Crabs have a hard time communicating their emotions, mistakenly being called crabby for pinching when they're merely trying to hug with tiny claws. Have a crustacean heart-to-heart with today's Groupon: for $35, you get a crabbing-boat excursion for up to six people from Beaver Dam Boat Rentals in Newport (up to a $70 value).
Beaver Dam Boat Rentals entertains groups with daylong self-guided crabbing adventures launched from docks lining the serene Oranokin Creek. The team at Beaver Dam imparts knowledge to teams of families, friends, and living mall-mannequins as well as distributing life vests, bait, and a crab net. Parties load into row boats, which are towed from the main dock to one of four salt ponds teeming with blue-claw crab every 30 minutes starting at 6 a.m. Once above the crustaceans' secret lairs, crabbers can lay anchor or navigate freely with provided oars on a quest to reel in bushels of claw-wielding critters. Throughout the excursion, members of the Beaver Dam staff cruise by, towing guests back to shore or to new locations if necessary and ensuring boats remain amply stocked with supplies and rousing sea shanties before the day ends at 3 p.m.
Beaver Dam Boat Rentals
Operating since 1903, Beaver Dam Boat Rentals provides access to the quiet waters and plentiful wildlife of Oranokin Creek. Initially prized by the Lenape Indians for its abundance of crabs, the creek offers crabbing enthusiasts a chance to snag up to a bushel of prized blue claws. Staff can tow guests to one of the four salt ponds where the crabs are hiding and help lure them out with free subscriptions to People magazine. Beaver Dam will stop by throughout the day to tow boats to a more attractive location, and can provide all necessary supplies.
Sightseeers can also test out Oranokin Creek in an old-fashioned rowboat, or rent fiberglass boats ($50–$60) that hold five passengers or party boats that hold up to six ($70). Beaver Dam Boat Rentals also offers guided kayak tours suited to participants' experience and fitness levels, and operates a boat ramp for the start of duck-hunting season.:m]]