How to Catch a Ghost Crab

Hunting your Crab

Find a beach where ghost crabs live. Ghost crabs are common shore crabs in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. They inhabit deep burrows in the inter-tidal zone. They are particularly popular on the Outer Banks beaches of North Carolina (and ghost crab hunting is a popular activity there), but they can be found on coastal beaches around the world.

Visit the beach at night. Ghost crabs are nocturnal, so in order to see them (let alone catch them), you must visit the beach at night. Go to your beach location after the sun has set.

Scan the beach. Using your flashlight, scan up and down the beach looking for movement. Ghost crabs are small, quick, and the color of sand, so it may be hard to spot them at first. But with your flashlight, you'll soon begin to see them scurry.

Aim your flashlight. Once you have spotted a ghost crab, aim your flashlight right at him. Maybe you've heard the expression a “deer stuck in headlights”? Well, how about a crab stuck in a flashlight? When the light is shined on him, he will freeze.

Scoop him up in your net. Keep your flashlight steady and approach him very slowly. Try not to spook him. As soon as you become close enough, scoop him up in your net. Then drop him from your net into your bucket. Congrats! You've just caught your first ghost crab.

Release your crabs at the end of the night. Although this activity is often called ghost crab “hunting,” it is really more like ghost crab chasing. Be sure to release your little critters back into the wild after your fun evening of catching them.

Getting Better Results

Wear dark clothing. Ghost crabs are constantly on the look out for predators. Make yourself invisible (like them) by wearing dark colored clothing. You'll also want to walk softly, and stay quiet.

Choose the best time of year. You'll have the most fun catching ghost crabs if you do so during their peak season. The best time of year for catching ghost crabs is during the summer, from May to early September.

Find the best beaches. Ghost crabs can be found on coastal beaches around the world, for example in Costa Rica, Hawaii, and the Atlantic coast of the United States. But the best beaches within these regions to boast ghost crabs will be quiet, secluded places, without a lot people. Look for a beach that fits this bill to see the most ghost crabs.

Don't poke or prod. Although a pinch from a ghost crab won't hurt you too badly, it can hurt a little bit. You can minimize your chances of being pinched by a ghost crab, if you treat him with a little respect. Never poke or prod the crab unnecessarily.

Use a five-gallon bucket. Although any bucket or small container will work, using one large bucket (that you can share as a family) ensures that your crabs will not escape as you're gathering them. Of course you will release them all at the end of the night anyway, but it is fun to get a sense of how many your captured during your hunt.

Building a Trap

Gather supplies. You'll need a one-gallon plastic jug (like a windshield-wiper fluid bottle), a cylindrical one-quart plastic bottle (like one used for rubbing alcohol), and one sheet of coarse sandpaper. You'll also need an x-acto knife, or a wood-burning tool, and you may want to use a hot glue gun.

Cut the gallon jug. Cut a hole in the bottom of the plastic gallon jug the same size as the cylindrical bottle. This can be accomplished by using a sharp x-acto knife or a wood-burning tool.

Cut the ends of the cylindrical bottle. Cut the top off the bottle using the x-acto knife or wood-burning tool. Then, using the x-acto knife or wood-burning tool, cut a circular hole in the bottom of the bottle, leaving just an 1/8” lip around the edge.

Affix the sandpaper in the tube. Roll up your piece of sandpaper (with the smooth side out) and place into the cylinder you have created. It should stick out the bottom about 1-2 inches. You can use hot glue to secure the sandpaper, if you like.

Connect the tube to the jug. Slide the cylinder (with the sandpaper) into the plastic jug, leaving only about 3 inches sticking out. Again, you can use a bit of hot glue to seal the opening, if you'd like. Remove the cap from the jug if you haven't already. This is your finished trap.

Find a crab hole. During the day, go to a beach where ghost crabs are known to hang out and look for a hole. Look for a hole with damp, dark sand around it, as this will indicate that there is a crab inside.

Set your trap. Slide the 3-inch cylindrical end of your trap into the crab hole and surround it with sand to secure it. Leave it overnight. In the morning, you can see if you've caught a crab!