Sand Crab

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Sand Crab
Released	19 May 2016 (Update)
Members	Yes
Combat level	15
Size	1x1
Examine	No one likes crabs...
League region
Combat info
XP bonus	+0%
Max hit	1
Aggressive	No
Poisonous	No
Attack style	Crush
Attack speed	4 ticks (2.4 seconds)
Respawn time	50 ticks (30 seconds)
Slayer info
Slayer level	None
Slayer XP	60 xp
Category	Crabs
Assigned by
Combat stats
Aggressive stats
Melee defence
Magic defence
+0	20% weakness
Ranged defence
Immunities
Poison	Not immune
Venom	Not immune
Cannons	Immune
Thralls	Not immune
	Open in DPS calculator
Advanced data
Monster ID	5935,7206
Link	MOID

This article has a Slayer task guide here.

Information comparing locations for Slayer tasks will be on this page.

Sand Crabs are aggressive monsters that look like harmless sandy rocks while disguised, but attack when walked by. They are found along the southern coast in Hosidius, Crabclaw Caves, Crabclaw Isle, Isle of Souls, and Avium Savannah. The dwarf multicannon cannot be used against them. Uniquely, the crabs found in Outer Fortis (south of the Fortis Colosseum) spawn in their active state, and are not aggressive towards players.

Killing a Sand Crab is a task in the Easy Kourend & Kebos Diary.

Locations

Location	Levels	Spawns	Map	League region
Avium Savannah - southern coast	15	47	Show map	Varlamore✓
Crabclaw Caves	15	14	Show map	Kourend✓
Crabclaw Isle	15	47	Show map	Kourend✓
East of the Hosidius vinery	15	22	Show map	Kourend✓
Hosidius - southern coast	15	56	Show map	Kourend✓
Isle of Souls	15	18	Show map	Misthalin✓
Outer Fortis	15	10	Show map	Varlamore✓
Tear of the Soul	15	8	Show map	N/A
Wintumber Island	15	11	Show map	N/A

Transportation

Recommended Sand Crab spots are located both on the southern coast of Hosidius.

Note that the sand crabs near Outer Fortis spawn in crab mode instead of spawning as boulders, meaning they are unaggressive and thus unsuitable for combat training.

Avium Savannah

If you've never been to Varlamore before, the only method of reaching the Avium Savannah is to travel to the east of Varrock and travel to Civitas illa Fortis using Primio. This requires the completion of Children of the Sun. Once in Civitas illa Fortis, travel directly south to the beach, then travel west to find the Sand Crabs.

If Twilight's Promise has been completed, players can travel close to the coast with the Quetzal Transport System using Renu, who is located in the centre of Civitas illa Fortis, close to Primo and the Civitas illa Fortis Teleport location. Use Renu to travel to Sunset Coast or the Colossal Wyrm, which places the player near the beach.

Hosidius

If you've never been to Great Kourend before, there is only one method of reaching the beach containing most of the sand crabs: go to Port Sarim and speak to Veos (he is found on the north-east platform). Travel to Port Piscarilius and run all the way south to the beach (use the world map as you go along to avoid getting lost). It's a good idea to bring weight-reducing gear and bank any heavy items that bring your weight above 0.0 kg (lower actually doesn't make a difference in your run drain rate), as there is a bank chest in the centre of the beach.

Other players have several ways to get to there.

Likely the fastest method, if your house is in Hosidius, is to simply teleport outside your house and run south. You could also use scrolls of redirection on house teleport tablets (still requires 25 Construction) to teleport outside the portal if your house is located elsewhere.
The second fastest method by a small margin is Tithe Farm minigame teleport, which puts you directly north of the beach. This method is quick and free, but requires you to have entered Tithe Farm at least once and thus requires 34 Farming.
Another very fast method is to use the Lovakengj Minecart Network destination "Hosidius South", provided that you have a quick way of reaching one of the other minecarts. Quick ways to access it are aplenty, including: Rada's blessing (any) woodlands teleport (fastest), Kharedst's memoirs or Book of the dead teleport to Lovakengj or Hosidius, Arceuus Library Teleport, Skills necklace to the Farming Guild, or "Xeric's Honour" on Xeric's talisman. Note that without having completed The Forsaken Tower, a trip will cost 20 coins.

Other, somewhat slower methods include:

Use the fairy ring code AKR and run south-west.
Use Xeric's talisman to teleport nearby using the teleport marked "Xeric's Glade".
Use the skills necklace to teleport to the Woodcutting Guild then run east.

Strategy

Sand Crabs effectively serve as an alternative to Rock Crabs and enable AFK training due to their clusters in some spots, with little attention needed to train on them. Sand Crabs have 10 more Hitpoints than Rock Crabs and are otherwise identical in stats and behaviour, with clusters of multiple Sand Crabs next to each other in some spots, numbering 4 or more surrounding several spots on Crabclaw Isle. Players wishing to train on Crabclaw Isle must bring 10,000 coins and may also find these spots to be occupied. A recommended alternative are the Sand Crabs on the Avium Savannah in Varlamore, which face much less competition compared to the Sand Crabs in Hosidius.

Like all other crabs, sand crabs start off aggressive but will become tolerant of the player after ten minutes. As they must be active in order to be fought, players must reset their aggression timer once they become tolerant. To make the crabs aggressive again, exit the surrounding area - roughly the same distance as the diameter of the minimap - and enter again. As they are "dormant" (and cannot be seen on the minimap) until "awoken" by a passing player, Sand Crabs cannot be attacked until they are made aggressive once more.

Ammonite Crabs have likewise mostly replaced Sand Crabs. Ammonite Crabs have 100 Hitpoints and level 1 in all other stats, like the other crabs, but have slightly different mechanics; they are spaced far apart, but also have a greater range of aggression. However, there are more available spots to attack Sand Crabs.

There is an altar somewhat nearby the Sand Crabs in Hosidius, so it may be advisable to recharge Prayer at this altar whenever resetting their aggression. Players planning to do so would do well to bring equipment with good Prayer bonuses. Additionally, for non-ironmen players, 55 Prayer unlocks Preserve and allows potions to last longer while training AFK.

Due to the absence of aggression from the sand crabs found in Outer Fortis, they are not suitable for AFK training, as the player will need to manually attack each crab, and the area is single-way combat, so the player may not tag multiple crabs and then step away.

The larger sand crab counterpart, King Sand Crabs, are located in the Catacombs of Kourend and the Crabclaw Caves. King Sand Crabs only share similarities in name, appearance, and in being dormant until walked near; they are powerful in offensive and defensive stats.

Drops

Drop rates are estimated based on 2,239,707 samples from the Drop Rate Project, unless otherwise cited.

The average Sand Crab kill is worth 54.15.

Weapons and armour

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
	Bronze pickaxe	1	6/128	99	0
	Iron pickaxe	1	5/128	211	84

Coins

Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
Coins	4	29/128	4	4
Coins	8	6/128	8	8
Coins	36	8/128	36	36

Seaweed

Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
Seaweed	1	4/128	7	1
Seaweed	2	4/128	14	2
Seaweed	5	2/128	35	5
Edible seaweed	2	2/128	62	2

Ore

Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
Tin ore	3	4/128	42	3
Iron ore	1	2/128	80	10
Coal	2	2/128	318	54
Copper ore	3	2/128	42	3

Oyster

Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
Oyster	1	9/128	39	120
Oyster	2	12/128	78	240
Empty oyster	1	3/128	Not sold	3
Empty oyster	3	1/128	Not sold	9
Oyster pearl	1	1/128	30	67

Other

Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
Nothing	N/A	13/128	N/A	N/A
Bucket of sand	1	6/128	7	1
Opal bolt tips	5	2/128	130	20
Fishing bait	10	2/128	50	10
Spinach roll	1	1/128	237	0
Casket	1	1/128	1,050	30

Gem drop table

There is a 1/128 chance of rolling the gem drop table.

Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
Nothing	N/A	1/256.47; Never^{[d 1]}	N/A	N/A
Uncut sapphire	1	1/512; 1/260^{[d 2]}	284	15
Uncut emerald	1	1/1,024; 1/520^{[d 2]}	541	30
Uncut ruby	1	1/2,048; 1/1,040^{[d 2]}	1,221	60
Chaos talisman	1	1/5,461.33; 1/2,773.33^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}	217	2
Nature talisman	1	1/5,461.33; 1/2,773.33^{[d 2]}^{[d 3]}	224	2
Uncut diamond	1	1/8,192; 1/4,160^{[d 2]}	2,752	120
Rune javelin	5	1/16,384; 1/8,320^{[d 2]}	965	1,200
Loop half of key	1	1/16,384; 1/8,320^{[d 2]}	10,458	60
Tooth half of key	1	1/16,384; 1/8,320^{[d 2]}	10,470	60
Rune spear	1	1/262,144; 1/15,600^{[d 2]}^{[d 4]}	11,887	12,480
Shield left half	1	1/524,288; 1/31,200^{[d 2]}^{[d 4]}	65,082	66,000
Dragon spear	1	1/699,050.67; 1/41,600^{[d 2]}^{[d 4]}	39,041	37,440

^ The "nothing" drop is removed while wearing a ring of wealth.
^ ^2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 The drop rate is increased while wearing a ring of wealth due to the "nothing" drop being removed.
^ ^3.0 ^3.1 The talisman dropped depends on where the player is located (map); typically, a nature talisman will drop above ground level and a chaos talisman will drop underground.
^ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Only dropped if Legends' Quest has been finished; if not, a talisman is dropped instead.

Tertiary

	Item	Quantity	Rarity	Price	High Alch
	Clue scroll (easy)	1	1/128^{[d 1]}^{[d 2]}^[1]	Not sold	12

^ The easy clue scroll drop rate increases to 1/121 after unlocking the easy Combat Achievements rewards tier.
^ Clue scrolls will drop as scroll boxes after the completion of X Marks the Spot.

Changes

Date	Changes
25 June 2025 (Update)	Sand Crabs now have a 20% elemental weakness to earth spells.
26 March 2025 (Update \| poll)	Crabs can now be assigned as a Slayer task by Mazchna, Vannaka, and Chaeldar.

Trivia

The sand crabs at Outer Fortis uniquely spawn as themselves rather than as sandy rocks.

References

^ Jagex. Mod Tide's Twitter account. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Mod Tide: "I know its been a while since the clue expansion but here is the information on clue scroll drop rates and loot chances! If anything changes I will keep you posted."

[nothing-1] The "nothing" drop is removed while wearing a ring of wealth.

[row-2] 2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 The drop rate is increased while wearing a ring of wealth due to the "nothing" drop being removed.

[talisman-3] 3.0 ^3.1 The talisman dropped depends on where the player is located (map); typically, a nature talisman will drop above ground level and a chaos talisman will drop underground.

[legend-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Only dropped if Legends' Quest has been finished; if not, a talisman is dropped instead.

[6] The easy clue scroll drop rate increases to 1/121 after unlocking the easy Combat Achievements rewards tier.

[box-7] Clue scrolls will drop as scroll boxes after the completion of X Marks the Spot.

[Clue_rates_tweet-5] Jagex. Mod Tide's Twitter account. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Mod Tide: "I know its been a while since the clue expansion but here is the information on clue scroll drop rates and loot chances! If anything changes I will keep you posted."

[d 1]

[d 2]

[d 3]

[d 4]

[d 1]

[d 2]

[1]

v t e Crabclaw Caves
NPCs	Artur Hosidius
Monsters	King Sand Crab Sand Crab Sand Snake