Step back in time and experience the old village at Tuckerton Seaport (original) (raw)

Updated June 8, 2026, 11:03 a.m. ET

Step back into the past at Tuckerton Seaport, a working maritime village located on the Tuckerton Creek or "crick," as you may hear it pronounced.

This coastal cultural center lies in the heart of historic Tuckerton and is a keeper of the rich maritime and folklife traditions of generations of baymen that worked the waters of the Barnegat, Tuckerton and Great bays.

Visitors can stroll the boardwalk and visit the Seaport's recreated and historic buildings and watercraft to experience what life was once like not just on the creek, but in the larger watershed and nearby towns of the scenic Pine Barrens.

Stop in at the reconstructed Hotel DeCrab. The original hotel, built in 1847, was located at Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island. It was one of the first U.S. Lifesaving Service shelters, and in 1872 was moved to Beach Haven and became a hotel. The DeCrab does not rent rooms these days but houses exhibits instead.

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Next to the hotel is Crest Fishery, where you will find a recreated pound net fishery, an elaborate network of traps that fishermen once placed closed to the beach to capture fish. You can even purchase seafood as they once did at the fishery.

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All along the wharf are clam and oyster houses, a sawmill, a hunting shanty and boat works where you can talk with decoy carvers, boat builders, basket makers and baymen as they work at their craft. Across from the wharf is the Sea Captain's house, which dates to 1855.

You can even take a class or sign your kids up for one to learn traditional skills like making an eel trap basket. The Seaport is alive with demonstrations, interpretive exhibits, classes, events, festivals and live aquatic displays.

Boat tours of the creek are available and a ferry service narrated by a naturalist takes passengers across Little Egg Harbor Bay from Tuckerton to Beach Haven on LBI.

There is plenty to see outside the Seaport as well. Great Bay Boulevard, or Seven Bridges Road as many call it, is just minutes away. There civilization melts away into the Great Bay Wildlife Management Area where you can rent boats to go fishing or launch a kayak to paddle past the old fish factory or an ancient Lenape midden mound.

If You Go

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him at dradel@gannettnj.com.