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No rock & roll is their promise.Pursuit Fishing, Marathon, 305-743-2816, www.pursuitfishing.com.Pursuit fishing claims you ll gohome with a good catch under your belt after a day outwith them.They charge $450 for a half-day (four hours)and $650 for a full day (eight hours).Captain Frank Wa-ters is based at the Holiday Inn Marina.Two Conchs Dive & Fishing Charters, Marathon,305-743-6253, www.twoconchs.com.Captain JackCarlson fishes a custom 31-foot Contender and hasgraced the cover of Florida Sportsman at least six times.He is well known for his serious pursuit of trophy-sizewahoo, sailfish, grouper and other offshore andnear-shore species.He offers the usual offshore trips at$475 for a half-day (four hours) and $650 for a full dayMarathon/Middle Keys 154 Adventures(eight hours).He also offers full-day trips into FloridaBay for $700.PARTY BOATSMarathon Lady, MM 53, Marathon, 305-743-5580,www.marathonlady.com, charges $30 for morning tripsand $37 for night runs.The boat leaves at 8:30 am and1:30 pm.The 6:30 pm night trips are offered duringsummer only.This is one of the oldest and most popularparty boats in the Keys.The price includes bait but, ifyou don t have your own, you ll need to rent a rod andreel from them for $3.That s still a pretty good deal.Sea Dog Charters, MM 47.5 BS, Marathon, next to the7-Mile Grill, 305-743-8255.Morning, afternoon andnight fishing trips go for $60 per person, everything in-cluded.This isn t as crowded as most party boats and itgoes out a bit farther for more interesting trips.Bridge & Shore FishingAs in most of the Keys, fishing from shore is hard to do sincemuch of the shoreline is developed and the water is shallow.There are several good bridges where you can fish in peace andquiet for no cost and still find yourself in good, fishy water.Youcan set up on any of the fishing bridges, but my favorites arethose by Tom s Harbor, where I ve caught some nice grouper un-der the east side of the bridge at Vaca Cut, in the middle of Mara-thon.The current rips on through this area and there is a lot ofboat traffic, but the water is deep and the bridge pilings attractsome good-sized fish.A small dirt path leading off the highwayimmediately east of the bridge takes you to a shady parking areaunder the bridge.This spot is easy to get to, comfortable andfishy.There are hundreds of guides and charter boats lining up to takevisitors out for a day or half-day.Those I list above have a reputa-tion for giving customers a fine day out. On Water 155HOUSEBOAT RENTALFlorida Keys Sportsmen Charters, Faro BlancoMarina, Marathon, 321-626-3117.Divers or fish-ermen can rent the newly refurbished 80-foot house-boat Dream Believer for use as a mother ship.Itcomes with a 17-foot outboard tender, two kayaksand snorkeling gear.Use it to find a good spot awayfrom the crowds, anchor and enjoy the nearby reefs orfishing spots without having to travel back and fortheach day and without the crowds.The boat sleeps upto 12 in four staterooms and foldout beds in thelounge.Rentals start at three full days for $1,500 andare ideal for a family or group of friends.Figure it up:four hotel rooms for two nights and boat rental forthree days alone will cost more than the same periodon Dream Believer.Scuba DivingEven though there is no famous underwater park likePennekamp in the middle Keys, there are miles and miles ofreefs that are just as interesting and slightly less visited, in addi-tion to wrecks and artificial reefs.Marathon has several dive andMarathon/Middle Keys 156 Adventuressnorkeling charter operators who take visitors out to the nearbyreefs, such as Hen & Chickens, and farther out to SombreroKey, with its boxcar-sized coral heads, and Delta Shoals.Mostof the trips offered from Marathon go to the shallow reefs abouttwo miles offshore, like East Washerwoman Shoals.These areinteresting, shallow patch reefs and are great for beginners andgood for the dive boat owners since it doesn t take much gas toreach them.Operators can work in two, back-to-back two-tankdive trips in one day, the first at 8 am, returning at 12:30, and an-other at 1 pm, returning at 5 o clock.If you are comfortable in wa-ter over 40 or 50 feet deep, make sure you get on a boat going tothe more developed reefs farther offshore along the Gulf Streamedge.Wrecks like the Thunderbolt lure more advanced divers.DIVE SHOPS & CHARTERSAquatic Adventures Dive Center, Key Colony Beach,Marathon, 305-743-2421, www.aaquaticadventure.com.Located behind the Holiday Inn, Aquatic Adven-tures is a small dive shop with their six-pack dive boattied up nearby.The NAUI training facility takes smallgroups out to the patch reefs and, if the qualifications ofthe divers are sufficient, to deeper sites like the Thun-derbolt.The boat is roomy and well set up for divers,with a freshwater shower.Be sure you are aware of thetypes of dives planned since newer divers are taken toshallower reefs that may be less interesting to experi-enced divers.With demand, the boat makes two tripsdaily, with night dives a possibility.Ask about theirsnorkeling trips.Captain Hook s Marina & Dive Center, MM 53 OS,Marathon, 305-743-2444, 800-278-4665, www.captainhooks.com.Jan and Lou Vasel operate thiswell-run PADI Five-Star dive facility that offers fulltraining, two dive and snorkel-only trips daily, nightdives, sunset cruises and dive/motel packages.They sella full complement of dive gear as well as resort wear.Their two boats have freshwater showers and take onlysmall groups.Discount Divers, MM 52 BS, Marathon, 305-743-2400, toll-free 866-743-6054, fax 305-743-2221, On Water 157www.DiscountDiversBandB.com.Longtime ecology ac-tivist Ed Davidson runs a full-service dive shop and di-vers hotel right behind Walgreens and just before theairport.He generally works with Reef Runner (see be-low), but has less-expensive options as well.His rooms,aimed primarily at dive groups (see Where to Stay, page163) are a bargain.Reef Runner, Marathon, 305-289-9808, 800-332-8899, www.floridadivecharter.com.Captain SamWatson has been offering custom dive charters on theReef Runner for many years, specializing in groups of nomore than six divers.The Reef Runner is a bit nicer thanmost other Keys dive charters.Of course, Captain Samcharges more, but you get what you pay for.Pick-up atyour hotel can be arranged.Sam makes only one trip perday, usually leaving at a comfortable 9:30 and returningwhenever you like.Four or five sites are visited duringthe day and each person can use up to four tanks perperson.Top-quality US Divers equipment is used.The33-foot boat was specially designed to be a dive charterand features full galley, head and air-conditioning.PADI resort course instruction and Nitrox training areavailable.If you re tired of the cattle boats and not beingable to decide what types of dives to go on, the Reef Run-ner may be the answer.Call and discuss what type ofdiving or snorkeling interests you; Captain Sam willcustomize the trip to fit the skills and desires of yourgroup.Wreck, drift and wall dives as well as runs toshallow reefs for snorkeling extend the usual options ofdeep reef or shallow patch reef.To give some idea of thecost, he charges $365 for four people with four tankseach
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