Carlsbad Aquafarm

I’ve driven by here for years not realizing what wonders existed hidden away in the lagoon — and I still wouldn’t know had I not attended the «Cooking with Jason» Unilocal event that was held here.
Tom and his crew are doing a great job of not only raising a viable market product, but they are providing a huge benefit to the environment at the same time by growing the shellfish that they do.
Oysters, muscles, and scallops with many other plans for future expansion. During our visit, they were kind enough to give us a tour which was absolutely spectacular seeing the behind the scenes magic to their operations. Their facility is state of the art and provides and great sustainable — safe — product to the customers.
The facility is not open to the public, but if you get a chance to visit I highly recommend it. Keep an eye out for their products as they have some of the best oysters and muscles that I’ve tasted in a long time.

Good God their oysters are so phenomenal! That’s all I’ve had from here but they’re so briny and firm and just the perfect size, it’s ridiculous. I had them at King’s Fish House and they were amazing.

My first exposure to their oysters and man, they were delicious! Definitely will be going back for more!
Thank you!

Went yesterday to the Carlsbad Farmers Market just for the oysters from the reviews i read on Unilocal and other places. Cringe.
The lady selling them was very very nice. only had one kind left though the sign showed two different. She had sold out she said of the others.
I purchased two bags for 20 plus dollars and was told they would be good til Sunday. I replied that they were going to be eaten way sooner.
upon opening them, two sides of the inner shell had small smears of something.
It was a joke. I must have bought the experiment or samples… hahaha
They were so underdeveloped? I have never seen oysters this small and so liquid-​y?
I took pics… will try to post.
Each one shucked got worse. It was like I purchased shells with trace amounts of salty jell. I was laughing at the situation.
I’d say they were no more than a teaspoon if one would pour them into a measure spoon.
If this is the product that comes out of Carlsbad Aqua farms I would tell everyone to keep their money and keep on looking.
Not only I am disappointed,
I feel very ripped off.
gave one star cause o stars are not an option.
I really think I got a bum deal from the rest of the raving reviews we seem to be speaking two different languages.

Picked up a bag of mussels at the Carlsbad farmer’s market. Had them for dinner tonight and they were delicious. Tender, meaty, fresh tasting. I’m partial to New Zealand green lipped but may have just been converted.
The guy that sold them to us was friendly, helpful and informative about the mussels and the oysters which we’ll be getting next time. Price is super reasonable~ 2lb bag mussels was $ 10.
I’d definitely recommend Carlsbad Aqua Farms and will be buying from them again.

Socal is not the hotbet other parts of the world are for oysters, but personally i love them. I’m particularly interested in the Atlantic oysters because the waters are less salty and it allows the true flavor to shine through.
It’s kind of like sushi, most people start with California rolls then move to more adventurous items before nigiri, sashimi. Oysters are the same way. Often people prefer the saltier brinier to mask the creamy sweet mollusk.
The specialty here is the Carlsbad blondes. Smaall, briney and creamy. A little meaty for the size. Luna’s are less salty and more generic, not specific to the area.
What you should be coming here for is the mussels. Most people like the PEI or New Zealand Green lips due to size, but honestly these smaller versions are just as meaty, way fresher and cheaper, so this is the only way to go if you live around here.
Don’t worry about the power plant, it’s not nuclear as some think.
When your dealing direct the prices are cheaper, but they are not an end user business so be prepared to drop some real money to get quite a bit of real seafood.
CALL AHEAD.
They sell their food packaged at the local farmers markets in the area, specificity Carlsbad. They will shuck on site there.
The only farm i know of in San Diego. You’ll love them because you know them and can trust them.
I would stop by here on my way up from Catalina Offshore Products to complete my seafood feasts for me and my family.

Learned and fell in love with Oyster Farms in NorCal through a friend. I never liked oysters until that special day.
I can down 50+ oysters.
I tried to find an oyster farm down here in SoCal but so far no luck. This place is as close as one can get.
They are located near the nuclear power plan in Carlsbad. It’s open to the public if you call ahead during the weekdays with minimum order of $ 100. You can’t eat it there though because of security (nuclear power plan people).
You can find them at the farmer’s market. Orange and Santa Monica are the two places I found them.
Drool. Oysters. Eat it.

I’ve bought these 3 for $ 5 at the Carlsbad Farmer’s Market. Delicious. You feel like you are eating the sea. Bought some to take home and as I live alone was very pleased at how long they stayed fresh and good.

We receive 5 dozen of these little lovelies a week at the Coyote Grill. They are harvested the day that we order them and never have had a problem. They are always fresh, plump, salty, and delicious. They are always on time and reliable. Thank you!!!

Found these guys on Sunday at the hillcrest farmers market. I also asked and they do the Carlsbad farmers market on Wednesday and Saturday and they do little Italy on Saturday
This place needs more love. 3 shucked oysters go for 5 bucks. They don’t shuck the blondes but the lunas only.
They look small but the inside is juicy as heck.
Buy a dozen to take home? 10 bucks. Worth it for me. I bought some blondes just to see what it is like. Yes a lot more creamy and a lil smaller but not by much. My only issue is that the blondes are much saltier than the lunas. In any case I prefer the Luna.
I’ll be a repeat customer for sure. Their stuff is great.

We picked up a bag of mussels at the Normal Street farmers’ market on Sunday for eight bucks and had them for dinner Monday night. Holy cow! These mussels were absolutely perfect — plump, moist, great fresh flavor. A little white wine, a little butter, some chopped shallot and garlic, a Bread & Cie half-​baked baguette finished off in the oven at home — it doesn’t get any better than this. Can’t wait til next Sunday!

Amazing and affordable selection of oysters.
They usually have 2 – 3 varieties for sale.
So fresh that they were in the water 24hours ago.
You can get a dozen for $ 10 at the Santa Monica FM (Sat) and Hollywood FM (Sun) for those in the LA area.
A bag of ice and a cooler will help transport them home for some delicious eats.

I’m never going anywhere without my shucker again!!! I can’t wait until they open up a retail store at the farm. You can’t get oysters there unless you buy at least 100. Too bad, I didn’t bring my oyster buddies along. You can buy a dozen oysters for ten bucks at the Carlsbad farmer’s market! And since the market is only a short drive away, the oysters are super fresh. At the booth, they said the oysters were just taken out of the water. The guy was super cool and he gave me a brief demo on how to properly shuck an oyster. I paid a little bit more to have him shuck them since I didn’t have any tools with me. Ah, the booth also had condiments like Tapatio, tabasco, and horse radish. One packet of tapatio is enough for six oysters (felt bad I grabs so many). The beach was only a couple of blocks away so i sat down at enjoyed my oysters.
These oysters are so clean and they don’t have that metallic taste. The oysters are put in filtering tank two days before they are taken out. There are two types, Del Sols – freshwater (i think thats what it’s called) and Lunas-​saltwater. The weird part is the salt water ones not really salty as the fresh water ones. I recommend the lunas if you had to narrow it down.
Overall– 4.5 stars

OYSTERS are still amazing (also still sweet, briny and very clean).
and, as it turns out, the MUSSELS are also very good lightly steamed in a THAI RED COCONUT CURRY (with a crusty baguette for sopping up leftover broth).
i’m at the CARLSBAD FARMER’s MARKET every week anyway. CARLABAD AQUA FARMS makes the trip that much more worthwhile !!!

I can’t believe I’m the first one to write about these amazing people! These guys are the BEST with the mussels and although I’ve not had them the boyfriend can attest to their Oysters too.
The mussels are the freshest and most flavorful I’ve ever had. I almost don’t trust anyone else!
We always get ours from The Hollywood Farmers Market and the people are so nice too.
You will NEVER be sad when you go to these guys!

These guys are awesome. I always scoop up two oysters when I hit the SM farmers market, shop for all my groceries, then grab a bag for home on the way out. I’m an east coast oyster junkie, and these oysters are awesome! Plus the people working at Carlsbad are as nice and helpful as it gets. If you see a Carlsbad stand, stop and shop, and EAT! and dont worry about any line, these guys shuck pretty fast ;-)

If you see these people’s stand at one of your local farmer’s markets, stay away.
Although the amazing-​looking fresh shellfish, friendly people and incredibly reasonable prices might beckon you, run.
Don’t go near them.
Because if you do, then they might run out of delicious locally grown amazingly fresh cheap shellfish and then I won’t get any.
And then I’ll hate you.
But I’ll always love Carlsbad Aqua Farms.
I always take the recommendation from the lovely and wonderful lady who runs the stand at Hollywood’s Sunday farmer’s market about which oyster is the best that week, and then I run right home and eat them raw.
I’ve never been disappointed by anything I’ve purchased from them, and now they sell that tasty red seaweed that’s so yummy in miso soup.
Stay away, do you hear? They’re MINE!
ALL MINE!