Periwinkle Park & Campground

We enjoyed it so much!! Quick bike ride to beach, restaurants, shops, and ice cream! We rented our bikes from Billy’s they will deliver and pick up. They do offer bikes at the site u can use. We had full hook up and a concrete pad with a picnic table. Never smelled anything ( saw that in reviews and scared me.. but nothing and we stayed close to it). We will definitely be back! They are still doing some cleanup from the storm on the island but it didn’t bother us.
Verizon phones worked great
Verizon internet box worked great

We arrived the day before Thanksgiving and pulled into a site with lots of shade and a new concrete pad. The restrooms have been restored and are clean. The laundry is also restored and worked well. We did have a problem with the 50 amp electric but the park maintenance was right on the problem (loose connection) and it was fixed quickly. The park is clean and quiet. Have enjoyed seeing wildlife like iguanas, ducks, swans, woodpeckers and a small alligator. You can still see progress being completed from the hurricane both within the park and on other parts of the island but the trees have come back there are many flowers along the bike path. Several restaurants and stores are open.

My wife and I were excited to get our RV out for a second run since purchasing. We arrived at the campsite and set up without issue. Later in the day we noticed a smell like dead fish. I observed a small stream with brackish water thinking possibly that is where the smell came from. During the night the smell got worse and was hard to sleep. We decided the next day to leave. When we got to the exit gate we commented to the attendant about the smell. She stated that " yea, we have a sewage plant behind the campground." We were shocked that they would put someone back in that area since the campground was virtually empty. She commented that another camper decided to leave for the same reason. I would be cautious about camping at Periwrinkle. If I would have known there was a sewage plant behind the park I would not have stayed.

This is an addendum to my recent post because I have no idea how to edit my post from a few hours ago. First, the site is littered with stuff from previous campers; second, there is no place to put your bathroom stuff in the shower area except out were everyone changes clothes on benches; third, in addition to asking for a shaded site, I had also asked for a site close to the bathrooms - I was given a site the furtherest from the restrooms as you can get; fourth, there are several empty sites along my row that would have been better than the one that I am in; fifth, there are big rigs here; and, sixth, there is no parking area for your car near the bathrooms. In the afternoon, bathrooms are not so clean.

Sites are black dirt - not much grass. If it is rainy season, the black dirt will create lots of black mud. I made my reservation 4 months ago and asked for a shady site for my small camper and again at the gate checking in - was given the sunniest site in the park - sun all day long and the next site is supper shady and vacant. Wide roads; pleasant staff; key access gate; mostly permanent/seasonal although some vans and tents - I saw no big rigs; bathrooms & showers clean; centrally located to good restaurants and Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge; nearby Ace hardware has a few RV supplies;

We just left this park after “staying” one night of what was supposed to be 8 nights. BEWARE!
I cannot recommend anyone stay here.
When I saw they only excepted cash or a personal check it should have been a clue. I instead thought they were just old fashioned. After the experience we had we both think differently about that fact.
We checked in around 5pm yesterday and set up camp. We left for a few hours to get groceries and the like in ft Myers. Coming back everything was fine and we cleaned up and got in bed to watch some tv.
About an hour later I tell my husband something smells off like when you don’t put water in the toilet so it lets the sewer smell come up into the camper.
He didn’t really smell it at first and we checked our connections etc and could find nothing wrong. He promptly falls asleep but I keep being awakened by the smell. Around 2:30 in the morning my husband wakes up and goes “oh man, I smell it now!” In the space of a few hours it had gone from an offensive odor to you literally felt like you couldn’t breathe. Hiding under the covers didn’t help, this is the kind of smell you can’t get out of your nose. As my husband put it, imagine sticking your entire head in the black tank.
Calling the emergency line yielded a call back from someone sounding very disgruntled and told me we were smelling the sewage plant that was directly behind our site. I asked why that wasn’t disclosed when booking and was told it just recently became a problem. Looking at old trip adviser reviews proves a different story about that. We were promised a full refund and basically dismissed by him but told they can help you find a new place and a refund at 8am. We spent the night in our truck on the causeway. Showed back up clearly in pajamas at 8am after dozing in our vehicle on the causeway to escape the fumes to get a refund and help finding a new place to stay. The woman was extremely rude and condescending. My check was unceremoniously shoved toward me so great attitude and smirks and I was told she would not be helping me find somewhere else. Also was informed they would be keeping my deposit and not refunding as promised. No remorse was shown but plenty of attitude and smirks at me. Where in the world is customer care or service? I was also informed they had just been to the site and “there was no smell.” Who would sleep in their truck for no smell!?!? Try noxious cloud of permeating odors. I was afraid we would have to burn our bedding. Our neighbor informed us they had been smelling it off and on for 3 solid days. They appeared to be leaving as well. The fact that smirks and rudeness are what you get instead of disclosure and apologies should have you steering clear even if you discount the stick your head directly in a sewer smell. Given the reviews showing this as a problem one from several years ago, I feel this should HAVE to be disclosed to renters before they make a reservation. I highly recommend avoiding this place!

Periwinkle is a nice enough campground. It has a small rescue bird zoo which is nice and it is a quick bike ride to the beach. The reason I gave 3 stars is due to the following. Our site ba ks up to some sort of sewer plant. The smell can get annoying ( the campers next to us left because of it) and they have trucks going in and out all the time. The trucks are not super loud but you can hear them. Crows are abundant and if you leave food on the pick nick table and step away for a moment they will be on it.
There is some sort of stagnant creek between our site and the sewage plant. Not sure if its natural or not but the ducks didn't go in it...
All that said we would like to return however not be in the row that boarders the sewer plant. Note that im calling it a sewer plant but not really sure what it is officially. As one of my neighbor campers said " don't know what it is but it smells like s**t"
The young girl working at the gate was super nice and the campground is very clean.

Only RV Park on Sanibel island. Bit of a deceptively long walk to the beach but its a nice bike ride. The beaches are amazing. The Island has tons of park/open spaces to explore. Nice level site on very clean grounds. They have exotic birds and some lemurs that are caged in a central area, also a pond with migratory birds. Cant wait to come back and stay.