With the New Year comes some exciting news for the Main Attraction family! No, we are not expecting any babies, but Captain Marty and Katie have recently purchased a 13-slip marina! We are excited to announce that Marathon Sailfish Marina is the new home of Main Attraction Sportfishing Charters.

For the past three decades, Key Colony Beach Marina has been our docking home, and by our estimates, we’ve fished somewhere between 150-180 thousand people out of that marina! Since Hurricane Irma hit the Keys in 2017, the Key Colony Beach Marina has been up for sale. Over the years, several deals had been in discussion but never solidified. While Main Attraction has many years of fond memories at the Key Colony Marina the uncertainty surrounding the future of Main Attraction’s dockage prompted Marty and Katie to search for other options.

Katie and Marty have made many fond memories fishing out of Key Colony Marina over the years.

About a year ago, Marty and Katie began to search for properties, and it soon became apparent that finding attainable commercial waterfront property would be a challenge.

Eventually, they found a commercial property with half a dozen slips and a house that they liked. They were excited enough to make a reasonable offer for the property. To their disappointment, the deal fell through, but they reminded themselves that it just wasn’t meant to be and that things have a way of working themselves out.

Marty and Katie looked at several more properties, but nothing was exciting enough for them to make an offer. They kept their feelers out and continued their daily routines until one afternoon; they received a message from a gentleman who owned a marina off Coco Plum Drive. This man was looking to sell his 13-slip marina.

Captain Marty was acquainted with the seller who would often drive by the Key Colony dock to see Marty’s catch for the day. The following day Marty and Katy had a look at the property and saw great potential in it.

A Young Captain Marty on the dock at Key Colony Beach Marina.

Katie and Marty noticed the marina had a recently constructed tiki roof running down the length of the 13-slip dock. The new roof was added after the infamous Hurricane Irma hit the Keys, so it was relatively new, which was a bonus. Marty and Katie also noticed the slips were predominantly occupied by liveaboard boats. The property included a bathhouse comprised of Men’s and Women’s bathrooms and showers, plus a laundry facility. It also had a parking area and a large tiki hut across the street that would make an excellent staging area before fishing trips or perhaps even tournaments.

An overhead shot of the Marathon Sailfish Marina.

Katie and Marty were excited as they decided this marina would be the perfect place from which to operate their charter fleet. Purchasing this marina meant they could ensure their future safety and provide stability to their crew members without worrying about losing dockage due to the property selling. Marty and Katie consider Main Attraction a family business, and they include their Captains and Mates in that family!

After carefully considering the move, they decided to make an offer, which the seller accepted. After the contracts were finalized and other obstacles were overcome, the transaction was finally complete. It was now official; Main Attraction was making a move!

The Main One in its new home!

On the morning of January 12th, the Main Attraction Fishing Team officially pulled their boats out of Key Colony Beach for the last time. Katie posted it on social media without explaining exactly why to make an intriguing little cliffhanger.

Shortly after pulling the boats into their new home, Katie posted a video explaining why they left Key Colony Beach after 30+ years! We were thankful for the excitement and wishes of congratulations as we move on to the next chapter of our fishing adventures with our extended family.

To get to our new location all you need to do is turn off US1 (MM 54.5) onto Coco Plum Drive and after 1.3 miles make a left on Avenue I. From there, you can’t miss our new marina with all of the Main Attraction boats docked in the first slips. Once you arrive, it should feel like the Main Attraction you are used to with the fish mounts and framed photos aligning the dock area, and of course, our fish racks for photo ops.

Parking is available across from the dock on an angle, and we plan to fix up the large tiki hut as a staging and seating area for when your fish is being fileted. We are adding better lighting to the area and some big screens TVs that will play our fishing videos.

We can not express just how very excited we are for this new adventure and for our new and returning clients to see the home of Main Attraction Charters, the Marathon Sailfish Marina!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach us by phone at (305) 289-0071 or visit our contact page.