We made a short dive trip to Marathon last week....Duck Key to be exact.  We
decided to try Hawks Cay Resort on Duck Key again, just north of the city of
Marathon, and Dove with Tilden Dive Center.

They are moving along on building a bridge over Jewfish Creek that will
prevent traffic backups from the drawbridge opening; but then there is
always Card Sound Rd.  I thought maybe they would have the bridge done
sometime next year; it's slated for 2009.  They will also put a permanent
median barrier through the 18 mile stretch (I thought it was 20).  To bad
they can't just widen the damn thing to four lanes.  You can check it out
at:      http://tinyurl.com/py3uq

http://www.hawkscay.com/
Hawks Cay was nice:  We went for a Sunset Villa this time instead of the
main hotel.  They are two story, two bedroom, two bath, with kitchen
townhomes.  This one even had a small 6 x 10ft pool on the patio, although
the only use it got was as a dunk tank when we were cleaning up the gear
before heading home...there was a good sunset view from the patio.  The two
bedrooms upstairs also have outside decks.  With a family of four, with two
teenagers, it made things quite comfortable.  Each room has a tv with dvd
player, which was important when you have a 14 year old daughter that HAS to
watch Gilmore Girls, and That 70's Show.

http://www.tildensscubacenter.com/
We dove for two days with Tilden's.  The Seafari is a forty foot boat, with
lots of room:  Billy Bob were crew the first day.  Billy was the Captain,
and Bob the DM.  It was like a private charter the first day; one other
diver besides the four of us.  Bob is a recent transplant from the Boston
area two years ago, where he was more accustomed to dry suit diving.
Skilled and helpful, particularly with the kids, although they do well in
their own right.  Billy has been there for some time as a skilled boat
captain, and was also helpful getting people in and out of the water.

Seas were only one foot, but visibilty...sucked, by Keys standards; 25-30 ft
Water was 80 F, so it was a t-shirt and shorts for me.
Dive sites were Porkfish and Lost and Found.  We saw the usual cast of
characters: grunts, bugs, trumpet fish, huge stoplight parrots, spotted and
green moray, and one small 4ft nurse shark.  There were a number of
discarded lobster molts that looked to be the right size for the upcoming
mini-madness.

Day two turned into a full boat with everybody but snorkelers.  Fittingly
the crew was now Billy Joe Bob.  There was someone trying to shoot dinner
with a speargun, a young lad finishing up his skills for certification, as
well as SNUBA people trying that out.  Surprisingly, it still didn't seem
crowded, like I was stepping over anyone.  Dive sites were Long Key Ledge,
and took us back to Lost and Found trying to find blue water....they didn't;
visibility dropped to 20 with flat seas.

We got back just in time to miss a squall line moving in from the northwest,
as Billy showed us he wasn't new to this, turning and backing the forty foot
Seafari neatly into it's slip with a 25-30 knot wind pushing us toward the
dock the whole time.

Although the visibilty was crappy, we all got in a few hours of needed BT.

I found out that Captain Morgan (Doug Morgan) now works with Captain Hook.
I was told a management company called Cay Club has moved into Marathon and
has buying up properties, Banana Bay included, and pushing out the private
vendors like Doug...although that is still hearsay.  I didn't talk to the
Captain himself, but Banana Bay confirmed he no longer operated out of their
marina, but did book dive trips for their hotel through Captain Hook's .

A quick search did yield at least three places that are taken over by Cay
Club, one being the Sombrero Reef Resort, which is where one of our favorite
restuarants is at....Sombrero Pizza and Pasta.  We were shocked...SHOCKED,
they changed the name to Latitudes, dropped a number of pasta dishes, and
even serve flat bread before the meal...actually, the flatbread was welcomed
since were were very hungry.  They still have homebaked deserts to die for
according to the family.

We also ate at Key Colony Restaurant, which was excellent. Great service,
great food...Watch it getting there.  Apparently, they have there own police
force shooting radar in a 25mph zone.  If I had not been there before, I
could have been doing a whole 30mph and get a ticket.

FWIW, The Keys Fisheries at MM49 is also real good.  Looks like one of
those, "I have a bad feeling about this" places.  Inexpensive, great food,
and a view of the sunset.  It's one of those .....picnic tables along the
water, place your order at a window, come get your food in red plastic
baskets when your number is called places.  Even the locals like it.

George