Last Updated: July 3, 2026
Jekyll Island was only a couple hour drive south from Hilton Head, South Carolina. We were looking forward to its less pretentious and more rustic island community.
Jekyll Island
Address: Jekyll Island Visitor Center, 100 James Road, Jekyll Island, Georgia 31527. Phone: (912) 635-3636. Causeway fee: $8 per vehicle for day visitors; $6 for registered campers. Hours: The island is accessible year-round. Website: jekyllisland.com. Jekyll Island is one of Georgia’s four barrier islands and a state-owned park — by law, no more than 35% of the island can be developed, which preserves its natural character unlike most coastal resort islands.
Jekyll Island is one of Georgia’s four barrier islands. Although it’s a popular tourist destination, there were plenty of trails and beaches to get away from the crowds — at least in November. The fact that the state legally caps development at 35% of the island makes it feel genuinely different from more commercial coastal destinations.
Jekyll Island Campground
We stayed at the Jekyll Island Campground. They had full service, marginal wifi, large sites, and plenty of ticks. They are known for their abundant live oak trees which equates to abundant squirrels. Unfortunately, the trees dropped acorns on the roof the entire time we were there — a new sound to get used to at 2 am.
Across the road is a large fishing pier that offered views of the Golden Ray, a South Korean car carrier that capsized on September 8, 2019 just off St. Simons Sound — only two months before our visit. The ship was carrying over 4,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles. The massive salvage operation took two years — crews eventually cut the vessel into eight sections and removed it piece by piece, completing the operation in October 2021.
Georgia Sea Turtle Center
Address: 214 Stable Road, Jekyll Island, Georgia 31527. Phone: (912) 635-4444. Hours: Monday 10 am–2 pm; Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–5 pm. Admission: Adults $11; children ages 4–12 $9; children under 4 free. Website: gstc.jekyllisland.com. The center rehabilitates injured and ill sea turtles from Georgia’s coastline and releases them back into the wild — the museum component lets you see patients currently in care.
The Georgia Sea Turtle Center is a rescue and rehabilitation center on Jekyll Island. They also have a small museum that was a fun visit — and a good reminder of how many sea turtles are injured by boat strikes and fishing gear each year.
Loggerhead, leatherback, green, Kemp’s Ridley, and Hawksbill sea turtles can all be found in Georgia’s coastal waters. The center currently cares for whatever mix of injured animals has come in recently — you never quite know what you’ll see.
William Horton House
The William Horton House was built in 1742 out of an indigenous material called tabby — a mixture of lime, crushed oyster shells, sand, and water that hardened into a durable concrete-like material. It’s one of the oldest surviving structures in Georgia and a fascinating look at early colonial construction techniques.
Horton’s Pond
There were plenty of freshwater turtles to see at Horton’s Pond, including this softshell turtle — one of the more unusual-looking reptiles you’ll encounter in Georgia.
There were great blue herons, green herons, and black-crowned night herons in addition to snowy egrets. A volunteer was stationed at Horton’s Pond to provide history on the area and help identify the wildlife — easily one of the most enjoyable and educational hour we spent on the island.
There were a couple of alligators in the pond — a bit far for truly dramatic photos but striking to watch as they floated motionless among the herons.
Driftwood Beach
Although there were a number of beaches on the island, Driftwood Beach was our favorite by far. The beach is covered in the bleached skeletal remains of ancient live oak and pine trees — victims of shoreline erosion over centuries — creating one of the most otherworldly and photogenic landscapes we’ve encountered anywhere on the East Coast. It’s free to access at the northern end of the island and draws photographers from all over for sunrise, sunset, and moonrise shoots.
A full moonrise at sunset was stunning — the combination of the ancient driftwood trees silhouetted against the rising moon is the kind of shot that makes you set up the tripod and stay until dark. It was also a great opportunity to let Jake off leash for a run. Just south of Driftwood Beach is the Driftwood Bistro, where we finished the evening with fresh Georgia coastal seafood.
Practical Tips for Jekyll Island
The causeway fee is $8 per vehicle — day visitors pay at the toll booth on the causeway; campground guests pay a reduced $6 rate. It’s a reasonable cost for what amounts to one of the most preserved and less commercialized barrier islands on the Georgia coast. Tick prevention is essential — Jekyll Island’s live oak forest and salt marshes are tick country. Wear long socks, use DEET or permethrin on clothing, and check yourself and your dog thoroughly after any trail walk. We found a number of ticks on Jake during our stay. Driftwood Beach for photography — go at sunrise or moonrise for the most dramatic light. The beach faces northeast, so sunrise hits the driftwood directly. A full moon rising over the skeletal trees as the sun sets is extraordinary and worth planning your visit around. Georgia Sea Turtle Center — go early in the week (Tuesday–Thursday) for the best chance of seeing active patient care; Monday hours are limited. Horton’s Pond wildlife — bring binoculars and a telephoto lens. The volunteer naturalists stationed there are exceptionally knowledgeable and can identify everything from herons to softshell turtles in real time. Keep dogs away from pond edges — Horton’s Pond and most freshwater features on the island have alligators. Always leash your dog near any water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jekyll Island worth visiting? Absolutely — it’s one of the most distinctive and underrated coastal destinations in the American South. The combination of Driftwood Beach, the Sea Turtle Center, Horton’s Pond wildlife viewing, historic tabby ruins, and genuinely uncrowded beaches in the off-season makes it far more interesting than a typical beach stop. The state’s legal restriction on development preserves a natural character you simply don’t find on most resort islands.
What is Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island? Driftwood Beach is a stretch of shoreline on the northeastern end of Jekyll Island covered in the bleached skeletal remains of ancient live oak and pine trees — the casualties of centuries of shoreline erosion that has gradually claimed the forest at the water’s edge. The result is one of the most hauntingly beautiful and photogenic beaches in the southeastern US. It’s free to access, dog-friendly, and best visited at sunrise, sunset, or moonrise.
What is the Georgia Sea Turtle Center? It’s a working sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation hospital on Jekyll Island that takes in injured, sick, and cold-stunned sea turtles from Georgia’s coastline. The hospital treats loggerheads, green turtles, Kemp’s ridleys, and other species before releasing them back into the wild. The facility has a small museum and allows visitors to see the current patients in rehabilitation tanks — it’s educational, well-run, and one of the better wildlife centers we’ve visited anywhere.
