Catch Your Own Dinner on a Maine Lobster Cruise

At one point or another, nearly every tourist to visit Maine has stood in front of a lobster tank and - either confidently or timidly - pointed out the unlucky lobster that will soon become their dinner. But the journey from the saltwater tank to the dinner table is only half the story. Now, visitors to Maine can get the full experience, setting out on a lobster boat into Casco Bay, pulling up traps, and taking their catch home or to a dockside restaurant for immediate steaming and consumption.

Lucky Catch Cruises leaves the Commercial Street docks near Portland's popular Old Port district five times a day from Memorial Day through Columbus Day weekend for unique lobster cruises. Each trip lasts roughly an hour-and-a-half and gives visitors a chance to learn first-hand what lobstering is all about.

Cruisers can get as involved as they like - participating in the heavy lifting of hauling traps, or sitting back to watch and learn while enjoying the unmatched scenery of the Maine coast. But every passenger learns about the process of bringing Maine's most famous resource up from the bottom of the ocean and straight to dinner tables. The cruise includes a running tutorial on everything you'd want to know about lobsters - their habitat, the lobster fishing industry, and common terms like "cull," "hardshells" and "shedders."

There are three different cruises to choose from. The Portland Head Light Cruise allows tourists to pull lobster traps that are set just offshore from the most famous lighthouse in America. Cameras are a must for this trip. The lighthouse at Portland Head is just one of six you'll pass on your 90-minute cruise. The trip also includes stops hauling traps hard by the Civil War-era military installations at Fort Gorges and Fort Scammel - granite relics along the rocky Maine coast.

The Seal Watch Cruise is a nature-lovers treat. Lucky Catch has traps just off Halfway Rock, home to a colony of harbor seals. Seeing these lovable creatures basking in the sun is almost as sure a thing as hauling in fresh lobster.

The White Head Passage Cruise winds its way in and around three Casco Bay islands, past lighthouses and forts in a trip that is quintessentially Maine from start to finish.

Regardless of which cruise you choose, any lobsters caught while you're on board are available for sale at the low, wholesale "boat" price. You can pack them up and take them home with you for a traditional Maine lobster bake, or toss them into a big pot to boil at your cottage or campground. Maybe catching lobster was enough for you, but cooking seems like too much work when you're on a vacation. If so, once your cruise is over, you can take your lobster across the pier to the Portland Lobster Co. restaurant and make it part of a delicious dockside meal.

Lucky Catch Cruises is located at 170 Commercial Street along the waterfront in Portland, Maine. Cruises depart of regular schedules during the summer months, and according to demand in the spring and fall. Advance reservations are highly recommended.