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Crabbing at Walberswick Suffolk

Crabbing at Walberswick Suffolk. If you are regular readers of Mudpie Fridays then you will know that we are big fans of crabbing. The pass time has seemingly started to gain popularity. Perhaps it is because of the pandemic and with so many more people holidaying in the U.K. this year. During our Summer break, we spent a few days in Suffolk and of course had to go crabbing. It is the perfect activity for the Summer holidays and an inexpensive day out. I did some research and apparently, the national nature reserves of Walberswick is the best place to crab in Suffolk. It sounded perfect a quintessential English village, offering optimum crabbing and sandy beaches across the river. Honestly, I am not sure it is as we had a mixed experience. But then we have not tried anywhere else in Suffolk yet. But if you are planning on going then I wanted to write this blog post, so you don’t make the same mistakes as we did.

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Is Walberswick the best place to crab in Suffolk?

It was busy when we arrived mid-morning on a weekday during the Summer holidays. We had high hopes as Walberswick hosted the annual British Open Crabbing Championship from 1981 to 2010. So there must be crabs. But if I am honest I much prefer a quiet crabbing spot to a busy one. And in the summer months, this one gets busy it is a very popular location!

Walberswick is an estuary and initially, we tried the river bank by the carpark. Despite the signs telling people not to crab due to social distancing, the narrow bridge was already packed. It was high tide and the river seemed like a good option, not clocking that many people were only using lines and not nets. Charlie is his usual gusto and eagerness to catch the first crab threw his net in and pulled it out literally dripping in mud! Disaster. Tears. Don’t crab in the first part of the river you come to! If you do, then due to the nature of the reed beds use a weighted line and avoided low tide.

Not to be deterred I walked around to where you catch the Walberswick ferry over to Southend. And spotted golden sand (instead of mud) and a concrete wall. Another tick. A concrete harbour wall means less chance of the youngest member of our group falling in. Right next to the harbour there was free-flowing clear water. We could see the ferry going back and across from where we were standing. Determined to catch crab we tried again and this time we were much more successful. And thankfully the water washed off the mud (although not the smell!).

What did we catch crabbing at Walberswick?

After the initial disappointment, we went on to catch a fair few shore crabs, which was much fun to the kids’ delight. And the authentic Suffolk summer experience There was a lot of baby crabs and we caught the smallest we have ever caught in a traditional crabbing net. It was about the size of a 1p piece. The fact they are generally much smaller means at least it gives the kids a chance to handle them more confidently. We found that they were more willing to pick them up. Charlie also managed to catch a shrimp which was huge! So in the end we had quite a successful morning Crabbing at Walberswick Suffolk.

Parking at Walberswick – Crabbing at Walberswick Suffolk

I did wonder as we drove through a chocolate box looking small village towards the harbour (not that we knew that at the time). If we were in the right place. It is pretty narrow with cars all over the place. The locals must love that it is so popular! We passed a small cafe and newsagents en route down. Both are only a short walk up from the harbour. At the bottom, there are two signposts one for the ferry car park and one for general parking. We headed to the right towards general parking.

They both essentially end up in a similar place. If you are not a confident driver or have a large car or camper van then I would recommend parking in the ferry car park. From what I could tell the prices are the same and they are both a good size. If you take the car park to the right then you have to drive across a weak bridge which is just about the width of my car. Which is a reasonably sized family coupe.

An all-day ticket costs £5 and you can use the Pay to Park app.

Ferry from Walberswick to Southwold

Our initial plan was to go crabbing and then pick up the beach stuff and go across on the ferry to Southwold Harbour. The ferry is a foot ferry, an open-top rowing boat that crosses constantly throughout the day. It is very quaint and only costs £2 per adult and £1 for kids. With under 5s free. They are also happy to take buggies and dogs. However, it is quite a walk from the ferry to Southwold pier (forty minutes). The boys had set their hearts on the 2p arcades. So we decided to get back in the car and drive the fifteen minutes round to the beach.

However, I would quite like to try the ferry out next time we visit. But perhaps when we are just planning a trip to the beach and not the pier. If you fancy a go then make sure you have cash as they do not take cards.

Ammenities in Walberswick

It is a beautiful place an area of outstanding natural beauty, but there is no getting away from it, it gets busy. But it is quite well set up. Each carpark has an ice cream van selling lollies, ice creams and cold drinks. There is also a little gift shop and tea rooms near the ferry on the beach, which sells snacks and drinks and has toilets. As well as a variety of crabbing essentials. The pebble beach is scattered with traditional fishermen’s huts. There are a number of great pubs in the village. Including one just past the car park towards the village, there is a pub called The Anchor. Which looked lovely from the outside and a great place to stop en route to Southwold.

Have you visited Walberswick home of the British crabbing championships? I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.