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The Best Place to go Crabbing in Kent

Crabbing in Herne Bay. If you are regular readers of Mudpie Fridays, you will know that my eldest Charlie in particular has a fascination with going crabbing. In fact, I would probably even go as far to say he is quite obsessed with it. Therefore we tend to hunt out the new perfect place to take the boys crabbing, last weekend decided to make the best of the sunshine we headed to the Kent coast to try crabbing. After all, it is a free activity that the whole family can enjoy. Stopping at Herne Bay Pier which attracts lots of visitors it is a great location for the best fishing and crabbing.

We are big fans of the Kent coastline, having visited Margate and Whitstable recently. However, in our opinion, the best place to go crabbing in Kent is Herne Bay Pier. After all various crab competitions are held here in the summer months, so it can’t just be us that think it is the best place in Kent to go crabbing!

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Best place for crabbing in Kent

We headed to Herne Bay Pier, on a bright and sunny February weekend. The pier itself was only semi-open since the season is not in full swing yet. Chatting with a couple of the beach hut owners. I discovered that the little huts and eateries tend to open up for the February half-term in Kent. And then at weekends after this date. However, for what we wanted, there were plenty of places to get something to eat. Have a little browse in the beautiful craft and gift stores before finding a space at the end of the pier to see how lucky we could get with the crab nets.

Parking at Herne Bay Pier

I would imagine in the summer months are very busy and a popular destination and so you may not be able to get into this car park. However, we parked in Neptune Car Park which is right on the beach next to the clocktower. We were there for around three hours and it cost £4. There is also plenty of on-road parking, with parking metres along the coast road. And several car parks are located in the town itself.

Seeing how busy it was on a sunny Sunday in February I would anticipate it gets extremely busy during the summer months and when the weather is nice. So if you are planning on visiting I would suggest you get there early if you want to park right on the seafront.

Where to go crabbing in Herne Bay

The pier is the obvious place to start crabbing at Herne Bay. We decided to target the left-hand side, which worked really well for us. We located ourselves towards the end of the pier. As there were several people fishing off the very end. The pier itself is not very long, the fishermen did not have as much luck as we did with catching crabs. During our visit, we arrived at high tide but the tide was on its way out. However, at the end of the pier the sea is still quite deep and therefore you should not have any problem catching crabs. Sometimes when it gets too shallow water they will not feel safe and so burrow or move further out during low tide.

What is the best bait to use when going crabbing?

We have always used smoked bacon for crab bait. Although sometimes you can buy a variety of bait including freeze-dried mackerel in the little seaside shops. We have always found smoky bacon to be the most effective and best way to catch crabs. And that didn’t change this time around. The stinkier, older and smokier the bacon can be the better. Since this is what attracts the crops into your net. We always use a bait bag as well to make sure they don’t scuttle off with it.

Amenities at Herne Bay

I had read that you would be able to buy equipment or a crabbing net on the pier itself. However, when we visited, there were no little huts selling crabbing nets. Although there was one selling kites and foam aeroplanes. On speaking to one of the stallholders, they suggested trying the amusement arcade which runs along the coast road at the land end of the pier.

However, there are plenty of shops selling various little knickknacks and beach souvenirs. Charlie was taken with the glass animals albeit we forgot to have a look on our way back to the car. There is also a huge range of different food stalls. There’s a pub or rather beach hut at the looks like a pub, coffee shops, places for ice creams and you can even get married in one of the little hearts.

As I mention much of it was closed when we visited in early February, however, I can imagine that in the summer months, the popular spot gets extremely busy. There are some small amusements such as jumping ropes and water boats and I think a helter-skelter although it wasn’t visible when we visited. Plus they also have a stage and regularly put on music shows. In front of the stage of the large seated area. I can imagine that it gets a lovely atmosphere when all the tables and chairs are out. And everyone is enjoying themselves in the sun with a glass of something.

How did we get on crabbing in Kent?

We found the water to be particularly murky and I think that’s probably because of the sand content. Which did make seeing some of the crabs a little tricky once they’re in the bucket. Not that they seem to bother the boys in the slightest.

We had good luck as over the space of an hour, we got about 15 crabs maybe a couple more. A couple of them are quite large. Although the majority of them were smaller crabs and we found the smallest crab that we have ever found. They were typical shore crab varieties which have been labelled an invasive species. Although Herne Bay is also known for spider crabs, blue crabs, velvet swimming crabs and edible crabs. Typically these like deeper water and say you’re less likely to find them. Although that didn’t stop the boys from hoping that that would be the case.

We also managed to catch a couple of shrimp which was a bit of luck! The boys had a really good time and considering it was February, I think we did really well on the catching front. If you stand on the left-hand side of the pier as we did you are in a bit of a sun trap and sheltered from the wind which I think was one of the best places. There is a bench seating that runs all the way along so you can sit away from the railings. And the railings are suitable to hang your nets or crab line off of. You do need to be mindful of the fact that there are some memorial plaques and flower holders. We specifically found a place where there were no flowers so that we did not run the risk of damaging them.

What else is there to do in Herne Bay?

By the time we left the tide was on its way out again, revealing the pebble beach. It is quite badly eroded on the right-hand side of the pier. However, there is more of a grassy area mixed with sand up by the clocktower. If the kids want to kick a ball around or fly a kite.

There is a little harbour area between the pier and the beach. Accessible from the shingle I suspect it’s quite good for a paddle in the summer months. Although it was far too cold to see anybody in the water in February. You can also walk around the harbour walls.

There is a good-looking playground on the seafront suitable for children up to the age of 12. With suitable climbing and play equipment for all ages.

At the old bandstand, you can shelter from within and pick up the sun’s rays. It has a restaurant inside of it protected from the wind and various tables and chairs laid out in the sun. Because there’s lots of glass around it is a real suntrap and you can buy Italian ice cream and pizzas and coffee. A tiny piece of Italy on the South coast.

If you carry on past the pier the shingle beach will eventually lead you to some brightly coloured beach huts. To reach them you will need to go past a number of arcades. We did not venture to the arcades, but I am guessing they are pretty standard with penny machines. We also spotted a rock shop.