Robbie's Marina Marks 50 Years as a Florida Keys Icon

Tucked along the Overseas Highway in Islamorada, Robbie's Marina celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, and the tarpon are still showing up. More than 100 of them regularly crowd the docks, waiting for the hand-feedings that have made this spot one of the most visited in the Florida Keys.

Keys Weekly marked the occasion with a feature recounting the marina's rise from a local dock to a signature attraction, chronicling five decades of visitors. The publication put it plainly: hand-feeding tarpon at Robbie's is "a rite of passage in the Florida Keys." But the anniversary also invites a closer look at what came before the marina's current form, and what still remains of it.

Beneath the bustle of food vendors, art shops, souvenir stalls, and boat rental slips sits a quieter history. A small concrete house stands in the middle of the parking lot, easy to walk past without a second thought. It was built by the Starck family in 1946, long before Robbie's became a tourist hub. Inside, the doorjambs are still lined with ink marks recording the heights of the Starck boys, Walter and Terry, as they grew up on the property. Keys Weekly observed that "it can be easy to visit the property, look past the remnants of the old fishing camp, and just see Robbie's. However, once you see them, the 'remnants' stand out."

The Walter Starck Fishing Camp and Robbie's Marina remain connected to this day. While Walter and Terry eventually moved away, their parents Ruth and Buck Starck stayed in their Lower Matecumbe Key home for the rest of their lives. In 2010, the couple passed away days apart. Their lives were celebrated on November 29, which would have been their 73rd wedding anniversary. Keys Weekly noted that the fishing camp and the marina "are still intertwined and will continue to be."

The marina's current offerings extend well beyond tarpon feeding. The Hungry Tarpon serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with the award-winning Trailer Trash Bloody Mary available there and at the Beach Bar. Visitors can book backcountry and offshore fishing charters, snorkeling adventures, eco-tours, kayak and waverunner tours, or a trip aboard Transparensea, Islamorada's only glass-bottom boat. Snorkeling and sandbar tours also depart from Robbie's docks, making it a transit point for many who may not have planned to stop at all.

The docks double as a launch point into some of Monroe County's most significant natural and historical terrain. From Robbie's, visitors can access Florida Bay, nearby coral reefs, the Alligator Reef Lighthouse, Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, Indian Key Historic State Park, and the San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve State Park. For a marina that started as a local dock, the 50-year reach of Robbie's now spans ecosystems, centuries of history, and a parking lot where a 1946 family home still stands with growth marks on the doorframe.