Discover Crisfield on Tangier Sound

Crisfield is located on Tangier Sound. When planning your stay, you can focus on different things: crafts and history, a guided boat tour, fishing, or trails in nearby Janes Island State Park. For excursions and events, it’s worth checking the relevant dates and conditions.

Carving Art and Chesapeake Bay History

The Ward Brothers Workshop preserves the original site where Lem and Steve Ward perfected the “Crisfield style” of decoy carving. Visitors can tour the original buildings. From May through October, local decoy carvers offer demonstrations and tours there twice a month. As dates may change, check the latest schedule if you’d like to plan your stay around this offering.

The Corbin Studio & Gallery is an art gallery, studio, and artists’ cooperative. The Tawes Museum explores the history of life on the Chesapeake Bay, from the first people who lived in the area more than 10,000 years ago to the time when Crisfield was known as the “Seafood Capital of the World.” Together, these places offer different ways to experience art, crafts, and regional history. The museum covers a particularly broad span of time.

Boat Tours and Fishing

Water-based offerings differ in their destinations and activities. Experience Smith Island offers guided boat tours from Crisfield to Maryland’s only inhabited island. Schedules and operating conditions may vary; check the details before planning your trip around them. Chesapeake on the Fly offers fly-fishing and light-tackle charters from Crisfield on Tangier Sound and in the Chesapeake Bay, each with full guide service. Charter availability depends on the provider’s schedule and conditions. This lets you consider a guided island visit and a fishing charter as different travel plans.

Somers Cove Marina provides access to the waters of Tangier Sound. Smith Island Cruises operates seasonally and, weather permitting, departs at 12:30 p.m. from Pier B, slips 10–11, at the marina. Confirm departure details before you arrive. This is especially helpful if you want to include a specific departure time in your plans.

Trails and Seasonal Events

Near Crisfield, Janes Island State Park has more than 30 miles of waterways, hiking trails, and beaches accessible by boat. This gives you several ways to experience the area: routes on the water, trails on land, and beaches reached by boat. Water conditions, seasonal access, and trail and beach conditions may vary; check them before making plans.

Crisfield’s National Hard Crab Derby takes place annually over Labor Day weekend. The program includes crab races and competitions in boat docking, crab cooking, and crab picking. If you’re planning your trip around the derby, check the event dates and program, as both may vary from year to year. The competitions have different focuses on crabs and boats, giving the event its own character.

Plan Your Stay Around the Occasion

When searching for a hotel in Crisfield, your reason for traveling can determine the order of your planning. If the Ward Brothers Workshop is a priority, the dates of its seasonal demonstrations and tours are relevant. For a stay focused on boat tours or fishing, check the respective schedules, availability, and provider conditions. If the National Hard Crab Derby is the occasion, plan around the confirmed event dates.

Explore more destinations: Princess Anne.

View the broader travel guide: Somerset.