About Tybee Island Surf Travel
Sugar Shack:
Funky little Tybee Island is the center of Georgia’s nascent dip into surf culture. An 18-mile drive from Savannah down Highway 80, it’s one of the coast’s oldest resorts, complete with bike rentals, a small amusement park, airbrushed T-shirt stands and a 150-foot lighthouse. With events such as June’s Annual Beach Music Festival, this small spit of sand is actually a cool little place to be, and it also offers several breaks.
Around the north side of the island is a sand point setup that works well on more solid ENE or N swells. Go to the big anchor and turn off the street, left. Follow it around to the Sugar Shack restaurant and follow the walkway to the beach. Mid- to high tide works best.
Tybee Island Pier:
Tybee has a fairly new pier at 16th Street that has become the surfing center on the island. The pier works on all swells, but is best at mid- to high tide.
South Tybee Sandbars:
Between Tybee and Little Tybee islands are a series of offshore sandbar breaks that offer excellent longboarding — sort of like Canoes at Waikiki, but without Rabbit Kekai. Paddle from the south end of the island out to the whitewater. Long, long rides on small to medium swells at low to mid-tide.
18th St. Jetty:
On a strong ENE swell, there can be a good left at this jetty. Mid-tide is best.
Little Tybee Island:
This uninhabited, beautiful five-mile-long island south of Tybee is accessible by boat, kayak or a fairly long (half-mile) paddle. Surfers visit it often because Little Tybee picks up more swell than Tybee, and its shifting sandbars can offer good surf, particularly from east-southeast hurricane swells. It also works on east-northeast swells. Be careful to paddle across on a neutral tide. A lot of water flows through the channel, and you might just get sucked right out to sea.