Marathon, FL (Florida Keys)

Out of all the Keys, Marathon is our favorite. It’s absolutely gorgeous, has amazing beaches, and is centrally located–so it’s a shorter drive to the other places we want to visit when we want to explore.

This year we went to two different beaches on Marathon, Sombrero Beach and Coco Plum Beach. Both are beautiful in their own way.

Sombrero Beach is one of our favorite beaches in Florida, and we always enjoy it. There is a really nice playground for kids, a foot washing station, pavilions, and volleyball courts. There are a decent amount of people there as it’s quite a popular beach, but we have always been able to find a place to sit and enjoy our time at Sombrero. It’s very family friendly with lots to do. Sombrero is a free beach, but there is a fee to park. We thought it was worth the cost and enjoyed our time there. Luke found a tiny hermit crab that started coming out of its shell. It was so cute to watch! All of us enjoyed the soft white sand and wading in the water.

This was our first time at Coco Plum, but we will definitely spend more time here the next time we are in the Keys. Coco Plum Beach was very natural and not very crowded at all. It is a protected area for loggerhead sea turtle nesting, too. This relaxing beach has shallow water, a nice picnic pavilion, and is also a dog friendly beach, which makes it great for families traveling with their fur-babies. Even better for families is the price: Coco Plum is a free beach and there is not a parking fee. This serene, uncrowded beach was just what we were looking for.

Marathon is such a great place to slow down and relax. It’s also a fantastic place for sunsets. We decided to take in the sunsets there and see why everyone spoke so highly of them. We found some great places for watching them and met some wonderful people who were enjoying the sunsets, too.

We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset at Sunset Bay Park. We walked out on the pier and felt like we were actually in the sunset. It was amazing! We chatted with the friendly locals and Juliana had a great time snuggling their adorable dogs.

Another evening we took in a sunset at the Old Seven Mile Bridge. It was so incredible to watch the sunset unfold over the water. There were a lot more people at the bridge watching the sunset with us, and we found out this was a very popular spot to see them. We can see why, and we suggest you get there early if you go since the parking spaces filled up quickly. It was definitely worth it, though!

A lot of people have asked us where we stay while we’re in the Keys. We stay on Marathon at a really neat place called Tropical Cottages. It’s a small, independently owned resort that’s family friendly and reasonably priced. It’s fun to have coffee in the tiki hut, and there’s a great taco truck there, too. We enjoyed listening to the live music playing while we enjoyed an adult beverage in the tiki hut. No worries, the band stops playing at around 9 pm, so it doesn’t keep you up late. If you’re interested, you can check them out here: https://www.tropicalcottages.net/

Marathon has a relaxed, beachy vibe all across the island. Whether we were shopping, sunset watching, relaxing at the beach, or just out having fun–all of the locals were friendly and helpful. It always feels so welcoming when we are there. No wonder it’s our favorite Key! Stay tuned–more Keys adventures are on the way…

You can find our Marathon vlog by clicking this link Why We Love Marathon or by clicking on the photo below:

We hope you enjoyed traveling along with us!

If you’d like to keep exploring, you can find more family travel adventures here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TravelingwiththeTrapps
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We’ve also shared videos on our YouTube channel to complement this post and bring the experience to life.

Thanks so much for traveling with us — and stay tuned for more adventures with Traveling with the Trapps.

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