25. Sailfish Marina, West Palm Beach
The sport of big-game fishing burst onto the Florida scene during the early 1900s, and West Palm sat right in the middle of the famed "Sailfish Alley" that stretches from Fort Pierce to Miami. Palm Beach boatbuilders like Rybovich designed some of the first true sport-fishing boats, and by the 1940s a sizeable charter fleet operated out of West Palm from a small marina called Roy's Dock just north of the inlet. It was later known as Bill's Marina, after longtime owner Bill Bachstedt.
In 1977, Alex Dreyfoos purchased the marina and a large dock to the south called the Bahia Mar, combining the two to form what's now known as Sailfish Marina. This small resort harbored some of the finest sportfishing yachts and crews of the day, and it still hosts one of the best charter fleets of sport-fishers plying the Gulf. With a nice hotel, a terrific restaurant and a beautiful, historic setting, Sailfish Marina stands out from the crowd.
