

I heard (or read) somewhere that those Flamingo yurt thingies had the large mesh mosquito screens and did not keep out no-seeums. Not sure how accurate that info is....but something to ask about.

Also of note....there is no place at Flamingo where you can flush your motor with fresh water that I’m aware of. I’ve used the water at the campground dump station for years....but this year one of the elderly female “Flamingo Adventures” employees almost blew a gasket when she saw me.....yelling “$5000 dollar fine by the Park Service if they catch you.” She said something about the salt water polluting the ground water. I may have been totally in the wrong....but polluting ground water with a minute amount of diluted salt water seemed a bit far-fetched. I could throw a rock and hit the bay from the dump station.


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## bababouy

Camping in Flamingo may be the safest place for you, as long as the weather is cool enough to camp. The wife, two dogs, and two cats were trying to get back home in Key Largo after Irma, and we had to spend the night on the side of Krome ave behind the race trac gas station in Fl. City. The cops that were holding the road block, drove up and down the road and asked us if were we armed and to keep an eye out for the dudes on atvs.


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## EasternGlow

Yes, the yurts only have the larger mosquito mesh, not no see um mesh.


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## Drifter

bababouy said:


> Camping in Flamingo may be the safest place for you, as long as the weather is cool enough to camp. The wife, two dogs, and two cats were trying to get back home in Key Largo after Irma, and we had to spend the night on the side of Krome ave behind the race trac gas station in Fl. City. The cops that were holding the road block, drove up and down the road and asked us if were we armed and to keep an eye out for the dudes on atvs.


Yeah there definitely are huge ATV gangs down there, I watched the cops chasing them all over the place. I don't know if Id want to camp outside in FL city. Don't think those guys would mess with a boat though they are all on motorcycles and expensive atvs pippin around like crazy people.


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## dan_giddyup

So Florida City at night is on par with swimming Shark river at night.
Good times!


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## dan_giddyup

Trailering south today hitting flamingo in the am tomorrow. PSYCHED and brimming with all the enthusiasm and optimism that floods the brain prior to a trip! Sitting n the passenger seat and staring at flies, nautical maps, reels... fingers crossed.
Thx again for all the info Fellas.


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## bababouy

Take it all in. Once you enter the park, drive the speed limit and take in every ounce. Watch out for turtles in road. There is no place like it on earth. Maybe stop at Robert is here and have a smoothie or Gator Grill and grab some gator bites.


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