Marathon: Heart of the Florida Keys & The Turtle Hospital

Located at Mile Marker 48.5 in a converted 1950s motel, The Turtle Hospital is the world's premier state-licensed veterinary clinic dedicated exclusively to the rehabilitation of endangered sea turtles. Founded in 1986 by Richie Moretti, the facility has successfully treated and released over 2,000 sea turtles back into the wild.

Visitors embark on a mandatory 90-minute educational guided walkthrough. The tour begins with a presentation on sea turtle biology and human threats—including plastic ingestion, boat propeller strikes, entanglement in monofilament fishing line, and fibropapilloma virus tumors. Guests then inspect the sterile surgical suite, X-ray and ultrasound diagnostic stations, and the outdoor recovery pools where loggerhead, green, hawksbill, and Kemp's ridley patients are recovering. At the end of the tour, visitors are handed pellets to feed permanent resident turtles who cannot be released due to 'bubble butt syndrome' (buoyancy loss caused by boat collisions).

Located at the end of Sombrero Beach Road (MM 50), Sombrero Beach is arguably the most complete and comfortable public beach park in the Middle Keys. A wide, curving crescent of soft sand framed by swaying coconut palms slopes gently into the calm turquoise Atlantic Ocean.

Unlike many natural Florida Keys shorelines that feature rocky coral limestone, Sombrero Beach has a deep, soft sandy seabed that makes barefoot wading effortless. The city maintains modern air-conditioned restrooms, outdoor showers, lighted beach volleyball courts, a children's playground, and dozens of covered tiki huts with picnic tables and charcoal grills. Between April and October, sections of the beach are roped off to protect nesting loggerhead sea turtles.

At Mile Marker 50.5 sits Crane Point, a 63-acre non-profit nature preserve that represents one of the largest remaining tracts of native tropical hardwood hammock in the Keys. Paved walking trails wind through gumbo-limbo, wild coffee, and poisonwood trees to the Adderley House, a restored 1903 Bahamian tabby home that is the oldest building in the Keys outside Key West.

The preserve also features the Marathon Wild Bird Center (rehabilitating injured pelicans, herons, and ospreys) and a natural saltwater creek where visitors can sit on wooden docks and dip their bare feet into the water for a complimentary nibble from hundreds of tiny doctorfish.