A pile of freshly caught live blue crabs
🦀 Down the Road · Outer Banks, NC · Caught local

DTR Crabs

Live Blue CrabsTo Your Door

Outer Banks Blue Crabs, caught fresh the day of delivery and brought live to your rental or home in Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head.

Order crabs Check my ZIP
🎣 Caught fresh the day of delivery ✅ Licensed NC Seafood Dealer 🚚 Next-day delivery ⚡ Same-day by 1 PM, upon availability 📍 Delivery or pickup in ⏰

Bushel prices

Live, lively and local. Two grades: #1 Jimmies (big, heavy males) and #2s (smaller or lighter crabs, lower price). Pick the grade and size that fit your crew.

A bushel basket being filled with live blue crabs at a seafood market
A bushel of live blue crabs
🚚 Next-day delivery:
⚡ Same-day delivery: + same-day crab pricing (), upon availability
Order by 1 PM (Eastern) for same-day
📍 Local pickup in : fee. Same-day pickup at same-day crab prices, upon availability

Our Blue Crabs

Atlantic blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) — the sweet, blue-clawed crabs folks feast on up and down the Outer Banks. We sell them live and hard-shell, graded the way watermen do it: #1s and #2s.

#1

#1 Jimmies

Large, heavy male crabs — the ones locals call jimmies. More meat per crab, great when you want the biggest claws and backs on the table.

  • Best for a classic steamed crab feast
  • Fewer crabs to pick for the same amount of meat
  • Choose #1 on the order form when you want top grade
#2

#2 Crabs

Medium or lighter crabs — still sweet, still local, and a great value when you're feeding a crowd or stretching the budget.

  • Same blue-crab flavor, smaller size or lighter fill
  • Ideal for bigger groups and mixed picks
  • Choose #2 on the order form for the lower price

Keep them lively until you cook

  • Keep crabs cool and damp — cooler or bushel in the shade, damp towel or burlap on top. Bagged ice on top is fine; don't let them sit in melted ice water.
  • Don't submerge live crabs in fresh water — it will kill them.
  • Cook them live. Discard any that die before cooking.
  • A bushel holds roughly a few dozen crabs; the exact count varies with size and grade (#1s are bigger, so fewer fit).
Order #1 or #2 crabs See bushel prices How to cook them →

Do we deliver to you?

Enter the ZIP code where the crabs are going (your rental or home).

📍 Prefer to grab them yourself? Pick up in with . Choose "Pickup" on the order form.

Order your crabs

Choose delivery or local pickup, pick a day, fill in your details, then pay. We'll text or call to confirm.


Next-day / scheduled Same-day (same-day prices, upon availability) Unavailable
Delivery or pickup

Order summary

How it works

1

Check your ZIP

We deliver to Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, or pick up in .

2

Pick a day

. Same-day upon availability, order by 1 PM.

3

Pay your way

Pay online with a secure link or pay at the door.

4

Steam & enjoy

Live crabs arrive cool and kicking. Cook within a few hours.

How to Cook Your Crabs

Hard-shell blue crabs shine steamed or boiled. Soft-shell crabs (freshly molted, eaten whole — different from the live hard crabs in our bushels) are the ones you fry. Cook live hard crabs until the shells are bright orange-red and the meat is opaque.

Steamed blue crabs (the OBX classic)

  1. Pour about 1–2 inches of water plus a splash of vinegar (or a little beer) into a large pot with a rack or steamer basket. Bring to a rolling boil.
  2. Layer in the live crabs, shaking Old Bay (and a pinch of salt) generously over each layer.
  3. Cover tightly and steam about 20–30 minutes, until every shell is bright orange-red.
  4. Dump onto a newspaper-covered table, hit them with more Old Bay, melted butter and vinegar, and pick.
Food safety: Only cook live crabs. Done crabs are bright orange-red with opaque meat — don't undercook.

Cleaning & picking tips (hard crabs)

  • Pry off the top shell and scrape away the gills, then break the body in half.
  • Twist off the claws and legs, crack the claws with a mallet or cracker and pull out the claw meat, then pick the meat out of the chambers.
  • A crab picker and a leg cutter make the job faster when you're working through a bushel.

Questions & answers

How fresh are the crabs?
Your crabs are caught fresh the day of delivery and arrive live. For the best flavor and safety, cook them within a few hours of delivery. Until then:
  • Keep them cool and damp: in a cooler or bushel basket in the shade, covered with a damp towel or burlap. Ice on top in a bag (not loose) helps.
  • Don't submerge them in water or let them sit in melted ice water; it will kill them.
  • Only cook crabs that are alive. Toss any that died before cooking.
How do I steam blue crabs with Old Bay?
  1. Add about 1–2 inches of water and a splash of vinegar (or beer) to a big pot with a rack or steamer basket.
  2. Bring it to a rolling boil, then layer the crabs in, sprinkling Old Bay (and a little salt) generously over each layer.
  3. Cover tightly and steam about 20–30 minutes, until the shells are bright orange-red all over.
  4. Dump them on a newspaper-covered table, add more Old Bay, melted butter and vinegar, and pick away.
Where do you deliver, and how much is delivery?
When will my crabs arrive? What's the order cutoff?
What's the difference between #1 and #2 crabs?
How does same-day pricing work?
Same-day orders: no charge until we confirm
Same-day orders depend on today's catch, so a same-day order is a request, and you're not charged anything when you place it. We'll text you shortly to confirm. Once we confirm, we'll text you a payment link. If we can't fill it today, we'll let you know, there's nothing to refund, and we'll gladly get you crabs the next day instead if you'd like.
Can I pick up?
How far ahead can I order? Are you open all year?

You can book up to 10 days ahead. We're closed in January, when North Carolina closes crab pots north of the Highway 58 bridge (including the Outer Banks). Crabs are at their best from about April through November.

Are you licensed?

Yes. DTR Crabs is a licensed North Carolina seafood dealer, and we follow all NC Division of Marine Fisheries rules on size, season and handling.

How does payment work?