l am planning a trip to the florida keys to be a bum for a week or so.Is it legal to sleep on the beach, if not where are some good places to camp?By good l mean cheap, l saw one place they wanted 60 bucks a night for a campsite!!! l am lookin at like maybe 5 or 10 bucks a night or better yet FREE!!!! Any suggestions?

Great timing on the question as l just came back from a weekend campout in the Keys this past Sunday.

The road to Key West from the mainland is basically just a two-way highway, in many places with beach & ocean access directly on either side of this highway. You will not be able to sleep in any of these locations right on the beach as there r prominent signs prohibiting this all the way down along the road.

For cheap camping ur best bet is going to be one of the four state parks located along the way. These are, in order from north to south:

John Pennekamp in Key Largo: http://floridastateparks.org/pennekamp/default.cfm

Long Key State Park:
http://floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm

Curry Hammock State Park by Marathon:
http://floridastateparks.org/curryhammock/default.cfm

And Bahia Honda State Park in Big Pine Key, the closest state park to Key West:
http://floridastateparks.org/bahiahonda/default.cfm

You can just show up & hope for an available site, which kind of sounds like what u want to do. This is the off-season so it is not quite as busy as usual.and when l was down there this weekend it was really quiet everywhere l went so u might have a chance at a site this way, especially if u try to arrive at the campground early in the day. They always keep some sites available for walk-in campers on a first-come, first-served basis.

If u did want to play it safe u could try & make a reservation through Reserve America: (here is the link for Bahia Honda)

http://reserveamerica.com/Camping/BAHIA%20HONDA%20SP/r/campgroundDetails.do?subTabIndex=campDetail&contractCode=FL&parkId=281005

There r a few KOAs & private campgrounds along the way, but the state parks r going to be cheapest & they r still about $26 per night. You might also be able to root around the internet some & dig up some cheap fishing camps with little to no amenities, that might allow u to stay overnight. l found the Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge, but l could not find any rates for it (they do have tent camping sites). l suspect that it is more expensive than the state parks though.

There is a boy scout camp down in West Summerland Key & if u r affiliated with the scouts & they have the room at the time u r there, u might be able to get a really cheap place to put up ur tent there.but they will not just let anyone stop & camp there.

The bottom line is l do not recommend that u camp or sleep on the side of the road or on the beach.it is prohibited & u might end up with some free overnight lodging.the kind u really did not want!!

there is no such thing as cheap in the keys that includes camping,the homeless people all seem to live by the cemetery on the side of the road as far as living on the beach l would think not first of all they dont have much beach & what they do have is in front of condos & motels,i go there all the time & l see people just passed out on the sidewalks,if u have any talent singing,juggling or such u will make a killing ,hell just stand in the r with the street performers & act like a idiot the tourist will pay you