"It's come back five times over," Port Antigua resident Dave Petkovich told the Islamorada Village Council in July 2024. He was describing the water off his own beach. "When I'm out in the water, we see turtles on 20% of our rides. The seagrass and the amount of species coming in there is just amazing."
He was talking about the swim zone off Port Antigua and White Marlin Beach. A few miles up the highway, Robbie's is spending 2026 celebrating 50 years of tarpon that showed up for the same kind of reason. On the bayside of Lower Matecumbe Key, the animals in the water reflect decisions people made about the water. At Robbie's, that decision was feeding tarpon. Off White Marlin Beach, it was clearing out the boats. On Sandy Cove Avenue, starting last November, it was concrete culverts. Fall is a good season to look at all three, because the summer crowds have left and the bay is changing over.
The Rule Behind the Quiet Water
White Marlin Beach is a sandy Florida Bay shoreline at the back of Port Antigua. Until 2020, it was known for something besides sand. WLRN reported that residents had complained to the village for six years about weekends with as many as 100 boats anchored offshore, with loud music, litter, personal watercraft running close to the beach, and people trespassing.
The council responded unanimously with Ordinance 20-03. It created a vessel exclusion zone and swim area off Port Antigua and White Marlin Beach on Lower Matecumbe Key. The marked area extends roughly 300 feet out from the mean high water line. Vessels are not allowed inside it, apart from the exceptions the ordinance lists, and a violation carries a $250 civil penalty. In May 2021, Keys Weekly reported that 20 white buoys were expected to mark the boundary and that final state authorization had come through.
The village had to justify the zone a particular way. Pete Frezza, the village's environmental resources manager, later explained that it was approved as a public-safety measure for swimmers, because the village cannot write an ordinance to stop people from being loud. Because the zone exists for swimmers, it keeps out more than motorboats. Keys Weekly noted that zones like this one also exclude kayaks and paddleboards. A neighbor launching a paddleboard from the beach should keep that in mind.
The rule changed once. On Jan. 9, 2024, the council unanimously narrowed the dock-access opening through the zone to a channel 25 feet wide. If you keep a boat at a dock behind the zone, that channel is how you get out. Village records available online don't show the buoys' condition this season, so look at the markers yourself before assuming where the line sits.
The seagrass and turtles Petkovich described are one resident's observations from 2024, not results from a monitoring program. Still, what he describes matches what the rule was meant to produce once motorized traffic was removed from a shallow, sandy bay shoreline.
Fifty Years Ago, the Fish Got Fed Instead
At Robbie's, the same bayside water went the opposite direction. That history is what the marina is celebrating this year.
Keys Weekly published the timeline in March. Ruth and Buck Starck bought the Lower Matecumbe property in 1946, built two homes that summer, and by Christmas were the island's first recorded permanent residents. Ruth's brother, Ellis Shires, helped build the docks and a brick bait-and-tackle shop that Ruth ran. It operated as the Walter Starck Fishing Camp, named for Buck, whose given name was Walter, and his father, also Walter. Both men were charter captains. In 1976, Robert Reckwerdt drove over from Naples and signed the lease, and the fishing camp became Robbie's.
The tarpon came next. Robbie netted a young tarpon struggling near the mangroves at the edge of the marina and found its jaw was detached. He called a friend, Dr. Roach, who was a medical doctor and not a veterinarian. Roach came over with a mattress and his wife's knitting needles and thread and repaired the fish's jaw. The tarpon, named Scarface, spent six months recovering in a bait tank. When it was released back into the marina, it stayed for more handouts, and other tarpon began gathering around the docks.
Robbie's calls this "Celebrating 50 Years of Adventure" and thanks guests for being part of its story "since 1976." We haven't found a dated anniversary party. The anniversary programming you can count on runs every week.
What to Book at Robbie's This Fall
- Tasting Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli. Every Monday and Thursday, the local historian hosts a meal of a rumrunner, conch chowder and fritters, and Key lime pie, with seatings at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Bertelli also did the research behind Robbie's own history page. For a 50th-anniversary year, that makes it the most fitting thing on the calendar.
- Breakfast at the Hungry Tarpon. It's served from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and until 11 a.m. on Sunday. Lunch and dinner run until 9 p.m. Keys Weekly lists the award-winning Trailer Trash Bloody Mary, poured at the Hungry Tarpon and the Beach Bar. It also notes that Transparensea, Islamorada's only glass-bottom boat, operates from the marina.
- The ferry to Lignumvitae Key. Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park can only be reached by boat or kayak. Robbie's runs ferry service Friday through Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., and the park is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Ranger-guided tours are listed as unavailable, so plan on the self-guided brochure.
Indian Key, the other offshore state park nearby, is a separate case. Florida State Parks says it closed completely in April 2026 so contractors could rebuild its dock, a job "slated to take up to six months." No reopening date has been posted, so check the park page before you plan a crossing.
The Next Rule Change Is Under Sandy Cove Avenue
The village's most recently reported project on Lower Matecumbe works on the island's canals the way the swim zone worked on the open bay. Keys Weekly reported in January 2026 that LPS Contracting of Key Colony Beach had begun installing culverts under Sandy Cove Avenue the previous November, about 500 feet from U.S. 1. The plan sets several 4-by-4-foot box culverts side by side to connect canals 155 and 157. We haven't found a later update on whether installation is finished. The goal is more tidal exchange with nearshore waters and dissolved oxygen levels that meet state water quality standards. The $8.9 million project is funded entirely by state grants and is the most expensive canal restoration the village has taken on so far.
"I've been working on this for four years between the permitting and securing grant funding," Frezza said. Sandy Cove is the first phase of a broader plan to connect the dead-end canals on the southern end of Lower Matecumbe, and the village is seeking similar connections for canals 150, 151 and 152. If you live on one of those canals, keep an eye on the next round of council agendas.
What the Bay Itself Brings in October
The changes so far were made by people. October's are seasonal. Last October, a Keys Weekly fishing column described Florida Bay cooling, mullet returning in large numbers, and redfish activity picking up. That's one angler's report from last year, but it describes the turnover backcountry anglers typically look forward to at this time of year.
The tournament schedule follows the same pattern:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 15 | Stone crab season opens | Statewide, per FWC |
| Oct. 16–17 | Casting for Cats Backcountry Tournament, adding co-ed and junior divisions this year | Islander Resort and Lorelei |
| Nov. 12–14 | 14th annual All American Backcountry Tournament for snook, redfish, bonefish, tarpon and permit | Cheeca Lodge |
FWC's recreational rules list stone crab season as open Oct. 15 through May 1. Islamorada Fish Company runs a restaurant and retail seafood market at 81532 Overseas Highway and advertises Florida stone crab. Its homepage currently gives a different start date than FWC's, so call before you drive up for opening-week claws.
Dinner on Either Side of Home
The two closest dinner options sit on either side of the neighborhood. To the south, Caloosa Cove Resort & Marina at MM 73.8 is home to Habano's Oceanfront Restaurant, open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays. To the north, Lazy Days at MM 79.8 serves daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., has happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m., and runs a seafood market alongside its beach and patio seating. On a Monday, Habano's is closed, but the 11:30 a.m. Bertelli seating at Robbie's and an early happy hour at Lazy Days both fit into one afternoon.
If your dock sits behind the White Marlin Beach swim zone, or you're thinking about one that does, the 25-foot channel, the 300-foot line and the canal work under Sandy Cove Avenue all affect how you'll use the water. Sabrina and Sarah at The Florida Keys Sold Sisters know these rules and Lower Matecumbe's bayside water firsthand. Start Your Island Home Search with a personal consultation, and bring your questions about dockage and access.
