Crab Island packing guide
What to Bring to Crab Island (and What to Leave Behind)
Updated
Crab Island packing has one governing principle: you're provisioning a stationary day in full sun with no shore services. Your boat is the infrastructure — everything else you bring, confirm the boat provides, or do without.
One message to your captain or rental company before packing saves half this list: 'What's provided, what's the cooler policy, any glass or alcohol rules?' Then fill the gaps below.
The short answer
Sun kit (reef-safe sunscreen, rash guards, hats, water shoes), a cooler with more water than seems reasonable plus real food, floats if the boat doesn't carry them, and towels with dry clothes in a dry bag. Cash or a card for the vendor boats if they're running, life jackets confirmed for kids, and leave glass, valuables and anything unfloatable at the rental. The vendor boats are a treat, not a plan — provision like they don't exist.
Sun kit — the non-negotiables
- Reef-safe sunscreen, applied before boarding and reapplied after water time
- Rash guards or swim shirts for everyone staying in the water long (that's everyone)
- Brimmed hats with straps — the bay breeze owns the unsecured
- Polarized sunglasses; the glare comes from above and below
- Water shoes for kids and tender-footed adults
- Lip balm with SPF — the forgotten burn everyone gets once
Cooler and provisions
- Water: a bottle per person per hour is the honest summer budget
- Electrolyte options for kids who won't drink plain water all day
- Real food, not just chips — shallow water manufactures appetites
- Cans and plastic only; glass is banned on most boats and miserable on a sandbar
- Ice, plus a small grab-bag for drinks people reach for constantly
- Trash bags — everything you float in with floats back out with you
Comfort and play
- Floats and mats if the boat doesn't provide them (confirm — many do)
- A mask for curious kids; the shallows hold minnows, crabs and the occasional ray
- Buckets and scoops for little ones — they beat electronics out here every time
- Towels plus a full change of dry clothes for the ride home
- Dry bag for phones, keys and cards; waterproof phone case with a leash for the photographer
- Portable speaker if your group's the music type — with awareness that water carries sound
Leave behind
- Glass anything — near-universal boat rule and a bare-feet hazard
- Jewelry; the sandbar keeps what it takes
- Valuables beyond one card and ID in the dry bag
- Spray sunscreens (deck-slick, neighbor-misting, often banned aboard)
- The assumption that vendor boats will feed your crew — they're seasonal, mobile and optional
Frequently asked questions
Can we bring alcohol?
Many private boats allow adult drinks in cans within reason — the captain's or rental company's rules govern, and whoever is driving a rental drinks nothing, obviously and legally. Ask explicitly before packing, hydrate double in the sun, and let the boat's word be final.
Do the vendor boats take cards?
Many do in season, but service varies and connectivity over water is what it is. A little cash plus one card in the dry bag covers every version of the answer. Treat vendor food as the fun surprise, not the meal plan.
Not sure yet? That's the point of the Finder.
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