Set in the Florida Keys, the islands of Marathon are renowned for their beautiful white sandy beaches, crystal-clear waters, and colorful barrier reefs. Visitors can feed stingrays at Aquarium Encounters, swim with dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center, view sea turtles at the Turtle Hospital, or enjoy the great outdoors at Crane Point Hammock and Curry Hammock State Parks.
A Deep Blue Dive Cente
Located in the city of Key Colony Beach, A Deep Blue Dive Center offers a variety of water-based activities including snorkeling and scuba diving excursions, snorkeling and scuba-diving courses and lessons, and dolphin and whale watching cruises. Daily trips are offered on one of three fully equipped vessels, namely a 34-foot, six-passenger vessel called the Turtle, a 30-foot, 22-passenger vessel called the Sea Diver, and the 45-foot Corinthian Catamaran known as the Tortuga. Two daily trips are offered daily as well as equipment sales and rentals, the use of an air station, snorkeling and scuba diving instruction, and special water-based kids camps.
400 Sadowski Causeway, Key Colony Beach, FL 33051, Phone: 800-978-DIVE or 305-743-2421
AquaVentures Eco Tours LLC
AquaVentures Eco Tours LLC offers a unique and environmentally friendly way to see the area on kayaking tours. The adventure company offers private and personalized kayak tours for up to six people along with family or group tours for all levels of kayakers from beginners to advanced paddlers. Tours are led by professional guides, who share their passion and knowledge for the environment with visitors, and range from 1-hour laidback tours on the Mangrove River to 3-hour tours of the Florida Keys and the mangrove swamps. AquaVentures Eco Tours also offers snorkeling tours of the sandbars as well as Half Day Combo Tours with plenty of opportunities to see a variety of different fish species, nurse sharks, manatees, and rays.
1 Knights Key Blvd, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 305-731-3135
Catch 'Em All
Catch 'Em All is a fishing charter company that offers a range of deep sea fishing charters and excursions with Captain Jeff Shelar. Located in the middle of the Florida Keys, the Marathon-based company offers charter fishing trips that target a variety of fish, from barracuda, billfish, tarpon, and marlin to sailfish, snapper, various types of tuna, and dozens of other sportfish species. Catch ‘Em All offers a “No Fish No Pay” guarantee, ensuring guests go away happy. They also offer diving and eco tour adventures.
71 Coco Plum Dr, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 888-8TA-RPON
Crane Point Museum, Nature Center and Historic Site
Crane Point Museum, Nature Center and Historic Site is a natural history museum and nature center in Monroe County that is dedicated to showcasing the history of the region. The 63-acre tropical oasis is tucked away in the heart of the Marathon shopping district and features forests of hardwood trees, a network of nature trails, and a range of educational displays for visitors of all ages. Established on a slightly elevated patch of land known as a hammock by Bahamian immigrant, George Adderley, who set up a homestead in the early 20th century, Crane Point still boasts the beautifully restored home for visitors to explore and also offers trolley tours of the botanic gardens and historic sites around the property.
5550 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 305-743-9100
Curry Hammock State Park
Curry Hammock State Park is a state park in the Florida Keys and the largest uninhabited piece of land between Big Pine Key and Key Largo. Established to protect large areas of mangrove swamp, seagrass beds, and rockland hammocks that are essential to the Florida Keys ecosystem, the beautifully maintained park features a beautiful mangrove creek and miles of pristine coastline with shallow, protected waters that can be easily explored by kayak or paddleboard. When the wind is up, the park offers excellent kiteboarding and windsurfing and has a 28-site campground with primitive sites. The park also offers excellent opportunities for shallow water fishing, hiking through the bayside hammock of the park, birdwatching, and a variety of ranger-led activities.
56200 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 305-289-2690
Dolphin Research Center
The Dolphin Research Center is an education and research facility that was founded in 1984 to rescue and protect dolphins for life. The center is home to several bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions, half of whom were born at the center, while others arrived from other facilities or were rescued, rehabilitated, and deemed to be un-releasable back into the wild.
In addition to providing a home for rescued animals, the center also takes part in various conservation and educational programs, workshops, and classes to encourage the community to promote peaceful coexistence, cooperation, and communication between marine mammals, humans, and the environment.
The Dolphin Research Center, 58901 Overseas Highway | Grassy Key, FL 33050-6019
Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters
Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters is based at the Florida Keys Aquarium & Conservation Center and offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy up-close encounters and one-on-one interactions with a wide variety of local fish and other marine species.
The aquatic facility provides a variety of exhibits such as guided aquarium tours, a tide pool touch tank, a coral reef tank, and a predator reef tanks, while encounters range from a lagoon snorkel encounter, a shark bay encounter, a nursery encounter, stingray encounters, and private aquarium tours. The Florida Keys Aquarium & Conservation Center also offers a range of educational programs, summer camps, group and field trips, and more for visitors of all ages.
11710 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 305-407-3262
Florida Keys Turtle Hospital
The Florida Keys Turtle Hospital is a small non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of endangered sea turtles. Established in 1986, the Turtle Hospital was founded to rehabilitate injured sea turtles and return them to their natural habitat as well as to conduct and assist with research aiding sea turtles, to educate the public through outreach programs, and to make the environment safe and clean for sea turtles. Visitors can enjoy guided educational experiences at the Florida Keys Turtle Hospital daily throughout the week, and the center also offers a variety of educational and conservation-based programs and workshops for visitors of all ages.
2396 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 305-743-2552
Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area
The Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area is a wildlife-rich archipelago with a forest of tropical hardwood hammocks, dense mangrove forests, coastal rocklands, tidal creeks, pristine wetlands, and a network of hiking, cycling, and paddling trails. Located in Monroe County, approximately 15 miles east of Key West, the Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area is home to a variety of diverse habitats that protect over 6,000 species, including over 40 state and federally listed animal species, such as Key deer, Lower Keys striped mud turtles, Key Largo cotton mice, and silver rat mice. Recreational activities that can be enjoyed in the area include hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddling.
Marathon, FL 33050
The Lagoon on Grassy Key
The Lagoon on Grassy Key is home to a 50-acre adventure park owned by Otherside Boardsport in the heart of the Florida Keys, boasting almost 5 acres of tidal lagoon with depths up to 65 feet. Otherside Boardsport’s Adventure Park offers a variety of outdoor and recreational sports, such as cable-wakeboarding, waterskiing, and knee-boarding, with a unique cable system replacing the need for a boat. Keys Cable has two two-point cable systems that are independently operated and pull multiple riders around a lake in a square or circular motion. The cable systems are run by small electric motors and pull one rider at a time between two points in a continuous motion.
59300 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050,Phone: 305-414-8245
Sombrero Beach
Sombrero Beach is a family-friendly public beach and one of the Florida Keys' best-kept secrets. Perfect for families with small children, the beach boasts a beautiful white sandy shoreline lapped by gentle waters with plenty of shaded areas, showers and restrooms, a children’s playground, and ample free parking. Secluded and quiet, the pet-friendly beach is ideal for a day of relaxing and sunbathing as well as swimming and snorkeling in the warm, shallow waters that teem with colorful fish. The beach and surrounding area also offers a variety of activities, such as beach volleyball and picnic areas, and is a nesting area for loggerhead turtles between April and October. Find it on the map
Sombrero Beach Rd, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 305-743-0033
Sweet Savannah's Bake Shop
Sweet Savannah's Bake Shop is a casual neighborhood café with lovely garden seating that serves a variety of home-baked cakes, cookies, confectionary, and other sweet treats as well as 24 flavors of handmade ice cream and creative cupcakes. Sweet Savannah's Bake Shop creates personalized wedding cakes and other cakes for special occasions and offers catering services for parties and celebrations, while visitors can enjoy any of the bakery’s sweet treats with a freshly brewed, house-roasted cup of coffee or imported tea.
8919 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL 33050, Phone: 305-743-3131
Lighthouse Grill
Take in the beautiful scenery of Florida’s bay at this waterfront restaurant and bar. Set beneath the shade of a historic lighthouse, Lighthouse Grill welcomes visitors to relax by the water as they relish fresh, local flavors. The ocean-to-table menu promises an array of comforting dishes created with the highest quality and sustainable seafood options. Start off with one of their many appetizers including fresh ceviche, crab puffs, and spicy ahi tuna salad. For entrees, the Catch of the Day is always popular as it showcases the chef’s inspiration together with the Keys Fisheries' daily catch. Other mains include steak, pasta, and handhelds, all of which can be perfectly paired with one of the bar’s craft cocktails.
1994 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, Florida 33050, Phone: 305-743-1234
Island Fish Company
Stop by Island Fish Company for some of the freshest seafood, great locally-inspired dishes, and beautiful sunset views by Florida bay. Their menu is bursting with seafood dishes from mango crab cakes to tuna tataki to Caribbean seared grouper. The raw bar offers favorites like cold water oysters, clams, shrimp cocktails, and stone crab claws, along with a seafood tower for those wanting a taste of it all. Don’t miss out on happy hour either, as the Island Fish Company is home to the longest tiki bar in all of Florida Keys, offering thirst-quenching tiki favorites alongside cool draft beer. On the way out, visitors can stop by the gift shop and bring home some souvenirs and island apparel.
12648 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, Florida 33050, Phone: 305-743-4191
Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House
Vouched for by locals and tourists alike, Florida Keys Steak and Lobster House offer fine dining at their best. Lunch and dinner menus are centered on tender steaks and an assortment of some of the freshest seafood. Favored is surely the selection of stone-grilled dishes cooked right at your table from filet mignon to lobster tail and tuna steak. They also offer an impressive list of appetizers, pasta, veal, poultry, and even vegetarian and vegan dishes. Don’t miss out on their sushi menu either, filled with endless mouthwatering specialty creations. Thanks to their delectable menu and highly attentive service, there’s no surprise this restaurant has received multiple “Best of Marathon” awards including Best Place to Take a Date and Best in Fine Dining.
3660 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, Florida 33050, Phone: 305-743-5516
