West Ocean City MD

West Ocean City is the main event for crabs, not the approach. It is the last stretch of mainland before the Route 50 drawbridge drops you onto the island. Hooper's holds the foot of the bridge with its deck on the bay. Waterman's has anchored the corner of Ocean Gateway and Keyser Point Road since 1982. The Shrimp Boat works the Route 611 split a little south. Turn down Golf Course Road and the highway strip gives way to the Ocean City Commercial Fishing Harbor. That is the working port where the trawlers unload. Crab Alley has kept its deck pointed at them since 1995.

Every big room here runs a seafood market or carryout beside the dining room. The kitchen that dumps a tray on your butcher paper will also pack a dozen for the ride home. Crab prices mostly move with the catch and get quoted by phone rather than in print. The Shrimp Boat's posted weekday male-crab special is the notable exception. In July and August the all-you-can-eat rooms fill early on Saturdays. In summer traffic, the left turn across Route 50 is slow.