Short answer: Brixham's harbour is a working fishing port with quay walls all round it — the most interesting crabbing spot in Devon simply because there is always something happening. Fishcombe Cove is the quieter alternative, a short coastal walk away.
Plenty of Devon towns have a harbour. Brixham has a harbour where trawlers still land, the fish market still operates and the quay is busy at hours when nowhere else is. For crabbing that matters: there is always something for the adults to watch, and the water below the wall is genuinely alive.
The quay walls around the inner harbour are the spot, with the Golden Hind replica moored in the middle and the coloured houses stacked up the hillside behind. Pubs and eateries line two sides of it. Parking is tight — the three-hour car parks fill fast — so arrive early or accept a walk in.
The quieter alternative. A small hidden bay reached by a short coastal walk from the harbour through the Battery Gardens, with a beach café and toilets on site and often nobody there. Dog friendly. The hill down is steep, which is the trade.
Half a mile of flat, level walkway out to a lighthouse, with a low wall on the seaward side and benches along it. It is not a classic crabbing wall — the water is deeper and more open — but it is free, easy underfoot for anyone with mobility difficulties, and the seals come close in. Worth the walk whatever else you do.
A rising tide, and early. Brixham harbour in the morning while the boats are working is a different place to Brixham harbour at two in the afternoon in August.
A line rather than a net, a bucket, and bait. Bacon is the traditional choice and works; so does squid from the fishmonger. Fill the bucket with seawater before you start and keep it in the shade.
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