Florida Apartment Rental - Cruising ICW

[Bearkeley]

We are planning for our first long range cruise from the Chesapeake to Florida and possibly the Abacos for approximately 5 months leaving late Fall. We plan to anchor out as much as we can with our 27ft Albin, hopefully do a lot of diving, snorkeling, fishing and exploring as much of the land based sites / activities along the ICW.

However, my 72 year old mother usually stays at our house with us for about a month this time of year. She is definitely not a boater.... she enjoyed her first and only overnight trip on the boat, but will most likely not enjoy anything more than 3 nites aboard. So....looks like we will need to plan to rent an apartment when she visits.

We realize all the snowbirds will be down south this time of year, so a decent rental would most likely be an easy 3k for the month based on an initial search on AirBnB. Would love to hear your thoughts on:

- what websites, if other than AirBnB should we look at? Is one better than others for Cruisers?

- locations you would recommend we consider that has:

1) some shopping / restaurants we can walk to (will make mom happy to be near civilization)
2) marina within walking distance or easy public transportation
3) preferably interesting fishing / kayaking / hiking (will keep us happy to be around nature)
4) a reasonable distance to an airport

Thanks!

 

[clynn]

VRBO may be a useful resource.

 

[Capt.Bill11]

Ft. Lauderdale fits your bill.

 

[denverd0n]

Zillow.com lists rentals. Craigslist. Lots of real estate agents list rentals (especially in Florida). Of course, the problem is that Southeast Florida, the best area for jumping off to the Bahamas, is the most expensive area of Florida in general, and the most inundated with snowbirds in the winter. If you didn't mind leaving mom in Lakeland -- for example -- the rent would be WAAAAAAY less.

 

[mbevins]

The trick is not to look for waterfront rentals, the farther from water , the better for price and availability during season.

 

[FF]

Transport will be the hassle , cheap winter rentals are up in the armpit of FL.

Pensacola , Destin , and that entire area all the way across,is the Redneck Riviera all SUMMER.

In winter many entertainments, eateries are closed and its a renters paradise.

$500, $750 will get a really nice condo , but its a long way from the Bahama jump off points.

On rare occasions it snows!

 

[mbevins]

The trick is not to look for waterfront rentals, the farther from water , the better for price and availability during season.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. When I said farther from the water, I meant down in the West Palm / Lantana area but rent between the I 95 and Turnpike. It's about a 20min drive to the coast depending on traffic.

 

[Bacchus]

Why not rent a car for a month... I'll bet the savings on an inland location more than offset the auto $

 

[jefflocke]

Delray Beach is worth checking out.