Captain Hook’s Marina & Dive Center

most honest folks I have met in a LONG while… We made a reservation for snorkling on the FL. reefs, when we got to Capt. Hooks, we were told the conditions were terrible for snorkling for the next three days due to weather conditions, and they gave us a refund, no probem at all, no hard sell to come back instead, Wonderful people and a great company. we’ll be back again!

If I could give 10 stars I would! I got my advanced diving certification at Captain Hook’s this past weekend and the entire experience was phenomenal. From the second I called, Denise on the phone was a delight to plan this with and she was very helpful. She is a master instructor but was fielding calls every day! Her husband David is also a master instructor and he took me through the navigation and peak performance buoyancy lessons 1 on 1 and he was a true professional having dived all over the world. Captain Mike on the boat and the entire crew were so nice, thoughtful, very professional, entertaining, and only wanted the best for the entire group’s experience on the boat. They know all the best dive spots around Marathon and anchored the boat in the best locations to give us all incredible diving experiences. The night dive was probably the coolest experience I’ve had in my life, and David was highly attentive to our needs underwater. He even caught several lobsters down there (don’t worry it is a licensed boat), which was great to watch! The pricing was also the most reasonable out of all the places I called. I highly recommend this dive center to anyone looking for an out-​of-​this-​world adventure.

Went snorkeling here today and it was alright. I’m probably biased after snorkeling in Puerto Rico and Mexico, but I feel like it wasn’t as great as it was bragged up to be. We went to two reefs and the first wasn’t much, not that clear of water and hardly any fish. The second reef was a little better, more fish, but still not that clear. The crew was what made the trip 4 star worthy for us. Everyone was super helpful and funny. It was still an afternoon well spent.

Captain hooks prices out of site rigged Bally whoo 3 for 16.25 are you crazy. understand keys any where else 10.00. Shrimp the size of my little finger 3.69 doz. not good for this fisherman. i will do my homework next time advice not good.

This was mine and my boyfriend’s first time down in Marathon. We were staying at the Holiday Inn and they are the reason we came across Captain Hook’s and we couldn’t have been happier with our dive experience. During the classroom portion of the certification, Denise took something that should have been very boring and made it fun and passed the time quickly. Mike was our dive instructor and knowing that I had no experience, he made things as simple as possible. We had a blast on all 4 dives. Everyone, including the boat crew, was super nice. We would highly recommend this place looking for a great experience.

We booked a snorkeling trip; I had never been snorkeling and this was a good experience. The captain took us to two different places and the first was so, so. I overheard him telling another participant later that the first stop is mainly to see the swimming abilities of all participating as the currents were not too bad here. The second place was great, clearer water, lots of fish. Very good experience for $ 25. The only less than stellar aspect was the number of people they crammed on the boat — really cramped for the ride in and out.

We reserved an afternoon snorkeling trip with Spirit Snorkeling here in Marathon, but they called that morning to say the trip was cancelled due to not enough people. We promptly called Captain Hooks and reserved a 1pm trip. I can’t begin to say how relieved we were that the Spirit trip didn’t work out… because Captain Hooks was incredible! The crew was so pleasant the entire town. My wife has been snorkeling before, but this was my first time, and they were so patient and helpful. I had no problem hopping right in. We even stayed out a few more minutes, which allowed us to find two sea turtles swimming together. The crew said they had never seen that before, so they were just as excited as we were! Bottomline… save yourself some time and don’t even consider the other snorkeling trips in town, just stick with Captain Hooks. You can’t beat the price and incredible Keys experience!

Return diver to Captain Hook’s after a really great experience with them two years ago as part of a very experienced group of friends. This trip a week ago was just for a couple reef dives on a Thursday morning with my girlfriend and I as we flew in for the Eagles concert in Miami on Friday; the past experience provided the desire to drive through Islamorada back to the Hook.
I’ve been diving 30 years, and my girlfriend had been certified a few years but without a lot of experience, so I joined her for a technical refresher so she was ready & made reservations the week before our arrival.
On to the dives: the store staff, dive master and assistant were all great. 5 stars for them. The boat driver however has a lot to learn about a service oriented business and just being a reasonable human being to someone with limited experience, or just show a modicum of professionalism in general… lets call him Capt. Tubby.
1) If you take the time to give a pre-​dive brief and expectations from the divers as we approach the dive site (ie: 10 minute & 5 minute calls prior to arrival and diver readiness)…actually GIVE the 10 & 5 minute calls. You didn’t, then started barking orders for everyone to get in the water and you would be pulling away in one hour. Way to immediately turn what is supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable sport into a frenzied race to GTF off the boat. Fail.
2) My girlfriend’s relatively new mask broke once in the water, and here the dive master and assistant were awesome. Brought her a spare so we could continue, but for her relatively low experience level she was not as comfortable with unfamiliar gear and just put her behind the power curve the rest of the dive. This was our first ocean dive together so we were conservative with the dive selection and had a decent rest of the dive.
3) Back to the boat, the sea was fairly rough, and instead of Capt Tubby being a professional knowing what had happened to my girlfriend earlier, he started screaming at her like a f-​ing maniac. She’s little, a little inexperienced and just an ounce of attention to detail and care would have made this an easy task. Lazy? Uncaring? I don’t know, it was just unacceptable. I’ll be back as long as this clown isn’t on the boat next time.

We rented some kayaks from Captain Hook’s this past week and had a great experience. Map was available and there were plenty of mangrove tunnels to check out, and the area was really easy to navigate (ie not a lot of boat traffic). The staff were EXTREMELY friendly, and very helpful. Would definitely recommend renting from these guys if you’re staying in the area. Nice change up from the open water or island hopping paddles we experienced other places through the week.

We were there in early June and took the waverunner tour. It is housed at the Tarpon Creek Marina behind the Holiday Inn Express.
The price was $ 190 with two of us on one waverunner. What a professional outfit. From booking the tour to our tour guide. They were always checking to make certain we were comfortable on our tour and that our waverunner was working properly (there was alot of seagrass while there and it get sucked up in the jet motor, so the guide had to get in the water and clear it out for us)
Best of all they would have taken us out without others. It just happened that there was a father and son on another waverunner with us. A good time was had by all.
Skip Jerry’s watersports as they have a two waverunner minimum, this place was great!
Cathy G

Snorkeling with the family was a lot of fun with Captain Hook’s! This was my first time going on a snorkeling trip and I found the staff very helpful when it came to getting beginners started. It was a great experience and it was totally worth the trip!

This review is from a diver’s perspective, I can’t speak to the fishing side (other than to say, there clearly was a fishing side).
So you have to break a review like this down into a whole bunch of pieces!
Safety: 5 stars. These guys do all the right things. Full safety briefings, C-​Card verification, certified Dive Masters, weather condition analysis, etc… I never felt unsafe going out with them.
Instruction: 5 Stars, did my advanced certification with them, fantastic instructor’s (Kathleen and Angie), that took the time to go over everything and were encouraging along the way.
The Boat: Ugh. So. They have two boats, but we were primarily on their smaller one, the Reef Hopper. This boat is REALLY packed when you hit 9+ divers. It also lacks the oomf of some of the bigger boats out there, and for me, the death blow was no sea head. Long story, but, I like having one available! When the boat was full it wasn’t uncommon to bump into folks. Additionally, I didn’t like the clamps the tank went in. The other boat was great, little sluggish, but oodles of room and amenities. If you have a small party, and the conditions are great, then it’s fine. I’m also not sure they could support 100’s or 125’s which would’ve been nice for our Thunderbolt dives.
Sites: The Thunderbolt is one of my favorite wrecks down there, lots of nooks, massive groupers, etc… The reefs were good, though I felt I would see more life in the Islamorada area. It could’ve just been our days.
Customer Service: Everyone was fantastic, except for one incident we had after a dive. We wanted to use their restroom after pulling back in (remember, no head). A staff member came out of the shop, locked the door and told us they were closed. We were pretty floored.
Price: They run about $ 25 less than any other dive group I’ve been with. They run a lean shop!
Despite the misses, if you’re on Marathon I’d absolutely recommend Captain Hook’s. They’ve been doing it a long time. I just wish they’d charge a little more and super size their boat :)

Been coming to the keys for a long time and always look forward to getting our Beach Bum sunscreen here. Great bait options. Super friendly staff too.

This place caters to snorkelers… totally. …they stink…

Our family had a very nice snorkel trip with Captain Hooks. Equipment wasn’t needed by our party, but all equipment on board was very nice. We all followed the RULES and HAD FUN!

The twilight dive that we did with Captain Hook’s was top-​notch and I would recommend that anyone looking for a dive operation in Marathon look no further. Everyone, both in the dive shop and on the boat, was amazingly friendly and helpful. My dive buddy hadn’t been in the water in quite some time and had never done a night dive, but the staff put him completely at ease and we had two picture perfect dives. Denise and Kathleen were our dive masters and Mike and Mike were our captains, and they were the perfect combination of knowledgeable and professional, but also wonderfully fun. Checking in was a breeze, the boat left the dock right on time and we were in the water for our first dive in no time at all. Reef conditions were fantastic with great visibility, and it’s clear that the dive masters know their way around the reefs like the backs of their hands. Having the dive masters in the water with us was wonderful as they were able to point out things we might otherwise have overlooked. We were lucky enough to see everything from a medium sized southern ray, 3 giant moray eels, several large puffer fish, innumerable lobster (some caught in the act of making baby lobsters) and tropical fish galore. After our first dive we watched the beautiful keys sunset from on board the boat, got our safety briefing for the night dive and then hopped back in the water for our night dive. The safety briefing was comprehensive and easy to digest and we felt totally at ease the entire time. It’s a different world on the reef at night, and again Denise and Kathleen made sure we saw all there was to see. Once back on board the boat after our second dive, we got to star gaze and enjoy the relaxing ride in. I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening, and I can’t think of a better outfit to dive with.

What a great experience, I had one day and I wanted to do a Kayak trip and go snorkeling, and they pulled it off. The entire staff was great, they truly cared about your experience but what did it for me was Heidi. Heidi was in the Hotel lobby representing for Captain Jacks and she made sure that while I was out working she got me all set up with reservations for both trips, that the times worked between the two and then called me to confirm. Both events really made my trip to Marathon. PS. Heidi was a great Kayak tour guide.

Rented a 22-​foot motorboat for a day. This was my second time driving a boat (one time before that was on a lake), and this was my first time in the Keys, so I needed advice, a lot of it: what type of boat to get, where to go snorkeling and fishing, how to use navigation/​map and operate a boat in general.
I got all the advice I needed and everything went great, considering it was pretty rough out on the water.
A little trouble parking upon return on my part (as the current changed direction since morning) was quickly noted by staff on shore, who gave me instructions and pulled me in by the rope to help me finish parking.
Pricing was very competitive and selection of boats was great. Our boat was in great condition, super clean and had everything we needed.
I would rent from Captain Hook’s again.

We stayed in Marathon for a week and we had a rental boat from another company as our vessel.
We used Captain Hook’s as our fuel and bait stop each day, and rented scuba tanks and weights as well.
We visited during the off-​season (9÷8−9÷14) so the boat traffic at the dock was pretty light. The staff were all decked out in blue T-​shirts to allow customers to immediately identify them. I can see how this simple customer service aspect helps them during the very busy times.
All the employees we encountered were helpful, courteous, and generous with information. We purchased live shrimp, frozen chum blocks, and fishing tackle and felt good about our selections. Catching fish on the recommended rigs made it feel even better.
Prices seemed reasonable and the bait stayed alive all day in our live well.
One tip for anglers fueling up at the dock: Toss out a flashy spoon tied up on some 20# mono in the marina area. Hang on tight as the jack crevalle will annihilate your lure and give you a good fight as the pump runs. We caught fish in front of the dock on multiple occasions.
The kids will love the two live fish ponds in front that hold an amazing array of finned critters. Bring your fish ID book and be amazed! Feed the fish at 4PM each day!
Recommend for fishing advice, live bait, good service, souvenir selection, central location.

I followed a friend’s recommendation to go to Captain Hook’s for dive trips. He used to work in the area and said that the crew always had a friendly vibe. He was totally right! The Captain and crew were all SO friendly and there was no too-​cool-​for-​school diving elitist attitude. You can tell it’s a family affair and they definitely make sure you feel welcome aboard their boat.
Since I don’t have a consistent dive buddy, I end up diving by myself. After calling around, I found that Captain Hook’s always send a Divemaster down for each dive trip — COMPLIMENTARY! Those of you who know, know that, to hire a guide can cost you an extra $ 35-​$ 50! Money I don’t have, since diving alone is already a bit pricey for my meager public servant budget. It was really cool to be able to just swim along and follow the group.
They took requests for reef trips and was super excited I was able to see Sombrero Reef for the first time! They also took us to an old sunken slave ship and provided us with the history of the ship. Something this nerd is all about.
After my first dive in this area, I’ve decided, I will definitely trek the extra miles from Miami, to Marathon and to Captain Hook’s.