A First-Timer's Guide to Tybee Island

Tybee Island is the kind of place that benefits from a little context before you arrive. It's not big, it's not flashy, and it's small enough that you can get the wrong idea of it from a single drive down Butler Avenue. This guide is for the person who's heard about Tybee, is thinking about a long weekend, and wants to know what they're getting into before booking.

We'll cover what Tybee is and isn't, when to come, how to get here, the broad shape of what to do and eat, and the five things first-timers consistently miss. Plus what we'd skip.

What Tybee Island is

Tybee is a small barrier island on the Georgia coast — three miles long, half a mile wide, with a population of about 3,000. It's the easternmost point in Georgia, the closest beach to Savannah, and it's been a beach town since the 1880s. The Tybee Island Light Station, built in 1736 and rebuilt several times since, is the oldest lighthouse in the state.

The shape of the place: a single main road (Butler Avenue) runs the length of the island. The beach is on the east (Atlantic Ocean) side. The back river — actually a tidal creek that opens to the Savannah River — is on the west side, where the sunsets happen. The pier is at 16th Street, roughly in the middle. The lighthouse is at the north end. The south end has the quieter beach access points.

That's the whole geography. You can drive end to end in eight minutes.

What Tybee is not

A few things to set expectations:

• Tybee is not Hilton Head. No big resorts. No golf courses on the island itself. No gated communities.
• Tybee is not Destin. Atlantic-side beaches, not Gulf — the water is darker, the sand is finer, the surf is milder.
• Tybee is not Charleston. Less polished, more weathered, fewer fancy restaurants and many more casual ones.
• Tybee is not undiscovered. Summer weekends bring real crowds — parking fills up, restaurants have waits, traffic on US-80 backs up coming and going. Plan accordingly.

What it is: a small, walkable beach town with character, reasonable prices, and 25 minutes from one of the South's great food cities. That's the value proposition.

When to visit

The local consensus: May and October are the best months. The weather is right, the crowds are manageable, and the island feels like itself — not packed, not sleepy.

How to get here

Fly into Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV). It's 22 miles from Tybee, roughly a 35-minute drive. Direct flights from most major East Coast cities and several mid-sized ones.

Rent a car at the airport. There is no Uber, Lyft, or public transit to Tybee. We hear this question constantly and the answer doesn't change: you need a car.

Drive in via US-80. It's the only road in. The drive from downtown Savannah is about 25 minutes through marsh and over a couple of bridges. The view from the Lazaretto Creek bridge — the last bridge before you reach the island — is your first real sense that you've arrived somewhere different.

Driving from Atlanta? About 4.5 hours. From Charlotte, about 4 hours. From Jacksonville, 2 hours. From Orlando, 5 hours.

Where to stay

We're going to be honest: we run an inn. We'd love to host you. We're one block from the beach, one block from the pier, 41 rooms, family-owned, fair prices.

That said, there are other places that might fit your trip. The general rule:

• Within one block of the beach (us, a few others): you can walk everywhere, you don't need to park, this is the easiest version of the trip
• Within two-to-five blocks of the beach: bigger rooms, often cheaper, but you'll be driving or carrying more
• Vacation rentals on the back river: best for groups of 6+, often have private docks, but you're a drive from the action

For a weekend, "within one block of the beach" is the move. The whole point of Tybee is to be close to it.

What to do

The broad categories:

1. The beach. Obviously. North Beach (near the lighthouse) and Mid Beach (near the pier) are the busiest; the south end is quieter.
2. The lighthouse + Fort Pulaski. The two big history stops. Easy half-day each.
3. The pier. Walk it. Fish off it if you want. Watch the dolphins.
4. A dolphin tour. Captain Derek's is the one we recommend. 1.5 hours, guaranteed sightings.
5. Sunset. On the back-river side. (See our guide.)

We have a full Things to Do page if you want the longer list with ratings.

Where to eat

Tybee's food scene is unpretentious. Casual seafood, Southern cooking, beach bars. A few highlights:

• Sundae Cafe — the best Southern food on the island, hidden in a strip mall behind a gas station. Reservations recommended.
• Sunrise Restaurant — locals' breakfast spot, two blocks south of the inn.
• Mi Vida — small healthy cafe for breakfast and lunch, two blocks down Butler.
• A-J's Dockside — sunset dinner on the back river.
• Bubba Gumbo's — Cajun-leaning seafood by the pier.

Full dining guide here — categorized by Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner / Local Favorites.

The five things first-timers always miss

1. Sunset is on the back-river side. First-timers walk to the beach for sunset and end up watching it through their phone. Tybee faces east; you need to drive to the Chatham Avenue south end or Lazaretto Creek.
2. The lighthouse closes at 5:30 PM. People plan to climb it after dinner and find the gate locked. Last admission is 4:30 PM. Plan accordingly.
3. Parking is metered, even at the public beach lots. $4 per hour via the Park Tybee app. Budget for it or pick a hotel close enough to walk.
4. The marsh side is its own thing. Most visitors never cross to the back-river side of the island. It's a different world — slower, quieter, where most of the locals actually live and eat.
5. Restaurants close early. Most kitchens close at 9 or 10 PM, even in summer. Plan dinner for 6 or 7, not 8:30.

What to skip

Equally important:

• Don't drive to Hilton Head for the day — 90 minutes each way, beaches aren't meaningfully different.
• Don't pack a beach umbrella unless you're staying multiple days — rent for $25–35 at public access points.
• Don't try to fit Savannah into a 2-day Tybee trip — Savannah deserves at least a full day of its own. Plan for it as a separate trip or extend yours by a day.
• Don't book restaurants months ahead. Most Tybee restaurants don't take reservations. Sundae Cafe and Pier 16 are the exceptions.

Should you visit?

Tybee Island is right for you if:

• You want a coastal weekend that's not over-developed
• You're comfortable with casual, unfussy, mostly-local-run restaurants
• You like the idea of being close to a great city (Savannah) without being in it
• You're not looking for nightlife or big resorts
• You want to be on the beach in five minutes from your room

Tybee isn't right if:

• You need luxury resort amenities (spa, room service, on-site fine dining)
• You don't want to drive (no rideshare on the island)
• You're traveling specifically for nightlife
• You want shopping or museums as your primary draw

If you're in the first column, book a long weekend in May or October. We'd be glad to have you.

A short history of Tybee

For context that helps you appreciate what you're seeing:

Tybee was used by Native American tribes as fishing grounds for thousands of years before European contact. The name "Tybee" likely comes from the Euchee word for "salt." The Spanish arrived in the 1500s, the British set up the lighthouse in 1736, and the island became a Confederate fortification site during the Civil War (Fort Pulaski is the surviving example).

The island became a beach resort in the 1880s, when a rail line was extended from Savannah. The 1930s and 40s saw the heyday of the original Tybrisa Pavilion — a massive dance hall on the beach that burned down in 1967. The current pier was built in 1996 as a smaller, modern replacement.

Most of the island's housing stock is mid-century — beach cottages from the 50s and 60s, some lovingly restored, some weathered. There's been no large-scale resort development, which is why the island still feels like a small town and not a vacation complex.

The lighthouse you climb today is the same structure that's been guiding ships through the Savannah River entrance for nearly 300 years. That's not a small thing.

Closing

Tybee rewards the visitor who shows up with reasonable expectations. It's not the showpiece of the South Atlantic coast. It's the friendly, mid-priced, walkable beach town that punches above its size — partly because of what's here, partly because of the Savannah-adjacency. Most people who come once come back.

If you're ready to start planning, our 3-day weekend itinerary is the next read. If you'd like to skip the planning and just pick dates, check availability — we're one block off the beach.