I grew up loving going fishing and crabbing with my Dad. I have since worked on fishing boats, trawlers and more recently in a retail seafood store.

Sand Crabs are my favorite type of seafood.

The first blue swimmer crab / sand crab I saw with my young eyes was by-catch in a mud crab pot when I was a kid fishing in the river with my father.

I’m sure he would have preferred a son, but I really took to fishing, have worked in the industry and love recreational fishing / crabbing on my days off. Looking back, my Dad definitely would have preferred a mud crab as he just threw [the very first blue swimmer crab I saw] back.

He probably threw it back because they can be finicky to eat, being a lot smaller. But they taste amazing and are much more affordable than mud crabs.

I have caught several blue swimmer crabs recreationally on my fishing line accidentally, but only landed a few that managed to tangle themselves up properly.

Around 80% of all the crabs I’ve eaten though, I have bought at a seafood shop with mixed success. So make sure you read my Sand Crab Buying Guide as there are some tricks to getting the best quality and avoiding the low-grade crabs that look very similar. I have worked in a seafood shop so know some industry secrets.

Like all seafood there are a million different ways to cook crabs, I eat them at least once a fortnight, so I have tried lots of blue swimmer crab recipes – the best of which I will share with you.

For all the latest recipes and insights, the most up-to-date resources will be on my social media, so please follow me there (links in the header).

Thanks, Laurie Suarez aka Sand Crab Laurie