Little Tybee Island Dispersed

Kayaked out to one of many little Tybee islands. Plenty of drift wood for a fire, trees to block wind, flat areas for tents. Had a great campout with some friends. Enjoyed the variety of wildlife. Good fishing and shell collecting too.

My girlfriend and I learned about Little Tybee Island while spending the day in Savannah on a road trip (we were moving to Illinois from Florida). We learned about it around 2pm; by 5pm we were on the water. We forgot to bring a lot of things in our rush, but the island was fantastic. To get to the island, make your way to the tip of Tybee island and find a parking spot on one of the streets that are marked as parking spots. If memory serves, we spent about $25 to stay there 17 hours. Take your kayak onto the beach, and then head to the island to the south. Here are my tips:

1. Be extremely wary of the tides! Because of our lack of planning, the tide was low on our way there and on the way back. This means that we had to carry our kayak several feet up the sandbar to make sure that it would not be carried away in the night. We also ran into a sandbar on the way there, and had to tow the kayak several feet in shallow but cold water. 

2. Bring insect repellent, long shirt and pants. I got bit up pretty bad by sand fleas while playing on the beach, and had itchy red spots all over my legs for about a week. 

3. Like everyone else said, there are animals on the island, and the most rambunctious are the raccoons. You will see their paw prints in the sand, and near all of the best areas for campsites. Make sure to secure your food!

All in all, there's something extremely gratifying about rowing out to an island on the ocean and spending the night on an island that is uninhabited (except for the random other camper).

Well recommended for those looking for an adventure and have experience camping!

We kayaked to little tybee to social distance on the beach (tybee island was packed and we wanted to kayak anyway). We docked and walked about half a mile on the eastern side to explore. Lots of dried up trees and we found a tarp that someone left there. I wish people would pack out what they brought in as we saw several beer bottles, etc but mostly we saw nature and enjoyed the quietness of the island while still be close to civilization that we had cell service.

As we were leaving the tide had changed (Low) so we dragged the kayaks a good 70 yards back to the ocean and paddled towards the mainland. It’s a fun day trip! I’ve never camped here but I hope o can sometime soon.

I’ve camped here a good bit as it’s one of the only local places that isn’t lot camping. The “bone yard” as it’s called by locals is an area of fallen, uprooted trees on the eastern side of the island that is absolutely gorgeous (and fun to climb through). Bonus is that there’s never a shortage of firewood! Also the sunrise is absolutely spectacular at this site. I think it’s also important to check the wind speed/direction before camping here. I came out on a turbid night once and flipped my kayak! Which as a kayak instructor I’ve never done before - unintentionally. My sleeping bag was soaked! But overall it’s one of my favorite coastal sites. Secluded - but paddling distance (~1 mile) to AJ’s Dockside Restaurant.

Campground Review: Little Tybee Island is an undeveloped barrier island off the Georgia coast, that can only be accessed via kayak/boat. Despite its name, the island is huge--around 6000 acres--with several species of rare birds, making it a popular place for day trips in addition to camping. There is no fee to camp on the island, however the parking fee on Tybee Island, where you launch from, is $2/hour, or a maximum of $24/day. 

This island is absolutely gorgeous. While camping is permitted anywhere, the island is entirely undeveloped, and much of it is overgrown or marshland, so the best camping spots are in hammocks located near the shore on the eastern side of the island unless you are a very experienced paddler and have the confidence to explore the streams on the island's interior. When we stayed, we kayaked in to a hammock about one mile from the developed Tybee Island, to a series of hammocks just on the other side of the aptly named "oak graveyard;" where several fallen oak trees stick out of the ocean. We camped on a Sunday night, and while there were other campers who had been there over the weekend, we had the beach to ourselves once the tide started coming in and they left for the mainland. 

There are absolutely no amenities here--you must pack in all water you will need as there is not water available for filtration, and there are no services, so all trash must be packed out. The tides are extreme so choose your campsite carefully, and check tide tables before kayaking in or out (it is best to head out with the receding tide, and head back with the rising tide). The sun can be relentless and the winds can be strong, and there are also alligators, raccoons, and several species of venomous snake--this island is still largely untouched by man, and so proper preparation is needed, along with respect for the wildness of the area. All that aside, I would come back here again and again, for the beauty and solitude. It's rare to find oceanfront camping where you can pitch your tent on the sand and not be surrounded by so many other people, so if you don't mind the extra effort involved, this place is nothing short of magical.

Gear Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I am periodically given gear to test and review. For this trip I was able to use the ER210 E+Ready Compact Emergency Crank WX Radio. 

This radio was perfect for this trip. It has AM/FM bands and a weather alert channel directly from NOAA that updates for your area. Being at the beach, we were able to not only listen to the weather forecast for temperature/wind speed/precipitation, but also tide tables and water current information. While we had cell signal on this island, I didn't know if we would in advance and wanted to make sure we had a way of monitoring possible storm activity, and could verify the tides since timing your trips in/out of the island are heavily dependent on the tides. The radio also has emergency alerts, sounding an alarm if there is a national weather service alert for anything from thunderstorms to hurricanes, or any other weather system that could move through your region.

The radio can charge in three ways; via USB, a solar cell, or a hand crank, ensuring you can use it in even the most remote settings or roughest weather, and the antennae extends for greater signal receptivity. There is also a flashlight with two brightness levels, and is programmed to flash SOS if necessary--another reason we wanted this specifically for this trip, so we could signal for help if we got stranded for any reason and could not use our phones. 

We used the compact version; there is a larger version of this radio that includes all of the above features, in addition to a dog whistle to assist in SAR, and the ability to charge phones/smart devices through the radio.