Advice or tips for camping on the beach?

In fall and spring, the Talbot Islands State Parks (http://www.floridastateparks.org/bigtalbotisland/default.cfm and http://www.floridastateparks.org/littletalbotisland/default.cfm) can be quite nice. Camping directly on the beaches is not allowed, although there are campground facilities on Little Talbot, which are pretty nice, and currently undergoing a big sanitation system renovation, to protect the water quality around the islands (they'll re-open to camping in August). Great fishing (either from the beach, or from http://www.floridastateparks.org/nassausound/default.cfm, or from boats or kayaks), pristine white ("sugar") sand beaches and aqua sea water, like you see in the four color tourist brochures. But primitive camping on Florida beaches http://www.ecofloridamag.com/askeditor_primitive_beach_camping.htm. Camping is an activity that is just hard on the beach ecosystem in many ways, from which beaches can't quickly recover. Managed campgrounds allow an area like the Talbot Islands to handle many more people with less average impact, and to collect sanitation and fire issues where they can be managed, and their impact on the beach ecosystem minimized. Staying in the tenting area of a good campground, and hiking the beaches by day, swimming, boating, and fishing in beautiful environs you can re-visit often, is a pretty good compromise for giving up driftwood beach fires in the moonlight. Bugs can definitely be an issue. Sand gets more places if you are wet, so staying dry is the best defense against getting sand everywhere. It will still get in all your gear over a weekend, but clean sand is easy to deal with, as it brushes out easily, and doesn't stain. In a lot of places, if there is sand, there is gravel, and camping on pea gravel isn't a bad compromise between keeping clean, and comfort. The advice from tim_in_oz about anchoring tents using deadmen is good, and making a deadman looks http://sleekfreak.ath.cx:81/3wdev/VITAHTML/SUBLEV/GIF/AOM32.GIF. Bury your deadmen at least two foot deep, to resist high wind.

Long stakes (or, if like us, unprepared--a really good instinct for stable tent-stake angles) and an unworried attitude about getting sand *everywhere.* I really recommend camping at Assateague in the fall--we went last year in November, on one of those unseasonably warm weekends--cool sand squishing between your toes, crashing waves and pounding but not punishing wind, a gazillion stars above you--it was pretty awesome. No mosquitoes, either, but I guess you gamble on cold--I bet mid- to late-October is pretty sweet.

I have camped at Assateague three times, and felt the need to warn you, make sure you camp Ocean side, not Bayside. As bad as the mosquitoes can be Ocean side, they are much, much worse Bayside IMO. Oh, and the wild horses like to go through your stuff if there is no one watching it. I still remember laughing at the horse standing on my friend's beach blanket when we got out of the water.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/graytonbeach/ in the Florida panhandle was named the #1 most pristine park in the nation a few years back. It's very beautiful. It's also a hell of a lot closer than the keys.

I camped on the Dry Tortugas and I recommend it highly. You do have to bring your own water, but I though half a gallon a day was plenty. There's plenty of grassy, shady camping spots on one end of the island the fort is on. The only potential drawback is around the end of the year, the wind starts to pick up and doesn't stop. A buddy and I were stranded out there for a few days, along with all the other campers. Those few days were pretty much a fog of drinking, bartering for food and surfing the waves in our kayaks. Bring extra food and stuff. On the way back, my buddy got so seasick he shit his pants.

I've camped on the beach side in Assateague, and in the fall we almost had the area to ourselves. As others have mentioned, wind is an issue; we had to dig a hole to create a space where the cookstove would work reliably, and consumed considerably more fuel than I would normally use, even under wet conditions. Use pots with firmly closing lids or you will enjoy a very, very crunchy meal. We didn't really encounter many insects and other than the challenge that the wind posed, we had a great time.

I've camped on Assateague and on Edisto Island in SC and it was great as long as the wind was blowing. When the wind stopped? Transylvania by the sea. The worst mosquitos I have ever dealt with anywhere, totally unfazed by repellent. Would I do it again? Yes, in a heartbeat, but I'd bring the strongest repellent known to humankind, citronella torches, long sleeved light clothing and I'd make damn sure that my tent was totally bugproof. YMMV, but it won't hurt to go prepared for swarming, biting bugs.

I do not recommend assateague island, although the beaches are quite nice. My family and I refer to it as Horseshit Island.

Keep the sand out of your tent zippers. It will ruin them quickly. Especially, don't let the door zipper get buried in the sand. I'm not a big advocate of using a groundcloth (a piece of cloth or plastic under the tent) for most camping, but on the beach I feel it is a must. Use a groundcloth that extends beyond the perimeter of your tent in the front to protect the door zipper (although typically groundcloths should be slightly smaller than the perimeter of your tent). Or, sleep under the stars (mosquitos permitting).