The town of Marathon is nice, but just to pick nits, there is no such
thing as Marathon Key.  Marathon is on Vaca Key, with other keys such
as Boot Key nearby.  Marathon was named by the railroad workers on the
Overseas RR who were working 10 or more hours a day 7 days a week to
get the railroad done before Henry Flagler died.  One of them
commented that it 'was a marathon'.  They did succeed in getting to
Key West while Flagler was still alive.

We spent the winter in Marathon in 2003-2004.  There are various scuba
outfits there, none of which I used because the water was way too cold
for me in the winter, and also because we had an almost uninterrupted
succession of Nor'easters which riled the water up so there was no
viz.

The two places that I had recommended to me were Captain Hooks up by
Vaca Cut (because a guy in the marina worked there, and I could get
transportation with him up to the dock that they left from) and
Tildens because the girl friend of one of the guys at the marina
worked there.  I have no personal experience with either one.

I also have no particular experience with actual hotels in Marathon.
I thought that Hidden Harbor Motel looked interesting
http://www.hiddenharbormotel.com/index.htm because of the turtle
hospital.  There's also http://www.blackfinresort.com/ Black Fin
Resort and Sombrero Resort http://www.sombreroresort.com/

We did stay last winter in Key Colony Beach at the Continental Inn.
1121 West Ocean Drive, Key Colony Beach, Florida 33051.  It is a nice
place right across from the Key Colony Inn - next to the golf course,
and on the water.  It also has a heated pool.  We had two double beds
and local calls were free.  Including taxes it was $139.38/night.  We
had a condo with a full kitchen.  It was the only place we could stay
for less than 5 nights that was in the AAA book.

grandma Rosalie

I dunno why, but when I saw the subject, the first thing that came to
mind was long-distance diving as in marathon run.  :-)

THAT Marathon!

It's between Islamorada and the Lower Keys:

http://www.vacation-getaways.com/FLKeyMa.htm

I think my one-and-only diving trip to Florida keys started with two
days in Key West (worse than muddy lakes <G>);  then the operator in
Marathon (which is supposed to be one of the better places to dive
in Florida) went out of business and didn't bother to let me know,
after I had said I wanted to dive with them.

So, I ended up diving with Lady Cyana, about "middle key", in
Islamorada.  The Eagle wreck wasn't bad, except the DMs was more
interested in getting their tan than even knowing where the dive
boat was tied to the wreck.  In fact, none of the Florida DMs
get wet.

Then there is Key Largo in the upper keys, home of the cattleboats
and crummy diving, and rotten DMs.

In short, that was the first and last time I ever dived the Keys. :-)
Haven't missed or regretted it ever since.

Diving from Key West to Cuba would make a good "marathon" dive, I
think.

-- Bob.

I just returned from a dive trip to Vaca Key.  We stayed on Duck Key at
Hawks' Cay Resort which was very pleasant, if a bit pricy.  The diving was
great with Vis in the 40 to 60 foot range in the mornings and as long as
you're not too close to tidal flow from the bayside, the worst vis I saw was
35 feet on one dive spot in 60 feet of water.

There are dive shops everywhere and most run 65.00 for a two tank dive with
BCD and regulators going for 15.00 each.  Depths go from 20 feet to around 60
on most boats with 6 to 8 divers.  Tidal flows are light at most reef dive
sites running less than 1 knot.

We left on Wednesday, just before Katrina blew up, so you may want to check
with any hotel you're considering for a damage report in advance.  (Thought
we were lucky to get back to Louisiana - not)

Have fun.

Dave,
After diving off of Marathon (no, I'm not going to get into the Key Vaca
thing that the town of Marathon is on) for  years with Banny Thorne and
Never Enough Divers, Banny hung up his fins as he puts it.  He directed us
to Captain Morgan Dive Tours, and we have dove with his operation the last
two years.  The Town of Marathon does have an airport if you want to fly in.

I couldn't recommend them more, particularly for:

They only take up to six divers.  There have been a couple of times we (wife
and twin 13 year olds) were the only ones on the boat...like a private
charter.

Captain Morgan (Doug Morgan) is located in the Banana Bay Marina at Banana
Bay Resort.  Staying at Banana Bay makes it real easy to walk fifty yards to
the dive boat from the pool/marina side building.

You can check them out at :

http://www.bananabay.com/marathonresorthotel.htm

http://www.captainmorgansdive.com/

The rooms we have stayed in by the pool have a 5 cu.ft? refirgerator in
them.  The pool has a great hot tub, and they have a continental breakfast
in the morning by the pool that is good.  When considering the room rates,
the breakfast fare is ample enough to avoid forty bucks (what it costs us)
for breakfast every morning.  We liked not having to drive anywhere to get
to the dive boat, or after getting back from diving.  The marina offers
inexpensive boat and waverunner rental.  The sunsets (it's on the bay side)
are better than Key West (no islands to get in the way of the sunset)..which
is forty-five minutes away for a side trip.  There are plenty of stores
nearby (drug, grocery, liquor, fast food, banks).  We never ate at the
restaurant at Banana Bay, but our favorite has become Marathon Pizza and
Pasta at the Sombero Resort.  They are at:
http://www.sombreroresort.com/attractions.asp.

There are plenty of shallow dives for the young diver; one of the reasons we
have gone there is to get our kids serious bottom time and still see a lot.
Sombrero Reef is good, but needs to be done minus the crowds...looks like a
marina in prime time...early morning or late afternoon is best.  The Barge
is.....a barge that has been down for some time, with swim throughs, and
probably more fish than you will ever see in your life in one spot.  At 18
ft, an hour of BT is standard...you will get bored of looking at all of the
fish.  There are lots of little critters in the rocks and coral surrounding
the Barge.  Delta Shoals is a patch reef with some wreckage, again, very
shallow.  This summer saw two of the biggest damn spotted eagle rays I've
ever seen .  Want to see some sharks?  Samantha's Reef, I got to 23 ft for
that one.  They used to do some shark feeding dives there before they were
banned, but when a boat pulls in, the sharks still think it's feeding time.
All I saw were nurse sharks, and the only time I've ever seen them swimming
around rather than tucked up under a ledge.

We have stayed at Hawks Cay resort.  Its a bit pricey and an upscale place.
Tildens Scuba Center boats may still be at their marina, but it's been a few
years, so I couldn't be sure.  Ironically, Tildens shop is right next door
to Banana Bay.  Hawks Cay is about ten miles north of there on Duck Key.

http://www.hawkscay.com/hcr.asp

http://www.tildensscubacenter.com/reef-trips/index.asp

This should give you some ideas.

George

We recently stayed at Hawks Cay Resort on Duck Key, part of Marathon (or Vaca
key).  had a great stay.  They have dive boats, snorkle trips, dolphin
training and great food.  http://www.hawkscay.com/

Even though they are not the least expensive, they are worth the money IMHO.

Stan