Camping on Florida's Beaches - Segment 3

Setting up Camp

This is an important step and should be thought out.  If you have more than one tent going then placement will help with many things.

Arranging your tents

1. 
   
   Scout your area in advance. If you can go to the area and see whats there you may have a better chance of finding a good smooth spot to put your tents up.
2. TIDES. Make sure if you setup close to the water that you don't setup in a tidal area that will be under water when the tide is high.
3. Mangroves and No-See-Ums. If you setup near the water and there are no mangroves too close you will be much happier. HOWEVER they will still be there. Make sure your tent is zipped up about 2 hrs before sunset to seal it off from the little critters. Also if you can sleep with a pair of light long pants, and a light long sleeve shirt this will keep the critters off most of you and if you sleep with a sheet as a cover you can use that to cover all the way up while your sleeping. trust me this will make you more comfortable.
4. 
   
   Find the direction of the wind and depending on where your Camp Fire will be place your tents Up wind of the fire so they don't get smoked out.
5. 
   
   Place a Tarp on the ground towards the front of the main entrance so that you have an area in front of the tent that will have less sand on it and give you an entrance area.
6. 
   
   Setup a Clothes Line so you have a place to hang shirts or towels. Two long poles with a string in between them and then two support strings staked at 45degree angles should hold the line. Make sure your stakes are in the groud  good and hold the weight of what your placing on the line. Long Sand Stakes are better if you have them.
7. 
   
   Your tent should be free Standing and only need stakes to ensure the wind doesn't blow away your tent. Put your rain cover on so you don't have to worry about it later on. This also will help with Hunidity over night.
8. Keeping Sand out of the tent is a chore. The best bet is to have a bucket of water that you can step into and then step out onto a towel or directly into the tent without any sand on your feet. this will eliminate about 90% of the sand in your tent.
9. For your beach Fire you don't really need to dig a pit BUT it does help with containing the area. However starting the fire can be tougher if you dig it so deep that you don't have a good wind flow to it.

These are a few Camp Setup things to think about and may help you out with your comfort while camping on Floridas beaches.

See Florida Boat Beach Camping - Segment 4