The one thing that I was certain we would do while driving the Overseas Highway was stop to feed the tarpon at Robbie’s of Islamorada. It is widely recognized as the #1 tourist attraction in the Florida Keys and I knew the kids would get a kick out of it.
Robbie’s has a little bit of everything – open-air market, restaurants and bars, fishing charters, kayak/paddle board/jet ski rentals, and of course, tarpon feeding. The story behind the tarpon feeding goes back to 1976 when Robbie rescued an injured tarpon. After sewing up his wounded jaw, Robbie and his wife cared for the fish for 6 months before releasing him back into the waters. Legend has it that the fish returned to the dock for food often and started bringing friends. Today there are well over 100 tarpon that come to feed there everyday.
It cost $2.25 per person to go out on the dock and $4 per bucket of fish to feed the tarpon. Your entrance also came with a strict warning not to feed the pelicans because they would bite.
We bought one bucket of fish to share between the 5 of us but JB was the most eager participant. There were a lot of people out on the dock but even more pelicans. Social distancing wasn’t really possible in these tight quarters but everyone did adhere to the mask requirement.
The setup was pretty ingenious. The dock was T shaped and on the sides of the T there were three openings cut in the dock with netting perched over them. The netting kept the pelicans out of the water and the fish in. There were holes cut in the netting to allow you to put your hand down into the water and feed the tarpon.
Feeding the tarpon was a bit of a rush – dangling a fish in the water, basically playing a game of chicken with a giant fish and pulling your hand away at just the right moment so they didn’t bite your fingers, all while fighting off aggressive pelicans that were trying to steal your fish. Screams of surprise and laughter filled the docks as the tarpon splashed up to the surface to grab fish out of people’s hands.
The tarpon were huge, reportedly growing over 6 feet long and 100+ pounds. They would swim around by the dozens below the surface of the water and you never knew when one was going to jump up and snatch the fish out of your hand. But don’t worry… they don’t have sharp teeth. Unlucky fish-feeders who didn’t pull away their hand in time have compared their teeth to sandpaper. Fortunately none of us found out first-hand what they felt like. There were definitely a few fish dropped in the water prematurely but we had a couple of direct feedings as well. JB basically thought it was the most fun he’d ever had.
After feeding the tarpon we walked around the market for a while and checked out the shops. They sold everything from T-shirts to fishbone art and we enjoyed wandering around for a little bit.
There is no doubt that Robbie’s is a tourist trap, but sometimes tourist traps can be great fun. It was a contrived experience but also a truly unique experience. And it was one that I know the kids won’t soon forget.
