The Crab Quest arrived in Old School RuneScape on September 8, 2026, alongside the Sailing expansion, giving members another short adventure to tackle on the high seas. This intermediate quest has no combat encounters and focuses instead on exploration, puzzles, gathering, and helping a group of crabs complete an unusual musical ritual. Along the way, you’ll earn Sailing and Fishing XP and unlock one of the strangest social rewards in OSRS. If you’re trying to speed up your progression, managing your OSRS gold wisely matters too, and players looking for ways to buy RS gold or find can use extra currency to prepare for other Sailing content.
Crab Quest Requirements
Crab Quest is designed as a short, intermediate-level members quest, but you’ll need to meet its Sailing and Fishing requirements before you can begin.
40 Sailing
30 Fishing
Members only
No combat required
Required item: Large Fishing Net, which you can obtain during the quest
The biggest hurdle is the 40 Sailing requirement, so make sure your Sailing progression is already far enough along before setting course for the quest location.
Crab Quest Walkthrough
1. Head to Dognose Island
Start by sailing to Dognose Island, located northwest of Great Conch.
Once you reach the beach, interact with the strange bottle and drink from it. This triggers the opening sequence and sends you into the next part of the adventure.
2. Meet the Crab
After passing out and waking up, speak to the nearby crab.
You’ll learn that a special crab ritual is about to take place, but one crab needs an instrument before it can become the ritual leader. Your first major objective is therefore to collect nine shells around the island.
3. Build the Crab's Instrument
Once you've gathered all nine shells, you'll discover that your musical crab has one major problem—it doesn't know how to play an instrument.
Head to the northern side of the island and pick up the Large Fishing Net.
Then travel to the southeastern beach and use the net on the floating debris. You’ll collect:
Sea-Soaked Bowstring
Broken Wooden Barrel
Weathered Rosewood Plank
Combine the appropriate materials to create the instrument, then give it to the crab.
You’ll also need to name the instrument and demonstrate how to play it before continuing.
4. Find All 12 Crabs
Your next objective is to locate 12 crabs hiding around the island, particularly near trees and bushes.
Some crabs are frightened and won't immediately appear. When that happens, use the Sit emote and wait for a moment. The crab should eventually reveal itself.
The crab hidden near the Magic Tree takes significantly longer to appear, so don't assume the quest is bugged if you're waiting longer than expected.
Two crabs also require you to select the correct dialogue answers.
For the counting puzzle, choose:
1 → 2 → 3 → 10 → 100 years → Beach
For the final question, select:
“How could I possibly know that?”
Getting these dialogue choices right will save you from unnecessary backtracking.
5. Return to the Beach
Once you've found all 12 crabs, return to the beach and wait for the other characters to arrive.
A cutscene will then play, with the crabs performing their newly prepared music. The ritual reaches its conclusion, and two crabs finally realize their feelings for each other.
Quest complete!
Crab Quest Rewards
Completing the quest gives you several useful progression rewards:
1 Quest Point
10,000 Sailing XP
3,000 Fishing XP
Shell collection
The shell reward is easily the most unusual part.
The collection can be separated into seven individual shells, which can be used to play musical notes that other nearby players can hear.
That makes this more than a simple cosmetic reward. If you enjoy social activities, roleplaying, or showing off unusual items in crowded areas, the shell instrument gives you a fun way to stand out.
Crab Quest Tips
Check your requirements first. You need 40 Sailing and 30 Fishing before starting, so don't make the trip to Dognose Island only to discover you're underleveled.
Be patient with the Magic Tree crab. Its appearance timer is noticeably longer than the others.
Remember the dialogue answers. The counting puzzle and final question have specific correct responses.
Don't overlook the shell reward. Unlike most quest rewards, these shells can actually create music that other players can hear.
Final Verdict
Crab Quest may be short, but it adds another quirky little adventure to OSRS's growing Sailing experience. There’s no difficult boss fight or complicated combat setup—instead, the quest rewards exploration, patience, puzzle solving, and a willingness to embrace RuneScape's weird side.
If you've already reached the Sailing requirement, there's little reason to skip it. The XP rewards are useful, the quest point is welcome, and the shell instrument gives you a genuinely unique way to interact with other players.
