Cabbage Island Clambakes

This was just a fantastic trip, and worth every penny. It’s a quintessential Maine experience, and I am so glad that we did it.
We tried to book our tickets for the evening trip, but found that it was sold out, so we put our names on the waiting list. Thankfully were able to squeeze in at the last minute. My advice, book this trip early so you can just have it on your schedule and not worry about running out of time. This is 100% worth it.
The price may seem a little steep at the outset – $ 65 per person, but when you consider the amount of food you get + a boat ride, it’s absolutely worth it. We opted for the evening trip, and ate very lightly in anticipation. At the appropriate time, we went down to the dock and found a line of people already forming.
After a short, and lovely boat ride, you dock on Cabbage Island, and stake out either one of the many picnic tables dotting the landscape, of one of the tables indoors or on the wrap-​around porch. They have lawn games available, or you can just walk around. We got some beer and played a lively game of cornhole with a couple from New York.
After a while, it’s time to eat. You start off with some seafood chowder, which is delicious. After that, you line up for the lobster. Even though the length of the line is daunting, it moves incredibly fast and within moments, you’re handed an incredibly heavy tray loaded with food. After that, it’s all up to you.
People come around to tables periodically to clear away lobster carcasses, and it’s just a feast in a lovely locale. The service was excellent, and even though I honestly don’t like lobster, I don’t regret a penny of the $ 65 this cost. This is a trip that’s as much about the food as it is the experience, and even if you don’t care for lobster, you won’t go hungry.

Staying in Maine from Jersey for the weekend. So many places to choose from to get lobsters and then my wife found this place via Unilocal.There is NO WAY that you can leave from this trip still hungry. For $ 65 you get a boat ride around the harbor with a brief history of land marks around you. When you get to cabbage island, hop on a table in the building or a picnic table and one of waiters/​waitresses will come take your drink order. On the first bell you’ll get a small bowl of fish chowder which was a first for me but just as good as clam chowder. Then the second bell rings and you line up to get a bag of clams, corn on a cob, baked potato, a onion, a boiled egg, and TWO lobsters! If you’re not full with that you’re still getting dessert, a piece of blueberry cake. What made this trip even better was the family that owns/​works this. They just don’t greet you, they make you feel welcomed to the family, like a family reunion feel. Price wise they don’t try to take your money, but instead give you a memory and experience that most other businesses don’t do.

From the sightseeing ride out on the Bennie Alice to the breathtaking views from the island, Cabbage Island was the perfect Maine family day.
The boat leaves from Boothbay and it takes about an hour to get out to Cabbage Island (it’s about half that time back to Boothbay… less sightseeing). When you arrive on the island, the race is on to claim your picnic table (especially if you need a few). Then, you have some time to explore the trails or play games before the meal starts with fish stew.
Lunch is two delicious lobsters, corn, clams, potato, onion and an egg. Dessert, a delectable blueberry cake, rounds out the meal.
After eating, you can spend some time digesting and exploring before going back to the adorable Boothbay Harbor.

Amazing experience! We loved our boat tour of the islands of Maine on the Bennie Alice, and our visit to Cabbage Island was authentic and unique. My kids played volleyball, horseshoes, and badminton on the island, as my husband and I watched the lobsters being cooked on the huge outdoor grill while we sipped cocktails. Can’t recommend this highly enough — what a great business this family has come up with for all who visit to enjoy!

Please be sure to make reservations as soon as you know you are going to be in town. We almost missed out on a quintessential New England experience due to my forgetfulness. Thank goodness they found room on the boat for two sisters from California! You don’t want to miss this!

This was an awesome way to spend a day in the boothbay region. The captain was so informative during our scenic boat trip out to cabbage island. The food was really good, Being a New Englander we wanted the fish chowder to be a little thicker but it was tasty. The lobsters were the highlight but the rest of the meal was equally as delicious. It wasn’t hard to see why we met so many repeat guests on the trip. We will be adding this to our list of regular stops when we vacation up here again. Make sure you call ahead and make a reservations.

Amazing and great day, boat ride and great clambake for a fair price.
Trip starts at dock in Boothbay Harbor, you have to pay cash for ticket, sixty three bucks per person. Then you get on a medium size tour boat, and you get a nice 45 minute tour of the harbor and surrounding islands, really enjoyable on a nice day.
When you arrive you pick out your spot, lots of options both inside, on a covered porch, or out in grassy areas in shade or sun. Food starts quickly with seafood chowder, not 5 star, but very good. You can also order beer, wine, and cocktails, but it’s a cash bar at that point. Then it’s about ½ hour until the clambake is ready, so you can wander around. We lucked out and found the cooking area and were treated to friendly explanations of how they cooked all the lobsters, clams, potatoes, corn, etc. very interesting to see.
They blow a horn when the food is ready, you go to the cooking area and are handed a tray with two 1 and quarter pound lobsters (really nice to get two), a foil pouch of 15 – 20 steamed clams, a piece of corn, baked potato, a large cooked onion, and then a hard boiled egg. Drawn butter and cleansing water Everything on the tray is excellent, and with the soup, enough to fill anyone up. They are very good also about bringing you extra containers of melted butter through the meal.
For dessert they then bring the most distinctive part of the meal, Grandma Bennies Blueberry Cake. We were stuffed and still ate every bit of the large pieces. It was as good a cake as you will ever get in any 5 star restaurants.
One additional plus that pushed me to 5 stars. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. Grandma Bennie greeted us, and the Uncles who kind of managed everything walked around to every table talking to everyone and acted as if we all were important invited guests. It’s hard to find such incredibly good service at a banquet type meal, but they do it.
All in all, I recommend this highly if you are in the area. The price is actually very fair when you take into account the nice boat ride, the great meal, and the very friendly service.

Wonderful trip wonderful meal. Friendly staff. The meal was exceptional. 2 large lobsters plus clams potatoes, corn, boiled egg and onion. The blueberry cake is to die for. Take a light jacket it gets cold in the wind. On the island be sure to walk around there are some truly beautiful scenes.

How to impress out of towners who visit you this summer. A beautiful boat ride and a wonderful dinner. From the Chowda the two lobster meal with all the sides to the blueberry cake yum You can explore the island, a drink from the bar, and the best photo ops for memories and a great boat ride back to the mainland. This us an every year trip whether we have company or not. Highly recommend

I’ve also been visiting Cabbage Island and Boothbay Harbor since I was a little kid the summer of 1967. My parents went on an adventure to Maine camping and we somehow made our way to this party on Cabbage Island. I remember well how I didn’t like sea food and a scoffed at the sight of a clam on a previous eating experience. We did a lot of picnicking in the summer months on the weekends and this was our first attempt at camping. I think our intent was a Bar Harbor trip but while we were in Old Orchard Beach someone told my dad about a camping place right outside of Boothbay called the Ponderosa. Since it was a lesser drive he was all for it. I remember waking up in the back seat of the car and my older sister and younger brother were still sleeping. My father was parked beside a log cabin near a wooded area. It was almost dark. I looked through the side car window and I could see an older man, kind of skinny and had a wrinkly face with a patch over his eye. He leaned his head in the window and smiled and looked at me and smiled again. This black bird came out of nowhere and landed on his shoulder and scared my mom. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, thought I had Long John Silver standing in front of me. He introduced himself as the owner and check us in. We ended up staying there for three days. The owner recommended the Cabbage Island Clambake so the following day my father got the tickets and we took the boat out to the island. It was a lot of fun. I remember how members of the staff use to go from table to table and introduce themselves and with a megaphone announce where the people sitting at the table were from. Then came the food. I don’t exactly remember what I ate but I do remember the chowder and how great it tasted, I either went back for seconds or I ate my sisters portion. I think that’s all I had. My mom and dad ate my lobster. I didn’t care. I was too young to understand that eating experience. On our way back the captain announced that we had to take the express route back to port because there was a storm on the way. We all sat on the deck of the boat as the waves crashed into the bow and came over and splashed us like we were cutting the ocean in troubled waters. The following day the owner of the Ponderosa let my dad borrow a clamming fork. That was the tool that made the difference for me. I watched him dig in the mud for three hours and he came back with bucket upon buckets of clams enough for the entire campsite could enjoy. And we did until the late evening. It’s funny how I don’t remember the ride back to the Berkshires but I do remember my trip to Cabbage Island and the spectacular time in Boothbay and Cabbage Island.
Today the Cabbage Island Clambake is the same kind of picnic except for the megaphone and the crashing waves. I suggest it to anybody that likes an old fashion picnic.

As a native Mainer I’ve been visiting Cabbage Island and Boothbay Harbor since I was a little kid! If your visiting ME and want a true authentic clam/​lobster bake experience make the trek to Cabbage Island! Just an hour north of Portland!!!
Chowdah
Steamers
Corn, baked potato
2 steamed lobstahs!
Don’t forget the beautiful ferry tour of the harbor!
All for just $ 60! You seriously can’t beat that!
Didn’t give 5 stars JUST because it seemed to be slightly difficult to get ahold of anyone in the office to make a reservation. It would be nice to have an online reservation option.
Seriously one of the coolest experiences, please take the time to visit this beautiful part of the state and enjoy some lobstah!

Never thought I’d have a chance to visit a private island in Maine but Cabbage Island was tmy chance. And the Moore family couldn’t have been any nicer or more hospitable.
Nice boat ride on the Benny Alice from Pier 6 but was hard to hear the narration even close to the speakers. Saw lighthouses on Burnt Island and Ram Island.
Our server was nice to show us how to attack the lobster. But the highlight was meeting matriarch Benny Alice herself!

The trip was absolutely wonderful! The food was so fresh and delicious. We got two lobsters, steamers, a potato, corn on the cob, an egg, an onion, and a blueberry cake. I loved all of the food especially the clams and the blueberry cake. Also, the Moore family was very very friendly. We will definitely come back next time!

What a great day! The cruise out to the island was great, the lobster was the most tender we’d had while here, and it was just a great afternoon on a beautiful day. When we lined up for the meal, my husband and I thought we were sharing the tray: two lobsters and tons of food… but nope! We each got our own two lobsters, clams, potato, corn, egg, onion. It’s a ton of food, but so good and so worth it.

A delightful afternoon with some great people.
While I’m a dedicated Unilocaler, I had been on tripadvisor for just a minute, and seen where this outfit was a top rated thing to do in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. They were right.
This is a family run business, and you get so much for your entertainment and dining dollar. You pay $ 60 per adult, which may sound like a lot, but you take an hour sightseeing cruise of the area and end up on their family’s private island, Cabbage Island. There you can hang out and explore, play horse shoes or volleyball, and you enjoy a fabulous meal in a great setting.
They ring the first bell and you know chowder is ready. It’s a seafood chowder that’s on the thin side, so we loaded up our cups with oyster crackers and it was really good. We were fine with iced tea, but they had adult beverages you could have enjoyed for an upcharge. You get to visit with your fellow table mates if you wish, or you can slide off to yourselves… they had ample indoor and outdoor seating.
They ring a second bell, and you head down towards the beach to pick a tray LOADED with your dinner. Not one, but two lobsters, a dozen clams, baked potato, corn on the cob, onion, and an egg. Why an egg, you ask? Your server explains that when New Englanders were doing clambakes on the beach without the obviously perfected timing and temperature this family has… they put a few eggs on top of the lobsters and clams they were steaming. When you thought things were about ready, you cracked an egg and if that was cooked, then everything underneath was cooked, too. Cool, huh?
You think you can’t possibly eat two lobsters… but once you get crackin’, it’s amazing how you really can when you’re in the moment. Great good, beautiful setting, and then a fun boat ride back to Boothbay after you’ve had a chance to explore the island again.
As the Unilocal rating states, this is as good as it gets!

My wife and I saw this on TV and made it a point to visit this on our trip to Boothbay Harbor. I am not a huge fan of lobster but my wife loves it. You get a great boat ride to the island and then a fabulous clam bake. Chowder, steamers, lobster, potato, onion, egg. And then they top it off with a huge piece of blueberry cake. So worth the money and time. A must if you are staying in Boothbay harbor