The coast of Georgia comprises one-third of the East Coast’s salt marshes, with its barrier islands providing a diverse eco-system. Visitors marvel at the beautiful beaches and expansive Atlantic Ocean, but there is much more nature to enjoy during your Tybee Island vacation.
Get started with a stop at the Tybee Island Marine Center, where you can learn more about the beaches, marshes, ocean, and maritime forests. The center is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday with a $10 admission (children 4 and under get in free). Get in on a beach walk, jelly jive, marsh trek, sift & seine, or other adventure as a fun way to learn about the environment.
The center is also a great place to learn about sea turtle nesting and hatching season, which occurs from late May through early August. Tybee Island Sea Turtle Project volunteers walk the beach every morning looking for turtle tracks. Once tracks are spotted, the nest is located and blocked off with caution tape. For 50 days, volunteers start sitting with the nest at night, awaiting the 100 or so babies that will emerge. Volunteers supervise and protect babies as they make their way to the water. Volunteers wait an additional five days before performing an excavation to allow any late hatchlings to emerge naturally.
Another way to learn more about the region is with Savannah Coastal Eco-Tours. Boat tours leave from Isle of Hope Marina on Bluff Drive, an historic area along the Skidaway River.
Traveling through the sounds and rivers presents a unique perspective of marshes. Passengers have sighted bottlenose dolphins, bald eagles, osprey, and other wildlife. Explore Dead Man Hammock, a shell rake island, and travel through narrow creeks and vast vistas. The company also takes boat tours to Wassaw and Ossabaw islands.
Or paddle the rivers and creeks that wind through the marshlands aboard a kayak tour to either Marsh Creek or Ebenezer Creek.
If you prefer to keep your feet on terra firma, book an outing with Tybee Beach Ecology Trips. Scientist/biologist Dr. Joe Richardson will take your group beach combing, exploring tide pools and pulling a 50-foot beach seine net to catch and examine fish and other species before turning them loose.
Or kick back at your perfect beach property and discover what’s right outside the door.