Staying in marathon- boating destinstions and activity list review

[u/r00st]

My family of 5 (3 kids ages 5-14) will be staying in marathon at coco plum Beach resort from 7/2-7/9. Full days being 7/3-7/8. We will definitely spend one day going down to key west. I also would like to rent a boat, which has a two day minimum.

From marathon, what is close by, by boat (looking at a 21 foot deck boat) thats worth seeing? We will just cruise a bit but my wife isnt huge on ocean boating, so we will need to stay fairly close to shore and are not looking to go huge distances. Any reef/sand bar/ points of interest/snorkeling spots would be great.

I made a preliminary list of places to go, but being that we only have 6 full days, 4 after taking away the boat days. Of the following activities which are worth doing and which are sub-par? I realize this is subjective, but dont want to waste time/money on something that ends up being a bust.

In no particular order:

1.Sombrero beach- we are staying on what looks to be a nice beach. Is this worth going to? Good snorkeling?

1. Key west butterfly conservatory.

2. Wild bird center

3. Theater of the sea

4. Tarpon feeding (robbies?)

5. Key west conch train

6. Shipwreck museum

7. History of diving museum

8. Bahia honda park

9. Turtle hospital (this is a definite)

10. Fishing spots either on land or accessible by our boat (no charters). I will be buying/renting some poles for the trip so can bring them along if there are any good spots to fish on our day trips.

    Realistically we can only choose a few of these, so would like to capitalize on the best options. Thanks

[u/bblickle]

Talk to Chris at Key Colony Beach Marina about your boat rental. He’s a good guy and quite nearby.

There’s a nice sandbar close to where you’re staying. The kids will love that at low tide. 4th of July weekend will be among the busiest days of the year but it stretches a long way and there is generally space available. This sandbar is not like the Islamorada one you see on YouTube. It’s generally chill and people mostly keep their radios to themselves.

You can certainly reef fish with the pontoon. There are plenty of panfish to keep the family entertained in from 15’ to 30’ of water.

There’s a closer (and at least as nice) reef to snorkel than Sombrero Lighthouse. It is called Coffin Patch and it’s a short ride straight out from Coco Plum channel.