Solomons Island, Maryland
The Chesapeake waterman’s village most people drive past on the way to the beach — and shouldn’t.
In this guide
01 — Why Solomons Island
Where the Patuxent meets the Chesapeake. Worth the exit.
Solomons Island sits at the very tip of a narrow peninsula in Calvert County, Maryland — where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay, about an hour south of Annapolis and two hours from Washington DC. Most people who drive Route 4 south toward the beach pass the Solomons exit without stopping. That’s a mistake.
The town is small — a few thousand year-round residents, a working waterfront, marinas, the Calvert Marine Museum, and the kind of quiet that a genuine waterman’s village has when it hasn’t been fully discovered by the weekend crowd. We came here because a family friend had a marina on Solomons Island — a former World War II naval amphibious training base that a DC family purchased in 1981 and transformed into one of the Chesapeake’s great marinas. Coming here as a guest — being on the water, seeing the Bay from this particular angle, understanding how a place like this operates — gave us a version of the Chesapeake that most visitors never find.
“Solomons Island is where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay, where working watermen and weekend boaters have always coexisted, and where the town has quietly remained itself through every wave of development that changed everywhere else.”
02 — The marina history
A WWII naval base turned Chesapeake marina.
The property that became Calvert Marina has one of the more remarkable backstories of any marina on the Chesapeake. During World War II, the site served as a naval amphibious training base — a 210-acre installation where soldiers and sailors trained for the amphibious landings that would define the war. After the war, the property passed through various hands before a DC family purchased it in 1981 and began transforming it into the full-service marina it became.
What that history means for visitors today: the marina sits on a genuinely significant piece of American military history, on a piece of land large enough to have its own internal geography. The Patuxent River on one side, Back Creek on another, the Chesapeake opening up to the south.
Calvert Marina today
Calvert Marina at 14485 Dowell Road remains a full-service marina — annual and transient slips, fuel, pump-out, a boat yard, and a café. For boaters coming down the Bay, it’s a well-regarded stop known for its staff and setting on the peninsula between Back Creek and Mill Creek just off the Patuxent River.
03 — The town itself
Small, genuine, Chesapeake through and through.
Solomons Island proper is a compact walkable village — a main street along the waterfront, restaurants and shops facing Back Creek, boats at every dock, and the Drum Point Lighthouse standing in the harbor at the Calvert Marine Museum. The town has the character of a place that knows what it is and doesn’t feel the need to perform it for visitors.
The waterfront
Solomons’ main street runs along Back Creek — restaurants, shops, the museum, and the constant activity of a working harbor. The view across the creek to the marina and out toward the Patuxent is the visual anchor of the whole town.
Drum Point Lighthouse
One of only three surviving screwpile cottage lighthouses on the Chesapeake — moved from its original location in 1975 to the Calvert Marine Museum grounds. A remarkable piece of maritime engineering sitting right in the harbor.
The scale
Solomons is small. You can walk the entire waterfront in twenty minutes. That’s the point — it’s a place you settle into rather than tick off a list of attractions.
04 — Where to stay
Waterfront inns and Bay area rentals.
Waterfront B&B
Back Creek Inn
A well-regarded bed and breakfast on Back Creek — waterfront rooms, private dock, kayaks for guests. Small, personal, genuinely on the water. The quintessential Solomons Island lodging experience.
Best for: couples, those who want the waterfront experience without a resort
Full Service Hotel
Holiday Inn Select Solomons
The largest hotel on the island — waterfront pool, marina views, full service. The practical option for families or anyone who wants standard hotel amenities on the Chesapeake.
Best for: families, those who want predictable amenities
Vacation Rental
Calvert County Waterfront Properties
The broader Calvert County area has genuine vacation rental inventory — waterfront houses on the Patuxent and the Bay with docks and water access.
Best for: families, groups, the full Chesapeake house experience
05 — Where to eat
Chesapeake seafood, waterfront tables, cold beer.
Stoney’s Solomons Pier
The Solomons waterfront institution — steamed crabs, crabcakes, seafood, outdoor deck right on the water. The place that captures the essential Solomons Island meal. Loud, casual, genuinely good.
$$
Angler Restaurant
Waterfront dining with views of Back Creek — fresh local seafood, a full raw bar, the more polished Solomons dining experience. Reservations recommended on summer weekends.
$$$
CD Café
The beloved local breakfast and lunch spot — creative menu, excellent coffee, the morning gathering place for Solomons regulars. Arrive early on weekends.
$
Hidden Harbour
The café on the Calvert Marina grounds — casual waterfront dining for boaters and marina visitors on the Calvert Marina side of the peninsula.
$$
06 — Things to do
On the water, in the museum, and along the waterfront.
Calvert Marine Museum
One of the finest small maritime museums on the East Coast — exhibits on the paleontology, estuarine biology, and maritime history of the Chesapeake. The Drum Point Lighthouse on the grounds is the visual centerpiece. Allow two hours minimum.
Boat on the Patuxent and the Bay
Charter fishing trips, sailing charters, and kayak rentals all depart from Solomons harbor. The view of the peninsula from the water explains why the town is where it is.
Walk the waterfront
From the museum to the restaurants along Back Creek takes twenty minutes at a slow pace. Do it first — before anything else — and the whole town makes sense.
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center
A 30-acre outdoor sculpture garden on a wooded peninsula owned by the Smithsonian Institution. Over 40 permanent sculptures along trails through the forest. A surprising and genuinely excellent find just outside Solomons.
Calvert Cliffs State Park
Twenty minutes north — the famous cliffs that rise above the Chesapeake and yield fossil shark teeth on the beach below. A two-mile trail leads to the beach. Finding a fossilized shark tooth is genuinely likely and genuinely satisfying.
Day trip to Historic St. Mary’s City
Twenty minutes south across the Patuxent — Maryland’s first colonial capital, established 1634. An outdoor living history museum with the replica of the Dove, one of the two ships that brought the first Maryland colonists.
07 — Practical tips
What to know before you go.
Getting there
About 65 miles from Washington DC via Route 4 South — approximately 1.5 hours. Route 4 is the only land approach to the peninsula.
Crab season
Blue crab season runs May through November — peaking in August and September. Outside of season, crabcakes are available but steamed whole crabs is summer and fall only.
It’s genuinely small
Solomons has a year-round population of a few thousand. Come expecting an authentic Chesapeake waterfront experience, not a full-service resort town.
Pair with Annapolis
Solomons pairs naturally with Annapolis — same Chesapeake character, about an hour apart. Together they give you a full picture of Maryland’s relationship with the Bay.
Quick Reference
The Chesapeake town worth the detour.
Most people drive past Solomons Island on Route 4 heading south to the beach. The town at the end of that exit road sits where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay, on a peninsula with more history per acre than almost anywhere in Maryland, with a waterfront that has been doing what waterfront towns do for well over a century.
Take the exit.
Stop for the crabs.
Stay for the museum and the light on the water at dusk.