Why No Bananas on a Boat?

The Origins of the Superstition

Ask any offshore captain why bananas aren't welcome on deck and you'll get a knowing look before the explanation. It's one of fishing's oldest, stickiest superstitions — and unlike most sea lore, this one has a documented practical backstory, not just folklore.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, as the banana trade between Latin America and ports in the U.S. and Europe took off, whole stalks were loaded into cargo holds green, hands and all. Straight off tropical plantations, those stalks sometimes carried unwelcome stowaways — spiders and snakes tucked among the leaves — and crew handling the cargo occasionally got bitten.

Lethal Spriders & Venomous Stowaways

Harvesting bananas in the tropical plantations of Central and South America involved cutting down massive, dense bunches of fruit. These humid, overlapping banana bunches were the perfect natural shelter for some of the world's most dangerous creatures.

Chief among these was the infamous **Brazilian Wandering Spider** (species *Phoneutria*), colloquially known as the "banana spider." These large, aggressive, and highly venomous arachnids would nest deep within the fruit bunches. When the bananas were loaded into confined cargo holds, the spiders came along for the ride.