Tagged: florida, florida keys, islamorada, robbie's marina, thirsty tarpon bar, travel
When I originally set my sights on stopping at Robbie’s Marina in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, it was to belly up to the Thirsty Tarpon bar and down a couple mojitos as fast as I could. Plans changed along the way when my in-laws kept going on about feeding the tarpon – “You have to do it!” and the Thirsty Tarpon quickly took a back seat to the hungry tarpon. For three dollars (or about $.50 per death row fish), you get a bucket of about 6-8 feeder fish that you can then take out to the dock at Robbie’s and feed the tarpon. These tarpon, by the way, are humongous and when I say humongous, I mean some of them could probably swallow your arm whole if you left it out there long enough. You can throw the feeder fish into the water or you can test your bravery/courage/insanity by letting the tarpon leap out of the water and grab the fish out of your hand. I’ve heard from others that the latter method can be a bit tricky. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the tarpon grabbed a hold of your hand and pulled you in along with that little feeder fish you were holding. Like I said – they’re humongous!
If you find yourself in the Florida Keys anywhere near Robbie’s, head on over to the marina and part with a dollar or two. It’ll be the best dollar you spend.
The following video is of my daughter and wife’s step dad feeding the tarpon. Harper chose the safe and smart way and threw the fish in. It still got a giggle out of her. A dollar to get some squeals of delight from that cutie? I’ll spend that any day.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks