Absolutely Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Activities on the Atlantic Islands of Chincoteague and Assateague
off the Coast of Virginia*
 - Henry Mallard, Recreation Critic -

Current Topics: Assateague Tours, Sports Clamming,  
Assateague Lighthouse Tours, Crabbing Information

2nd Saturday Art Strolls
Participating Chincoteague Island galleries and shops are open from 6  to 10 p.m. with special events including art and craft demonstrations, exhibits, readings and book signings, live music, wine tastings.....and the unexpected.
Click here for more information

Henry's Downtown Area Map for Restaurants, Motels, and Bed & Breakfasts
Henry's Downtown (Bridge Area) Shops Map
New - Henry's Downtown Main Street Photo Map
(All open in new window. Warning - color maps!)

Click here to post your own opinion on Chincoteague
or Assateague activities or to read the opinions of others.

One-week, summer camps at Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague for students interested in learning about the science and engineering of rockets and space flight. Camps offered June - August.

Sports Clamming
This is a good time to review the joys of sports clamming on Assateague Island. Before you begin, you should know that one of the largest clams ever found in the world weighed 579 1/2 pounds and measured 43 by 29 inches and is said to have contained a pearl the size of a golf ball. You should also know that several divers and at least one golf pro have been trapped by monster clams.

Clamming is an ancient sport requiring a sharp eye and a rusty hand spade. As you probably know from the clam tournaments on television, the true sports clam digger knows the secrets of "signing" - spotting the little holes in the sand made by a clam's siphons or discovering other signs of a crafty clam's presence. (The clam sucks in water and food particles through one siphon and spits out the water through the other.) The most exciting part for the fans comes next. The athlete must bend over and dig out the clam before it has a chance drill any deeper into the sand with its foot (takes about a day).

Being a more methodical sportsman, I prefer to use a large clam rake (you can buy one at one of the local hardware stores) and have honed my skills using well established "Zen of clam gardening" principles.  Essentially, you map out a big rectangle in your mind and then push down on and drag the rake around in the water until you've covered the area. If there's a clam down there, you'll hear a clink as the rake knocks against its shell. Just rake it out and pitch it in your clam bucket. And where you find one, there are most likely a couple more near by. Watch out, though, for large horseshoe crabs that have buried themselves in the sand. These ancient creatures - which really aren't crabs at all - also eat clams and probably hate clam gardeners. But as luck would have it, they're harmless.

Assateague clams have always been noted for their tasty meat, and the most popular clamming area is Toms Cove near the beach parking lots. While there is an official limit to the number of clams you can take from Assateague, don't worry about it here.  The three or four clams you'll find in an hour's digging will be well within the limit - since this area is, indeed, so popular.

Assateague Lighthouse Tours

I can't imagine why anyone would want to climb 142 feet to the top of a lighthouse, but the U.S. Coast Guard provides visitors with such an opportunity at the Assateague lighthouse several times a year.

The original 1833 lighthouse was only 45 feet high, and curious people of considerable girth like myself could make it to the top with only a few rest stops. But unfortunately mariners had trouble spotting the light, and Congress paid for a new structure (142 feet) which was completed in 1867. For some interesting photos of the lighthouse and views from the top, click here (photos from the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce web site).

Crabbing Information

Crabbing & Clamming - (opens in new window)
from the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce
See Crab Facts & Photos for numerous photos that help identify crab types, reviews of regulations regarding crabbing for Virginia and nearby states, catching crabs, recipes, and steaming information.

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*Nearly Absolutely! I'm still jotting it all down! - Henry