52. Islamorada Anchorage
52. Islamorada Anchorage
Statute Mile:1160
Lat/Lon: near 24 55.534 North/080 38.227 West
Location: found on the correctly charted deep waters northeast of Little Basin, southeast of unlighted daybeacon #86
Minimum depth: typically 6 feet or better, but some boats on the extreme edge of this anchorage are actually lying in the mud
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but open to northern and northwestern winds
Rating: 
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Comments from Cruisers (4)
Our favorite bar/restaurant in the keys is the Lorelei in Islamorada. It includes a small marina, and the local anchorage is 300 yds away. They have the best happy hour specials we have found, and there is nearly always live entertainment at the tiki bar from around 5PM on. There’s a nice small grocery a few blocks south, and the local public library another couple blocks south.
Mark Richter
Anchored in the Southwestern part of Barley basin in light winds. Good holding and more than adequate depth for 5′ sailboat draft. Took 10 minute dinghy ride into Lor-e-li restaurant dock which was the quintessential beach restaurant/bar experience. Good food and service. Crowded at sunset. Live music on a Tuesday evening. Many more land patrons than boat patrons. All in all a very good experience.
We also anchored off the Lor-E-Lei and went in for refreshments and dinner. It was early so we sat at the bar (in the shade) and had a few adult beverages and then had dinner. Dinner was OK except the Fritters were raw inside. We paid, no complaining, and headed to the outside to sit and listen to the entertainment which had just kicked off. One more beer and we were heading back to the boat. The Waitress rudely informed us that we could not sit out there unless we ordered food. No signs stating such. I told her that I had already spent 50 bucks with tip and she said,”I make my money from tips.” and told us we could not sit. Rude wait staff will always cause patrons to leave. Stay away from this place unless that is OK with you.
John and Susan
Islamorada is still great. We anchored there in clean 5 to 8 foot water for several days going down and back up. Great anchorage and Loreli’s still allows cruisers to land their dinghy’s there. The Tiki bar is great and the sunsets are still the same. Also nice place to eat but grab seat long before the sunset because it gets full then empties out (a bit).
George
Anchored out off the Loreli and took the dinghy in for refreshments. The marina looked full with long term residents. The beer and entertainment were fine.
Bob and Toni Dorman