From Storm-Battered to State-of-the-Art: Hawks Cay Marina’s Remarkable Rebirth
Published on August 19, 2026
Three miles north-northwest of East Turtle Shoal, at mile marker 61 in Marathon, Florida, sits one of the Florida Keys’ most storied marinas — and it’s just emerged from a renovation that took four years and an unexpectedly large budget.
Hawks Cay Marina, located on the unmistakably shaped Duck Key in the Middle Keys, has reopened with reinforced infrastructure, deeper water and a renewed sense of purpose after Hurricane Irma nearly brought its 40-year legacy to its knees.
Marina Director and Dockmaster Chris Groom has been at the helm since 2022, having stepped into the role after a 25-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard at the request of the resort’s general manager. He inherited a project already underway — and one that would test both his logistical instincts and his ability to keep a working marina open through years of construction.
A Marina in Need
Long before Irma made landfall in 2017, Hawks Cay’s docks were showing their age. Pilings were failing, and the infrastructure needed serious attention. The hurricane simply accelerated a reckoning that was already coming. What started as a $340,000 line item ballooned into a multi-year, multimillion-dollar undertaking that touched nearly every corner of the property — the marina promenade, an expanded ship’s store, the seawall and every single dock piling, all rebuilt using durable Ipe wood.
Beyond cosmetics, the team took the opportunity to dredge and deepen the channel, increasing the controlling depth from 5 feet to 6 feet at mean low water. That single change had a major impact, allowing the marina to accommodate vessels up to 92 feet, which was a dramatic shift from what the property could handle before.
“The driving force was really the material condition of the infrastructure,” Groom said. “The docks were dilapidated; the pilings were collapsing. The main goal was simple: reconstitute the marina and make the public aware that we are back and open.”
Remarkably, the marina was never fully closed. Groom and his team worked in phases with local contractor Monroe Seawall and Docks, relocating charter boats and shifting operations to keep fuel and bait sales running even while temporary tanks stood in for those being rebuilt.
“We basically kept the marina open the entire time and we would shift in stages, trying not to relocate our guests,” he said.
It wasn’t without friction. Groom admits to “a few noise complaints” but the approach preserved continuity for a marina that has hosted weddings, honeymoons and decades of return visitors.
Recapturing a 40-Year Legacy
That continuity mattered because Hawks Cay isn’t just a place to dock a boat. It’s a place with history. The resort, which traces its roots to the original Indies Inn built in the 1950s, recently marked its 40th anniversary as Hawks Cay and has quietly hosted its share of notable guests, including former President Jimmy Carter. Many current visitors first came decades ago for a wedding or a family vacation and have been returning ever since.
“We really wanted to recapture the legacy element of the marina and bring back our guests that had been so loyal to the property for so long,” Groom said. For him, rebuilding wasn’t just about wood and pilings. It was about signaling to those loyal guests, and to the boating public, that Hawks Cay was open and ready to welcome them back.
Partnerships with Personality
Two amenity upgrades stand out for how they reflect Groom’s approach to building the marina’s character through relationships rather than big-box vendors. A partnership with Klipsch Audio, which was already established through the resort’s pool areas, brought outdoor sound systems to the docks.
“Now I can control the music from my cellphone from wherever I am in the world,” Groom said. It’s a small luxury, though one that occasionally prompts a guest reminder: “Lights out. Please turn the music off,” he said with a chuckle.
The second is a collaboration with Killer Dock, an Alabama family business that outfitted the marina with fillet tables, a custom 30-foot shaded awning over the fuel dispensers and a weigh station for tournaments. The relationship grew out of the marina’s connection with Saltwater Experience, the fishing show that films on property. Groom said the Killer Dock team, including the founder who personally helped to install the tables, did an impressive job.
A Community Gathering Space
The rebuilt promenade has become more than a walkway between boats and the resort. Hawks Cay now hosts First Fridays through the fall season, drawing vendors, live music and even the occasional flame-thrower performance – all designed to draw the community and boaters alike to a designated Astroturf gathering spot they call Marina Landing. The marina’s second annual Grouper Opener, which is held in partnership with Qualified Captain, Anzo Bay Boatworks and Saltwater Experience, has become a signature event, complete with the marina’s own signature cocktail, the Kill Switch.
Technology has certainly played a role in the marina’s resurgence. Groom credits the reservation platform Dockwa with dramatically increasing visibility among transient boaters heading between the Bahamas and points north and south.
“It definitely accounts for a lot more traffic than we had in the past,” he said, noting that even longtime boaters with as much as 40 years of experience behind the wheel have become very technologically savvy, navigating the app with ease.
What’s Next
With construction complete, Hawks Cay is now building out a quarter-deck lounge exclusively for overnight marina guests, featuring showers, laundry and eventually a TV lounge. Live bait sales have also returned, thanks to a new high-tech bait station built in partnership with American Aquarium.
Looking further ahead, the resort’s Coral Cay adventure park is under construction and expected to open in early fall, replacing a modest pool and pirate ship with multiple slides and all-new landscaping. Groom hopes the family-focused addition will draw return visitors for years to come. This December, the marina will once again host the Duck Key Lighted Boat Parade, where two to three dozen illuminated vessels, with crews included, parade past the promenade to music from a DJ and an emcee calling out the action.
Why It Works
For Groom, success isn’t measured only in slip counts or draft depth, or even the bells and whistles that have helped bring the marina a new life. “Obviously with my military background, we try to keep a very disciplined dock, as much as possible,” Groom said, “but with a very low-key environment where people feel welcome.”
That mindset has hit home with many boaters and fishermen who notice and appreciate the top-notch, customer service focus that permeates the entire marina. “Success for us is really building those relationships with our clientele,” he said, “that environment where people feel welcome and feel known.”
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