Complaint Review: Sunshine Key Campground - Big Pine Key Florida

Okay, I am a proud Cuban that lives in a proud Cuban family.

What everybody says about Cuban being annoying and loud isn't always true.

Most Cubans are loud but, there are no disrescpectful just because there Cuban and loud and annoying and love having music loud. All HISPANICS like to party not just Cubans. And Cubans aren't the only ones who are disrecptful at the resort. I have gone plenty of times and there has been some Caucausion Non-Hispanic People who treat us like dirt and say means things in English thinking we don't understand and act as they own the place. But at the same time I am not saying that that race is all disrescpectful because I have made friends  with them and they like to have fun as well as we do. If you do not like the loud music then why not trying a different site because there are a tons a sites and if you have a problem you should get one more to the back where is much more dark and much more quiet. I believe that when you go to a different place you don't go to read a book, you go to have fun and relax. Both at the SAME TIME. And my fther he is a Cuban and he has a boat and he goes fishing as much as possible. AND HE DOES HAVE A FISHING LICENSE. And he renews it everytime it expires and so do othere people and many Cubans too. The "kids" you see driving like crazy and drinking beer are the "kids" that look like teens but are actually 18 or much older. They just look young. The stealing, has NEVER been an issue for me nor our family. But, I do got to say there could be a possibility that some people do steal because the world is full of evil and ood but doesn't men EVERYONE THERE THAT IS CUBAN is the stealer. And what we do is we watch over or stuff and pass by the dock every once in a while and thats how you are suppose to take care of yourself and your stuff.

I totally recommend you to go to SUNSHINE KEY it is a great place for Family and Friends. Has a nice pool and the showers are way better then a bunch of other places I have been too. And of course, it does get a little difficult to shower at times but, there are a few different bathroom locations you can go to, its not just one. Last time, we went we were even playing a bean bag toss with a few people that DON'T SPEAK SPANISH, and they were great and fun and nice. They didn't look at us like dirt and they had fun. And also the music dies out before one in the morning. Of course, everyone has a few complaints. Every place could be better, but its not a terrible place as others had described.

By, the way CUBAN refugees have NEVER been seen there. It's impossible because there is always Police in the water. All the Cubans there are LEGAL. And wave runners are also allowed, and you can drive them if your 16 or older. And if you have a license for it you can be 12 or older. And when you leave the dock from the boats, you are allowed to go fast, every boat does.

If you want to go to a quieter place and closer to home go to Fiesta Key. It's smaller and past ten you will not hear a singl soul.

I Love Sunshine Key, 

    I have been coming to this park for over 25 years and i am still a proud customer of the park. Stealing and crime goes on all over the world and is most definitly out of our control. Believe me i wish the world was free from crime but its not. We as adults should know that. It is our duty to watch over our own belongings. I enjoy peace and i enjoy some noise every now and then. Everyone is different in how they use their leisure time. Weather its drinking all day and listening to loud music or peace and quiet all day reading a book. Many of us can not control or have any right to judge how others live their life. Yes we all have opinions but it is just to respect eachothers differences. Now we all have the right to speak up, that is for sure but their is a proper and grown method of doing so. 

    First, if you have a problem with loud music tell your neighbor or who ever it is your concerns. If your neighbor does not comply, Tell The Office or Call The Sheriff so it is reported because after a few complaints, customer will be asked to leave.
    Second, if you have a problem with golf carts, write down tag numbers or find out their sites. Then Tell The Office or Call The Sheriff. After a few complaints customer will be asked to leave.

    Thirdly, i think my point is made. If their are any complaints and they can not be resolved between adults, just Tell The Office or Call The Sheriff because as ive said before after a few complaints the customer will be kicked out of the park.

    Now if you problem is racism then just pick up your @#!$ and go elsewhere this park is not for you because let me tell you no changes, problems, color, race, culture, person or animal will keep me from the place ive been coming to for years. I adapt sorry if you cant resolve your own personal issues. 

Sincerely, 
Get Over It * A.K.A. - Grow Up- 

Dan you are spot on about the park. All the whte employees have quit and left the park. Now all thats left is cubans that dont do a d**n thing for there pay, they use to get paid to watch tv but there tv is gone, they look at the marina all day long. The stealing is still going on,along with fishing in the marina and signs all over the place saying no fishing in the marina. There is a employee that works in the marina and he fishes in the marina and drives golf cart around at night athigh speed, and dosnt stop for stop signs. They dont follow any park rules and have no respect for anyone. I seen about a dozen six to eight year old girls sitting in the mangros drinking beer. Golf carts flying all over the place with drivers under 21. Women changing there kids diapers in the pool. Spilling 500 gallons of sewage on the front parking lot. When FWC was in the park out of all the cubans fishing only one had a fishing license. The employee from the marina works there but dosnt do any work. No one works and the cubans are the rudest ive ever seen. Encore take notice three tears ago you lost over 100 s****.

So, someone is offended that this report told the truth about who was responsible for the obnoxious activities at this campground?  Well, I say; too freakn' bad.  I'm not here to play Mr. Sensitive.  I'm here to tell it like it is.  On holiday weekends, this campground is full of people who have absolutely no respect for others.  They being Cuban is just plain fact, not racial or cultural embellishment.  Read between the lines on the last comment.  They have absolutely no respect for other people, and if you expect to be able to sleep at 1 am, their attitude is that YOU should be understanding of THEM.  That is the typical arrogant and selfish attititude prevelant at this place.  

So, back to the original point...If you are somewhat normal, like to stay in possession of your belongings, prefer to sleep at night, and not have your bones rattled every 5 minutes by ridiculous looking oversized duelly trucks with diesel engines, stay away from this place on holiday weekends.       

Although I do agree with the statement about large cuban crowds being attracted to the keys, I resent the other comments specifically talking about our culture.

Dan,

If you have a problem with thieves at the campground then I completely agree with you making the decision of never returning. Whether the thieves were cuban or not should make no difference. Whomever they were should be held accountable, regardless of race or culture. For you to start complaining about "cubans this and cubans that"....now I am a little offended. If we play loud music into the late night is because we love life and our culture is not a "sit in the dark quitely drinking budweiser" type of culture. We are a loud, singing, dancing, and passionate culture.

My point is: don't generalize. I have stayed at Sunshine Key with my family many years and we have NEVER stolen from ANYONE. We do sing, dance, and speak LOUD but we are not thieves.

The same goes for the other completely sarcastic comment about cubans. If I have learned anything from this ripoff report, it is not about thieves in sunshine key...but about obvious cuban prejudice. From the beginning, the comment should have been about thieves (just plain thieves) and about sunshine key not being a quiet getaway. Instead it was a cuban ripoff report.

My opinion...if you want to have a blast block party style and love life to the fullest then come to Sunshine Key. Your race or culture won't make a difference to us. :0)

Last year my family and I spent the summer at a campground north of the 7-mile bridge. After we set up the camper and got the boat in the water I was called away on business and so I missed that first weekend Cuban invasion. When I returned that Monday my family was traumatized. My four children and wife all wanted to leave. Despite their pleas to leave we stayed 2 months and I learned a lot about the Cuban culture. After awhile you realize that sure the loud music is annoying but at least its happy music. Sure the Cuban people are rude but they are rude to each other as well. Not just to you. I was born in the USA and don't speak Spanish but here I was a minority in my own country. But I took it as an opportunity to understand a foreign culture. For example a lot of Cubans are very frugal and take pride at getting things for free. Dan from Big Pine is right on about that. Keep an eye on everything. Cubans also abide in a love for alcohol an can drink the whole weekend, without sleep, while still fishing all day Saturday and Sunday without any protection from the Keys sun. Now I do admit that the drunken Karaoke set to 70's disco music sung by people at 3 in the morning who can't speak English was hard on my family. But living thru that made us stronger. And we needed to become stronger because worse was yet to come. Who in my family can forget the drunken Cubans on wave runners? Riding around the harbor flooring these machines in an effort to squirt water on each other or the girls on land. Having big blue K-mart fenders saved my boat from the violent rocking and rolling. The noise from the illegal fireworks on July 4th was drowned out by the sound of model cigarette boats that raced around the harbor. One day we met a local in Marathon who spoke English and we took his advice and got out of town during mini lobster season. Sharing a 40ft camper with 2 pre teen girls and 2 teenage boys my wife and I promoted public bathroom use as much as possible, especially for showers. Now I'm not exactly sure the relationship Cubans have with used toilet paper but it doesn't get flushed and it accumulates quickly. And at night the teenage Cuban girls controlled the showers deciding who showered and who didn't. One of the scariest parts of camping in the keys were the very young children driving around at night on golf carts. Not just the silent type golf carts but the monster golf carts that run on gas and have big knobby tires. The motorized scooters and bicycles were not nearly as dangerous as these big things zooming around the campground all night. But putting all that aside I did make friends with a couple of the Cubans and learned some interesting fishing techniques. Fishing is something that the Cubans do very well. One thing I learned is that any fish is edible and size doesn't matter. I don't know if I'll ever have the need to eat a tarpon or barracuda or remora but at least now I know I can.

This report is 100% true. To avoid these problems, stay away from this campground during holiday weekends. Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Lobster Mini-Season weekends are the worst. Sunshine Key campground has also become a launching point for Cuban migrant smugglers.