We were looking for a place to hide from the weather, provision, dive, and just explore. We found it all right at the Marathon City Marina.
We rented a mooring ball for a week while we had some super strong north winds blowing. Being on a mooring definitely helps us sleep sounder at night because we do not have to worry about the anchor dragging. There are over 200 moorings at the Marathon City Marina mooring field. We have heard that they sell out but we were lucky to get a spot to hide out the weather.
Marathon City Marina Moorings
We were super impressed with the marina’s amenities. They have a LARGE dinghy dock, multiple clean bathrooms with hot showers, laundry room, a community room with wifi, books, and television, a workroom that can be rented for projects, a community organic garden, bicycles to borrow, and multiple grills.
Marathon City Marina Dinghy Dock
If that wasn’t good enough there is a community park right next door with basketball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball fields, skate park, heart trail (which we used to workout every night) and an amphitheater (which holds festivals throughout the year).
The Marathon City Marina is also in close proximity to many delicious restaurants. We loved the Keys News and Coffee for coffee, The Stuffed Pig for breakfast, Keys Fisheries for lunch, and The Overseas Pup and Grill for dinner. Hurricane Bar and Grill had great live music and drinks for the latter part of the evening.
Publix and Kmart are about a mile walk to the north and West Marine about a mile south. The island is about seven miles total and there are a few different taxi companies that will take you anywhere on the island for the same flat rate of $5.
If it is too windy to dive off the Sombrero Lighthouse or one of the other beautiful reefs close by you can spend the day at the Keys Aquarium Encounter, The Turtle Hospital, the Dolphin Research Center, or the movie theater.
For a weekly rate of $115 we were protected from the storm, met so many new friends, restocked our refrigerator, and took many long hot showers.
If you are ever cruising by I highly suggest making a stop at the Marathon City Marina.
Sierra 🙂
Hi guys! I’ve been watching a ton of your videos and I really love them. You have a way of making viewers feel like they’re a guest on your boat and on your travels. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!
I know you posted this blog entry several months ago, but I just saw it today and I have a question. I’ve noticed you strongly prefer mooring over anchoring, and I know you had at least one bad (dragging) anchoring experience. But I also heard a story of a couple who recently moored their sailing vessel overnight somewhere in the Bahamas. The mooring “broke” (maybe dislodged from the bottom) and they drifted while asleep. They woke at 3am when they collided with another moored vessel, whose bow crashed into their window! Their lines got fouled in each others’ props and it was a real mess. After that, they swore off mooring (in the Bahamas, at least) and only anchor now. Which is the opposite of you.
So I know you prefer anchoring, but my question is: what’s the general preference? How can a new boater sleep soundly without worrying about mooring failures or drifting anchors? Is it even possible to fully relax? Thanks for your time
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the question. We strongly prefer anchoring but when there is a large mooring field for a reasonable price and a lot of other boats around we will sometimes opt for that like we did in Marathon. Most of our experience with moorings in the U.S. have been great. They are usually on top of maintaining their moorings and components. The Bahamas can be a different story and I highly recommend you dive your mooring and check all the chain links, connections, and block. If you do that you can sleep soundly knowing your mooring is solid. If you anchor check out Sailing Yacht Ruby Rose’s anchoring video. If your anchor is set well and you have enough rode out you can usually sleep soundly. When the wind pipes up and switches direction you can alway dive down and make sure your anchor reset nicely. Hope that all helps. Let us know if you have any other questions!