Miami Marine Flea Market

Miami is a hot spot for both sail and power boats because it is a big city with many places to go. It is much easier to obtain items you may need for your boat from stores like Shell Lumber, West Marine and Crook & Crook or to provision for a trip at Publix, The Fresh Market, or Milam's Market (these places are not too far from Dinner Key Marina). We heard good things about the Dania Nautical/Marine Flea Market from fellow boaters, but we missed it. So when we heard about another marine flea market we looked at their website to get the scoop. They charge a $7 entry fee and the event took place from May 22-23, 2010 on Watson Island. We saw a long list of vendors and we wanted to look for solar panels and Sunbrella fabric. We figured we would give it a shot and check out what they had for sale. We woke up early to bike ride to the MetroRail and then transfer to a bus to get to the flea market, which took over an hour. Then we walk to the site and stand in line to buy our tickets, while watching a long line of people waiting to enter in a different line. We think this is a good sign for the flea market and I decide not to ask people if there are solar panels and sunbrella for sale. We enter the flea market with high hopes and I devise a game plan to make sure we hit all the vendors so we don't miss anything. We start out seeing trinkets, jewelry, apparel, scuba gear, some small boats, and tons of fishing gear. But it wasn't really a flea market because the items weren't really priced cheap. We saw some old bottom paint for sale at $80, which was a good deal but we weren't sure how old it the paint was and we didn't need it right now so we didn't buy it. But we quickly realized how small the event was and that is was a dud. We walked the entire flea market area and didn't find anything we wanted in under 30 minutes. We felt ripped off after paying to get there and for admission. I felt bad for the vendors having to pay a minimum of $250 to have a booth at the flea market. Somebody was making some serious money and it wasn't the vendors. We took the bus and metro to go to Bayside Marketplace for some lunch and beverages. It was a sunny, hot and humid day in Miami and we wanted something cool and refreshing to make us feel better from our disappointing morning.