Marathon is a 10-mile long city, stretching over several small keys, midway between the top of the Florida Keys and the Southernmost Point of Key West. It is prime fishing territory. The Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, bonefish flats, wreck, bridge and reef fishing provide something for every angler. Snorkeling and diving the coral reefs offshore is popular as is diving for lobster. A room with a kitchen will come with a big lobster pot for boiling up your catch.
Coconut Cay is located on the Gulf side of the Overseas Highway and features a long dock for keeping your boat right outside your room. The Atlantic is accessible through a nearby cut and a channel under the 7-Mile Bridge. The motel has an outdoor swimming pool and very limited pet accommodations but all rooms are smoke-free and daily coffee and newspapers are available in the lobby. Coconut Cay has 40 rooms, the dockside rooms come with free boat dockage and some rooms have efficiency kitchens. "Resort" is a bit of a reach, unless you enjoy a nostalgic glimpse of the old Florida Keys accommodations. There's nothing glitzy about Coconut Cay but it is a solid, basic headquarters, at a reasonable price, for exploring the surrounding keys. As of December 2010, a standard, non-smoking room with two beds was $78.96, at a discounted rate. Dockside rates are higher.
Bonefish Resort is a small, oceanfront motel, exactly midway between Key Largo and Key West. The property is lushly landscaped on the Atlantic Side of the Overseas Highway and has an unobstructed sunrise view as well as several shallow-water sand bars along the sandy oceanfront beach area and the bonefish flats just offshore. If you don't like salt water, there is a heated open air pool. The motel has only 15 smoke-free rooms and suites and will accommodate pets for a daily fee. Internet access is also available for a modest charge. Room rates, undiscounted, begin at $129 for two queen beds in a courtyard efficiency as of December 2010. Discounts are available. Bonefish Resort is a member of the Grassy Key Resort Group, which owns two other Marathon lodgings: Yellowtail Inn and Casa Del Sol Beach Resort. If the dates you want aren't available, Bonefish Resort will try to find accommodations in another motel in the group.
The Siesta Motel claims that repeat customers and referrals are 80 percent of its clientele. It has 18 rooms, all on one floor, and all are pet- and angler-friendly. But you have to smoke outside your room in the patio smoking areas -- ashtrays provided. The motel has free WiFi and ample parking for small boat trailers. Local fishing guides recommend the place to their fishing parties and, to compensate for no pool, guests have free access to two nearby resort swimming pools. Nostalgia buffs will be in heaven scuffing cross the original terrazzo and mother-of-pearl floors and rinsing off in the vintage tile showers. The Siesta Motel is an updated version of the way things used to be in the keys. Its small efficiencies start at $120, before discounts, as of December 2010.
