Blackfin Resort & Marina – Marathon, Florida

Blackfin Resort and Marina, Marathon, Florida, is an island paradise and a welcome slice of old Florida. Jim and I have been wintering at this marina since 2013. Because of its old Florida character and its relaxed atmosphere, we keep coming back. In our minds, when we leave Traverse City, Michigan, for Florida, after the holidays each year, we head to a warm, friendly place where our friends are also returning. We look forward to soaking up the sun and ending each day with beautiful daily sunsets over Florida Bay. Blackfin is not a high-end, fancy place, and that’s what we love most about it. The energy and friendliness of everyone, staff, and boaters are palpable. Many of the same boaters come back every winter, making it a home away from home for most of us.

From the perspective of being trailerable boaters, we find Blackfin satisfies all our winter, boating needs. We switched to a trailerable boat 13 years ago. One of our objectives was to lengthen our boating season and get more use out of our boats (we’ve had three trailerable boats since 2011), by towing them south, to escape Michigan’s harsh winters. At best, we might get only 4-5 months of boating in the Great Lakes.

For the first few years, as trailerable boaters,
we explored both coasts of Florida, especially the Gulf Coast.
It is a little less built up and we feel it has more natural areas to enjoy. So, after driving south, for 3-4 days, we typically would launch the boat in Tarpon Springs and spend a few weeks cruising down the Intracoastal Waterway. We would anchor or stay at little marinas along the way. It was fun to explore the little towns we could walk to, stroll the beaches, and talk with other boaters along the way. From Tarpon Springs, we would cruise down to Fort Myers, to our other favorite marina in Florida, Legacy Harbor Marina. We might stay there a few weeks, or a month before we continued on to the Florida Keys. Our route would take us around the Everglades in Florida Bay, or by crossing the state on the Caloosahatchee River. Either way, we would cruise south to the Keys. After a while, we switched that route around by launching in Marathon and cruising north, the same route but south to north, to Fort Myers. Our thinking is that it is a little warmer in the Keys, in January. So why not start there?

At the beginning of our Florida cruising, we stayed on Stock Island (one island up from Key West) at Key West Marina. We had docked there before, while doing the Great Loop, in our bigger boats. When dockage anywhere near Key West became almost prohibitive, we looked for other options and landed at Blackfin Resort & Marina. Key West is only an hour’s drive from Marathon. Since we towed the boat with our truck, we had transportation to drive down to Key West when desired. Occasionally, we’d cruise the boat down to Key West for a few days of fun.

The last few years we have spent most of our time between Fort Myers and Marathon, with shorter side trips, away from the marina, during those stays, and one to two weeks in between marinas to anchor our way to the next.

Since we tow our boat around the country, and it is only a 25-footer, we don’t have room to host visitors overnight. Another thing we like about Blackfin Resort and Marina is that it has a motel as well. We like to take advantage of the proximity of the motel to the marina when friends come to visit. They can rent a room, but hang out with us on the dock, join us for a day trip, on the boat, around the islands, or a drive to Key West, or the point where everyone gathers at night, to watch the sunset.

We like to be outside!
Blackfin encourages people to not only make their boat and dock their home but the surrounding area as well. All the boats have a picnic table at the end of the dock. Boaters encourage each other to top their nautical, beachy-themed outdoor decor. Competition is fierce! Socialization is key to a great marina stay. If Chris, the manager, does not make a special main dish for an occasional potluck, plenty of food, shared musical talents, fun, and conversations occur around our picnic tables. Plenty of walkable access to nearby grocery stores, a drug store, Home Depot, and many outstanding restaurants.

Blackfin’s boat ramp offers guests easy access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Boat slips can accommodate vessels up to 40 feet. Slips are available on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Electric (30 amp), water, wireless internet, and pump-out service included. Fishing, swimming, throwing cast nets, etc., are all allowed and encouraged on the lighthouse side of the beach area. Call for current rates and availability.

BLACKFIN RESORT AND MARINA
(305)-743-2393

As we left, in March, spring flowers were popping up all over the island resort.

Lots of dedicated places to grill and have a meal in the shade.

This fella (above) jumped into the pool while were there. In January, the iguanas are still used to roaming around the resort, but as it gets busy, they are hard to find.

Lighthouse Point (above and below). A relaxing spot to have happy hour, a meal, or to watch the sunset over Florida Bay.

There’s Kismet (above, on the right).

Blackfin is a small marina channel cut out of the coral the island is made of, when that was allowed many years ago.

   

The is the owner of the beautiful blue boat, Fishtales (above and below). We asked how many fish he caught that day. We ended up with several bags of freshly caught Spanish Mackerel and a lesson on how to easily clean and cut up fish. We don’t fish — so, it is a very interesting process for us.

  

Our family Scott and Denna came to visit us at Blackfin. They rented a room at the motel and we got to watch many sunsets together.

  

A typical evening at Blackfin Marina and Resort. Drinks, music, lots of food, and fun!

This year Kismet was joined by seven other trailerable trawlers. The photos (above and below) show three of them, our Ranger Tug, a C-Dory, and a Rosborough.

One of the many potlucks we enjoyed at the resort. The manager, Chris, and his wife, Ruthie, can sure cook up a storm.

Potlucks we attended included beef brisket, roasted pig, BBQ chicken and fish boil.

Chris is at it again, a fish boil this time.

Our friends, from Traverse City, Lisa, and Fred are staying on their sailboat at a nearby marina. They were headed to the Bahamas after we saw them.

Meals are often a group effort at Blackfin, shared onshore near our boats.

Manatees frequent the marina. We had many delightful encounters with these gentle giants.

   

We also had two Nimble Nomads with us at the marina. They each pulled their boats out by the ramp at the marina.