Maryland's public oyster season opened October 1 and runs through March 31, 2027. Nearly everything about it keeps a working week. Commercial harvest is limited to Monday through Friday. Recreational tongers get Monday through Saturday, from sunrise to noon. Most of the places in Cambridge where local oysters change hands keep business hours that close before the weekend starts.
So if you want a bushel for Saturday, it pays to plan earlier in the week. The rest of this guide covers who sells oysters, on which days, and the few dates on the calendar that don't follow that pattern.
The Water Keeps Weekday Hours, Too
DNR's 2026–27 commercial notice opened shaft tongs, hand tongs, patent tongs and diving on October 1. Power dredges and sail dredges wait until November 1. Every gear type runs through March 31, 2027, and commercial work stays within Monday through Friday. That puts the first dredge day of the season on Sunday, November 1, so the boats will actually start on the following Monday.
Anyone tonging for their own table works under the recreational notice. The limit is 100 oysters per person per day, Monday through Saturday, sunrise to noon. Those rules cover open public grounds only. DNR points harvesters to its current closure maps and notes that some areas close because of pollution or rain. After a heavy storm, a bar that was open last week may be closed this week.
The water nearest Cambridge is in good shape this fall. DNR released its 2021–2025 Oyster Management Review on October 2, 2026. It found the period produced Maryland's highest averages for oyster reproduction, habitat availability and overall biomass in decades. The review ranks the Little Choptank and Harris Creek among the strongest sanctuaries and the Middle Choptank among the top public harvest areas. Sanctuaries stay permanently closed to harvest, except for aquaculture leases. Farm-raised oysters follow lease rules rather than the public-ground calendar, which is why the Cambridge-area farms below appear on a different schedule.
Who Sells, and When They Are Open
Here are the hours listed for this season. Most listings come from Dorchester County Tourism, and several are undated, so call ahead before making a special trip.
| Where | Address | Listed hours | What the listing says |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOOL Ice & Seafood | 110 Washington St. | Mon–Sat, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. | Oysters among year-round seafood; buys directly from local watermen |
| Choptank River Crab & Oyster Co. | 203 Trenton St. | Call for hours | Local seafood market listing oysters |
| Hoopers Island Oyster Co. | 411 Dorchester Ave. | Mon–Fri, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. | Wholesale and direct-to-consumer sales |
| Choptank Oyster Company | Pier near Oxford | Mon–Fri, 7 a.m.–3 p.m., or by appointment | Online orders ready for pickup the next weekday |
| Cambridge Farmers Market | Long Wharf Park | Thursdays, 3–6 p.m., through Nov. 19 | Choptank Oyster Company appears under the county's farmers markets and growers |
Three of the five are open only on weekdays, and one is open only on Thursday afternoons. In the table above, only KOOL shows Saturday hours, and none show Sunday hours.
Thursday Is When the Schedules Overlap
Thursday is the one day of the week when nearly every option above is open at the same time.
Start with Hoopers Island Oyster Co. at 411 Dorchester Avenue, the same address as The Packing House. A VisitMaryland listing names its oysters Chesapeake Golds and Mermaid Kisses. It says shucked pints are available at the Cambridge location on Thursdays and Fridays. That listing is a tourism page, not the company's own announcement, so confirm pint days by phone. Bayside Bistro serves lunch in the same building on Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 3 p.m., according to the county's September 2026 dining guide. That makes Thursday lunch and a pint of shucked oysters one stop.
Choptank Oyster Company, which grows Choptank Sweets, works on a one-day lead time. Locals order online, and the oysters are ready at the pier the next weekday. The pier is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., or by appointment. The checkout page offers local pickup starting at 12 oysters. The company gives the plus code JRGJ+H7 Oxford, Maryland, for its pier. That puts the pickup near Oxford rather than in downtown Cambridge, so allow for the drive. To get oysters on a Friday, order on Thursday.
The Cambridge Farmers Market brings this together at Long Wharf Park. Cambridge Main Street runs it on Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m., and the city calendar gives a closing date of November 19, 2026. The county dining guide prints "May–October" for the same market, and lists Choptank Oyster Company under its farmers markets and growers. The city's operator calendar is the more direct source, so this fall's Thursday markets should run about seven weeks past the wild season's opening. Check at the market before planning around any single vendor.
Saturday and Sunday Take More Planning
Weekend shopping comes down to a short list.
- KOOL Ice & Seafood, 110 Washington Street, lists Saturday hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and says it buys directly from local watermen.
- Simmons Center Market, 600 Race Street, lists Saturday hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The VisitMaryland listing names it as a stockist of Hoopers Island shucked pints.
- Emily's Produce, 2214 Church Creek Road, is listed as open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., May through November. VisitMaryland names it as the other stockist of Hoopers Island pints.
Emily's daily hours make it the only listing here open on Sundays. Its listed season ends in November, and pint availability on a given weekend should be confirmed by phone. From December onward, a Sunday oyster plan means buying on Saturday or earlier.
For tongers, Saturday is the last open morning of the week, and the noon cutoff still applies.
Two Weekend Dates on the Calendar
Two oyster events on the Cambridge calendar fall on weekends.
The first is Oysters & Moonlight on Saturday, October 17, at 1 Mill Street. The Dorchester County Tourism events calendar describes an evening on the waterfront with fresh oysters, food, live music, wine and auctions. It links the event to One Mission Cambridge.
The second is the Cambridge Ice & Oyster Festival, set for Friday and Saturday, January 15 and 16, 2027, and billed as free and family friendly. It runs through downtown from Cannery Way to Blue Ruin. The organizers are the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce and Ice Lab, and the festival advertises local oysters. By mid-January the dredge boats will have been working for more than ten weeks, which makes it the festival's first Saturday and a rare weekend when local oysters are on offer in the middle of downtown.
Between those two dates, ordering a plate of oysters at a restaurant is easy, but finding one that names the farm is harder. Blue Ruin's dinner menu lists Oysters Rockefeller with compound butter, watercress, fennel, shallots, chervil and dry vermouth. The county dining guide lists The Dive Club, 501 Poplar Street, for tiki drinks and a raw bar. Neither source says where those oysters come from, so ask your server.
Craig and Will Linthicum keep track of the working side of Cambridge's waterfront, from piers and marinas to the businesses that keep the Choptank productive. If you're weighing a property where an October morning on the water matters as much as the floor plan, The Linthicum Group can show you how that waterfront works in practice.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
