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Come May, however, it鈥檚 time to travel to 鈥� home to the country鈥檚 best oysters owing to the crisp, clean, nutrient-rich water surrounding the province 鈥� and get slurping once again.

The island鈥檚 history of oyster fishing dates back to the traditional harvesting practices of the Mi鈥檏maq but gained global fame only in 1900. That鈥檚 when P.E.I. oysters travelled to the Exposition Universelle, a world鈥檚 fair in Paris, where they were declared the tastiest in the land. Queen Victoria was apparently a huge fan.

There was much celebrating in Charlottetown that year, but just over a decade later the majority of the island鈥檚 oysters were killed off by disease. Those that survived were from Malpeque Bay and were used to seed the rest of the island. That鈥檚 why, although they may boast names like Pickle Points and Avonlea Petites, all P.E.I. oysters 鈥� sweet, pure, briny 鈥� are considered Malpeques.

Tyne Valley, a tiny rural community on Malpeque Bay, with a population of around 225 and its own oyster festival every summer, is an especially delicious place to start your shellfish-themed P.E.I. tour.

At , you can pull up a chair at Jeff Noye鈥檚 oyster bar and restaurant, which he built by hand above the oyster processing plant overlooking the sparkling bay. Here, the champion shucker will assemble trays of the freshest oysters you鈥檒l ever have, just pulled from the shallows within view. You鈥檒l want to slurp them back as fast as he can shuck them, which is very fast indeed.

Elsewhere on the island, culinary tourists can follow easy-to-spot signs dotting the coastal routes 鈥� it鈥檚 almost impossible to get lost. The , for example, is known as the Canadian Oyster Coast, and during a leisurely drive you鈥檒l spot oysters on the roadside markers, directing you toward a shucking great road trip.

For the finest-dining take on P.E.I. oysters, you鈥檒l have to plan ahead to snag a seat. People travel to the island just to eat at FireWorks, the extremely popular restaurant at . The FireWorks Feast, a singular farm-to-table experience held nightly in the summer and fall, includes a welcome toast by chef/proprietor Michael Smith that鈥檚 like a prayer to the bounty and the night.

Then the Oyster Hour begins, with fresh shucked oysters, incredible ember-roasted oysters with lovage butter, hors d鈥檕euvres and cocktails in the garden. Your one task is leaving room for the multi-course, live-fire-cooked dinner that follows, served family-style inside.

For a more casual (but no less delightful) setting, is also well worth a stop. At the small market/fishery, you can learn the history of local oysters while tasting the island鈥檚 best bivalves on a plate, then visit postcard-perfect sites nearby, like Brackley Beach and Covehead Harbour Lighthouse in Prince Edward Island National Park.

Back in Charlottetown, more oysters await at the city鈥檚 mollusk-forward restaurants, including and the iconic . You can enjoy even more oysters at , along with the craft brewery鈥檚 blueberry ale.

Through it all, you may squeeze countless lemon wedges, use a few shakes of hot sauce and perhaps even spoon on some mignonette sauce. But arguably the best way to eat fresh oysters on Prince Edward Island is to leave them raw, naked and unadulterated. Because when something is this pure and perfect, it needs nothing but an open mind and a big old slurp.

Amy Rosen is a Toronto-based food and travel writer and author of the upcoming novel 鈥�.鈥� She travelled as a guest of Tourism PEI, which did not review or approve this article.