Sebastian Inlet State Park Campground

One of The Best Florida State Parks! 'A tad' buggy if the wind blows no-see-ums your way.

{Camped October 2014}

Sebastian Inlet embodies the Florida lifestyle. Live like a local with your toes in the water at this coastal gem.

This is a gorgeous park with beach and lagoon access for boating, fishing, swimming, surfing, paddling, hiking, beach combing, and just soaking up some sun. Don't miss the stunning sunrise on the ocean, and sunset on the lagoon. We did a sunrise paddle on our SUPs and saw bottlenose dolphins and an abundance of fish and birds.

The campground is lovely and many sites have waterfront views of the Sebastian Inlet and Indian River Lagoon, but you sacrifice privacy for the view. Non waterfront sites have more trees surrounding each site.

For years, I camped at Long Point campground, just north of the Sebastian Inlet bridge, and I must say, I prefer this state park.

Amazingly hot solar showers, clean restrooms, friendly and informative park rangers. Pet friendly and plenty of room to walk the pups.

For some local flavor, visit Capt. Hiram's, almost directly across the Indian River Lagoon in Sebastian. There's often live music at the Sand Bar.

Local attractions include Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge and the Mel Fischer Treasure Museum.

We had great hopes for this park, but were actually disappointed. We were in a waterfront site which had beautiful views, but were fairly close together with little privacy. The non-waterfront sites definitely had more trees.

The beach was great, there's some strong surf, but it was too much for our kids to boogie board.

We loved watching the birds and we saw plenty of dolphins. There were also a ton of fisherman out everyday (even in a crazy rainstorm!) Which was entertaining.

Our biggest gripe was the noseeums. These tiny little biting bugs were awful!! By the time we left, we all looked like we had chicken pox and it was just miserable. Bad time of year (Jan)? Because we were on the water? I have no idea. Totally ruined the park for me and I couldn't wait to leave.

I booked this reservation only because it was the only reservation I could get for that week...but we ended up really loving this park! As another reviewer mentioned, this is an unusual campground in that the waterfront sites are actually the worst sites in the campground. They are small, tightly spaced, and there is road between you and the water. We were disappointed at first that we didn't have a waterfront site, but then we ended up being so happy with the site we did get! We were in site 30 which was huge and had lots of privacy. The sites on the back row are also pretty good - sites 36-49. The pull through sites in the middle of the campground are gigantic and most have good privacy/separation. The bathrooms were very clean. This park is open 24 hours because it is a huge fishing destination, and there are lots of people there fishing day and night. You can access the beach on the ocean (about a 15 minute walk from the campground), and there are plenty of places to walk your dog. The nearby town of Sebastian is cute and has some good restaurants and a good brewery. We had the unexpected good fortune/dumb luck of arriving at the park on the same day as a 50-foot right whale and her calf, which was very cool but highly unusual. Overall a great stay! Sites are W/E only with 30A.

We spent a week here in the second row back from the water - these sites are more elevated so you still have a good view. We were absolutely amazed by the huge number of seabirds including pelicans, herons, egrets, and wood storks. We also spotted dolphins multiple times (including a mom and calf) and even a green sea turtle. Wow!

We were also surprised by how intense the noseeums were all the time, except when it was windy. They crawl right through regular screens too - we actually rescreened our entire RV out of desperation while we camped there with tighter noseeum proof screening that blocked most of them. The ants also found a line into our trailer and we spent the week constantly sweeping them out. We camped here over Christmas - not sure if the bugs vary at different times of year.

The campground has a fishing museum that is small but quite good and appropriate since there are people fishing there constantly. You have to cross the inlet on the large bridge to the north side to access their beach - it's better to drive given the traffic. It is a lovely man made bay with warm shallow waters protected from the current - perfect for kids. We found stingrays and crabs in the bay which was entertaining.

Despite the bugs, it was such a lovely spot that we would camp there again, though maybe for a shorter stay.

We stayed for a long weekend over the new year's holiday, and this 24/7/365 park was busy for the holiday. It's a fisherman's paradise, with lots of fishing locations, fishing cleaning station, and ice dispenser. We really enjoyed the prolific wildlife (many, many species of birds, marine mammals, fish, rabbits), except that the equally prolific insects were definitely a nuisance. Mosquitoes, gnats and noseeums were very annoying and made it uncomfortable to sit outside in the evening, even though we visited during a winter cold snap.

That being said, we really liked the park. The easy walk to the beach from the campground allowed us to see a stunning sun rise on January 1. The beach features high surf, and is one of the best surfing locations in Florida. Watching the fishing pros and the wildlife provided hours of enjoyment. We also enjoyed the two small museums within the park, the McLarty Treasure Museum about 2 miles south of the campground and the Fishing Museum next to the south ranger station near the campground. Both provided plenty of interesting information about the history of the area.

For arrival, don't miss the small pullover on the right side for camper checkin just before you arrive at the entry gate. Camper checkin seems to constantly be interrupted by the steady flow of arriving cars, so be patient. The campground is undergoing periodic upgrades including adding 50A power and relocating water spigots, so some of the info on ReserveAmerica may be outdated as to site amenities. Non-upgraded sites often require 50 foot water hoses to connect to water. The newer sites are the higher numbers -- 36-44 and 52-60. We had two sites during our stay; #28 was older, not particularly level, a little tricky to access with a distant hose bibb, while #44 was upgraded, easier to access, more level and more private. We prefer the sites on the back row (36-51) for privacy, even though they don't have a water view. These sites are also the most suitable for large rigs.

It’s a nice park with a good view. The hook ups are a little distant specially on 27. 58 was a great spot a new lot with a nice brand new grill and new hook up. Take a lot of 40% DEET. I’m pretty sure this is the birthplace of all no-seemems (Ceratopogonidae or biting midges)

We had great fun kayaking and watching dolphins. Great biking

Let me start by saying that while there are some drawbacks to this park, it was so unbelievably relaxing, I have to give it 5 stars!

We had a waterfront site. These sites are small and close together, but a few have nice shade trees and the water view really made everything else disappear. In May, the no-see-ums were still pretty relentless later in the day. While I know the point of camping is to be outside, when the bugs got bad, we just sat in the air conditioned camper and stared out the window at the water view. From the site, we saw birds, dolphins and manatees.

The campground is on one side of a bridge, along with the fishing museum and Atlantic Beach access. The calmer swimming lagoon, bait shop, restaurant and pier are across the bridge. The bridge has a very slim bike lane and curb/sidewalk and the speed limit is 50. So it is VERY sketchy to cross by foot or bike. We walked it but it was terrifying. Definitely drive if you can.

We also noticed the crowd at this park is a late one- we had the beaches to ourselves until about noon and then it got packed.

The abundance of wildlife and water views/access make this park great.

Nice campground, very close to the beach and river!
We had no expectations for this stay, we were just starting full time living in our travel trailer and coming from Vero Beach, it just made sense to stop here to test it out before leaving Florida.

Our stay was at the middle of June when the days are already really hot and the bugs are all out. As usual I was attacked by noseeums bugs, so if you know you are a target just be prepared.

At the time we called to make the reservation the agent mentioned we needed a 75 foot hose, I was surprised and did not had one, for our luck she was wrong so our hose worked just fine.

Bathrooms, laundry areas (just outside bathroom), dumpster were fine! On our way out we stopped at the dumpster which was just across the trash can and the smell were strong, not sure if they were late to pick up the trash or if the smell is like this all the time.