Isla Bella Beach Resort & Spa - Florida Keys

You come here for an oceanfront resort with room to spread out: 24 acres of tropical native gardens, more than a mile of waterfront and a private white-sand beach. Isla Bella Beach Resort & Spa suits divers who want the sea close at hand but also want a proper base for the hours when nobody is wearing a wetsuit.

The mood is easy-going rather than minimalist. You have gardens, pools, a beach bar, several places to eat and enough outdoor space to avoid sitting in the same chair all week. The hotel team speaks English, so you can deal directly with the people looking after your stay without resorting to underwater hand signals.

Families are welcome, with two-bedroom accommodation and suites with sofa beds among the options. Couples can keep things simpler with an oceanfront room and a private outdoor area. Either way, the practical attraction is the same: the hotel gives you a full resort base in Marathon, rather than just a room beside the road.

The address is in Marathon, Florida Keys, at 1 Knights Key Boulevard, around the point where the Overseas Highway meets the Seven Mile Bridge. You are directly on the sea, with more than a mile of waterfront property and a private beach backed by sand dunes. Seven Mile Bridge is about 0.7 miles away, close enough to make it part of your mental map from the moment you arrive.

This is a midway position between Key West and Key Largo, useful if you want to explore more than one stretch of the Keys. Sombrero Beach is about 5 miles away by car, Fort Zachary Taylor Park is around 1.6 miles away, and Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters is roughly 6 miles from the resort. Bahia Honda State Park is about 10 miles away.

You have several nearby places to eat as well as the restaurants on site. Sunset Grille and Raw Bar is next door, Mahina is around 0.3 miles away and Lazy Days South is about 0.9 miles away. Marathon International Airport is around 5 miles away; Key West International Airport is about 44 miles away, roughly an hour by car. Miami is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive via the Overseas Highway.

Every room and suite comes with an ocean view and a private outdoor living area, either as a ground-floor veranda or an upper-floor balcony. That gives you somewhere to sit with a coffee, dry off in the Florida air or watch the light change over the water without having to leave your accommodation. The larger two-bedroom options make more sense when you are travelling with family or a small group and want separate sleeping areas rather than a careful game of luggage Tetris.

For two people, an oceanfront king room keeps the arrangement straightforward: one bed, the view and the outdoor space doing most of the work. One-bedroom suites with kitchenettes are more useful when you want room to organise a longer stay, while two-bedroom accommodation gives families and groups more breathing space. Several family-friendly categories include sofa beds, and cots can be requested for younger children; there are no extra beds.

Rooms have air conditioning, a flat-screen TV, a private bathroom with a shower and a terrace, with balconies in certain categories. Daily housekeeping is available, as is room service around the clock. The resort also places coffee and tea in the room, and refillable water bottles are available at check-in, which is exactly the sort of detail that earns its keep when you return hot, salty and ready for a shower rather than a treasure hunt.

Breakfast is à la carte rather than part of the room-only arrangement. You can choose from continental, American, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, with breakfast to go also available. Mahina serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on an oceanfront terrace, working with coastal cooking, Keys seafood and Hawaiian regional influences. There is even fresh honey from the resort's own beekeeping programme at breakfast.

You have six restaurants on site, with the named venues covering rather different post-dive appetites. Sushi Cabana handles al fresco Japanese food at lunch and dinner, while Burger Palace keeps things casual beside the pool. Marketplace Café is the grab-and-go option for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and The Beach Bar deals in cocktails, snacks and casual food beneath the palms.

There are two named bars: Mahina Bar, attached to the signature restaurant, and The Beach Bar on the sand. A snack bar, coffee house and special-diet menus are also available, and breakfast can be brought to your room. The arrangement is flexible, but it is not all-inclusive; you book the room and choose how you eat from there.

Five outdoor pools give you several places to settle in, including the 4,500-square-foot Main Resort Pool and an adults-only pool for quieter hours. Three further pools sit oceanfront. Around them, you have sun loungers, umbrellas and pool towels, while the private beach adds white sand, showers, loungers and its own bar.

The Spa at Isla Bella covers 4,000 square feet, with five treatment rooms, a relaxation room with steam, massages, facials and body treatments. Couples can book a couples massage, or you can simply put your feet up in the spa relaxation area while your dive computer dries somewhere sensible. The 24-hour fitness centre covers 1,000 square feet and includes Peloton equipment; a businesslike option for keeping the legs moving without pretending it is a sightseeing excursion.

Away from the water, complimentary bicycles, bocce ball, giant chess boards and pickleball courts give you a few ways to burn time without burning out. The resort also organises fishing charters, harbour cruises, snorkelling trips, ocean-clean-up outings and cycling. Live music, evening entertainment, bingo and broadcast live sport provide the lighter evening options, while mini golf supplies the necessary excuse for a mildly competitive family outing.

You can reach the resort by car along the Overseas Highway. An airport shuttle service is available, and private jet charter flights to Marathon can be arranged through the resort's partnership with Priester Aviation. On-site parking and valet parking are available, with one vehicle permitted per room; RV, boat and trailer parking is not available.

The published timings differ between booking conditions: check-in is set at 14:00 or 16:00, while check-out is set at 11:00 or 12:00 depending on the conditions attached to your stay. Confirm the timing before travelling, particularly if you are arranging a same-day activity. A photo ID and credit card are required at check-in, and the minimum check-in age is 21.

Wi-Fi is available throughout the resort, with a 24-hour reception, concierge, luggage storage, ATM, tour desk and express check-in and check-out. Laundry facilities, a minimarket, Manatee Bay Marketplace and a business centre are also available. Dogs are welcome in pet-friendly accommodation, but restrictions apply around restaurants, pools, the Marketplace, spa and fitness centre; service dogs are treated separately under the stated policy.

The resort's environmental work is tied to the Keys rather than wrapped in a vague green slogan. You can join complimentary ocean clean-ups with the Conch Republic Marine Army, while contributions go to Coast Love for coastal ecosystem restoration and to local schools and organisations.

Other projects include beach clean-ups and advocacy with Save Our Key Deer, seagrass planting with Save-A-Turtle, a manatee adoption partnership with Save the Manatee Club, on-site beekeeping and seaweed composting for landscaping. Refillable water stations are placed around the resort, and refillable bottles are available for guests, giving you a practical way to avoid collecting a small plastic fleet between dives.