The Tastiest Oyster Farm Tours You Can Take in the US
When it comes to seafood, freshness matters. Especially with oysters, which are commonly served raw on the half-shell. The only thing closer than oyster-farm-to-table is to get out onto the farm yourself. Check out these eight oyster farm tours throughout the United States to sample the freshest oysters in the country.
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Maine Oyster Company
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Hog Island Oyster Co
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Cottage City Oysters
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Texas Clearwater Oyster Gardens
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Lowcountry Oyster Company
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Nauti Sisters Sea Farm
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Peeko Oysters Farm Tours
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Island Creek Oysters
Maine Oyster Company
Location: Portland, Maine
The Maine Oyster Company has been farming oysters since 2016 with a commitment to freshness that is, in their words, “farm-to-slurp” certified. Learn more about their process with a tour departing from their Basecamp Lodge in Phippsburg, Maine, where you’ll board a boat to explore the floating farm. Once back on land, you’ll be put to work to earn your share of delicious Maine oysters with a hands-on oyster shucking class.
Hog Island Oyster Co
Location: San Francisco, California
Hog Island Oyster Co. offers some of the most stunning oyster bars on the West Coast and gives travelers an option to tour their Pacific farms. Travelers can choose between The Whole Hog Experience , which includes a three-hour farm tour, a master class in oyster shucking, an extensive tasting menu, and oyster shucking tools to take home with you, or the Classic Farm tour, which includes a much shorter 1.5-hour tour and a quick lesson on shucking and tasting oysters.
Cottage City Oysters
Location: Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
Cottage City Oysters is the first open-ocean oyster farm in New England. The floating raw bar experience is BYOB and includes a ride on their open-deck tour boat, an educational talk on oyster rearing and farming, and a tasting of oysters harvested fresh from the bay.
Texas Clearwater Oyster Gardens
Location: Port Aransas, TX
Enjoy a two-hour boat tour hosted by Scarlett Lady Dolphin Adventures in collaboration with Texas Clearwater Oyster Gardens. The tour includes a lecture by Clearwater co-owner on the oyster farming process, followed by oyster tastings with fresh wine pairings. The tours are available on the first Sunday of every month.
Lowcountry Oyster Company
Location: Green Pond, South Carolina
Lowcountry Oyster Company offers travelers a peek behind the scenes of its eco-friendly cage operation, which is focused on sustainability and year-round oyster harvests. The tour, conducted aboard its 20-foot skiff, can accommodate up to ten people per session and includes a tasting of its proprietary Lowcountry Cup oysters.
Nauti Sisters Sea Farm
Location: Yarmouth, Maine
This cheekily named oyster farm in Casco Bay is woman-owned and operated. Aquaculture education has been part of the business's core tenants since day one and this commitment manifests through the farm's robust tour offerings, including an oyster farm tour and coastal boat tours. The farm tour includes a two-hour river cruise down to the oyster cages, where guests will harvest, shuck, and taste what the farm has to offer.
Peeko Oysters Farm Tours
Location: New Suffolk, New York
Peeko Oysters supplies fresh shellfish to busy restaurants around New York City. The oyster farm experience at Peeko Farms is two-tiered. The Standard Tour includes an educational walkthrough of the farm equipment and harvesting area followed by a shucking lesson and all-you-can-eat oysters, while the paired-down Oyster Tasting includes just the latter half of the experience.
Island Creek Oysters
Location: Duxbury, Massachusetts
The all-ages tours at Island Creek Oysters include an insider look at the farm's hatchery and a leisurely cruise around the Duxbury Bay to sample oysters fresh from the source. You can also snag a bite at the raw bar back on shore or at their new outpost in the Seaport District of Boston, coming soon.