where on the Georgia coast for a pleasant 2-day beach stay?
Oct 16th, 2007, 09:10 AM
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where on the Georgia coast for a pleasant 2-day beach stay?
Is there anything on the Georgia coast comparable to the nice ocean spots in the Carolinas? We'll be driving through and looking for someplace pleasant to stroll on the beach, maybe ride bikes, have good food, stay in fine lodge or hotel. Thanks in advance.
Oct 16th, 2007, 10:39 AM
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You might want to look at Jekyll Island. They've got nice beaches to walk on and good bike trails. You could stay in the Jekyll Island Club, a really nice hotel which was originally built to house some of the wealthy families that came to Jekyll Island beginning in the late 1800's. The Jekyll Island Club is not on the beach, but it's an easy drive to get from there to their beach pavilion.
Oct 16th, 2007, 10:50 AM
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Don't expect the Georgia beaches to be as nice as SC beaches. Saint Simon and Jekyll beaches have erosian problems. Lots of huge rocks/boulders are piled up to help this situation. That being said, The Jekyll Island Club and Sea Island are very nice places to stay and both are great for biking.
Oct 16th, 2007, 01:07 PM
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The King & Prince Beach & Guest Resort on St. Simon's Isalnd is superb. The Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island is also very nice, but more quaint. St. Simons has a lovely little beach town with a restaurant that serves the best crabcakes outside Chesapeake Bay.
Oct 19th, 2007, 05:57 AM
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Sea Island has a world class hotel, the Cloister, with world class food and a good, if not great, beach. Traffic on the island is minimal, so bike riding is relaxing-until you cross the bridge onto St. Simons. You can stay there for 2 days for the price of a week at four star "resorts."
St. Simons has very little beach, none at high tide at King & Prince.
Jekyll has a disappearing beach on the north end, though magnificent dunes and wider beaches at the southern end.
St. Simons has very little beach, none at high tide at King & Prince.
Jekyll has a disappearing beach on the north end, though magnificent dunes and wider beaches at the southern end.
Oct 19th, 2007, 02:16 PM
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Thanks for the replies. Can someone detail the main differences between Jekyll Island/Jekyll Island Club and Sea Island/Cloisters. We're not interested in golf, by the way: just handsome surroundings, good rooms, good food, good biking. Can do without a great beach, though that'd be a plus. Thanks!
Oct 19th, 2007, 03:01 PM
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Jekyll Island's beaches are great for strolling. The Jekyll Island Club in on the opposite side of the island - the marsh side. It is lovely, but not oceanfront. They do have a "beach club" on the beach. You can stay anywhere on Jekyll and park in the public parking lots and walk the beach. My favorite oceanside place to stay is the Oceanside Inn and Suites. It's been called a lot of things over the years but there is no better oceanfront location IMO. It was getting "tired" but the rooms have recently been updated. Jekyll was created as a natural island destination by the state so it is VERY quiet with little nightlife (which is why I like it so much).
St. Simons has more shops and restaurants.
The Cloisters are in a completely different category altogether. If you can afford it, go for it!
St. Simons has more shops and restaurants.
The Cloisters are in a completely different category altogether. If you can afford it, go for it!
Oct 21st, 2007, 02:07 AM
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The Cloister (No "s") is a world class resort, priced accordingly. You won't find better accommodations on either coast. It doesn't do groups, but it has hosted an endless stream of world leaders, including U.S. presidents.
Jekyll island, once a retreat for the very, very rich, was re-birthed by the state of Georgia as a vacation destination for the working class. Much of developed Jekyll is dreary and drab: it looks as though it was designed and "maintained" by the state planners in Stalin era Soviet Union for its working class. The south end of the beach is beautiful.
Jekyll island, once a retreat for the very, very rich, was re-birthed by the state of Georgia as a vacation destination for the working class. Much of developed Jekyll is dreary and drab: it looks as though it was designed and "maintained" by the state planners in Stalin era Soviet Union for its working class. The south end of the beach is beautiful.
Oct 21st, 2007, 11:20 AM
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I'd have to disagree with hmmm's description of Jekyll Island. Yes, the island was once the home of the very rich and is now a Georgia State Park and accessible to all. (Hmmm makes "working class" seem like something bad. Haven't we all worked at some time in our lives?) There are a variety of hotels along the beach, most of which are affordable, but not dumps. There are also some condos, the upscale Jekyll Island Club in the center of the island and lots of privately owned homes as some people live on JI year-round. The large majority of the island is not developed because state law strictly limits the amount of land on the island that can be developed. There's an excellent system of bike trails and roads so you can bike over the entire island. There's the Coastal Encounters Nature Center and the University of Georgia 4-H Center for enviromental education. The area around the Jekyll Island Club contains the restored homes of many of the very rich and is now a historic area. Some of the cottages and utility buildings now house specialty shops.
I love the variety of Jekyll Island and the way that it caters to all sorts of people.
I love the variety of Jekyll Island and the way that it caters to all sorts of people.
Oct 21st, 2007, 05:18 PM
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The southernmost barrier island in Georgia, Cumberland Island, has absolutely gorgeous and practically empty beaches.
You have to take a 45-minute ferry ride (or take a private boat) from St. Marys, and that's the reason the beaches are so unspoiled and empty. Only 300 people per day are allowed to take the ferry.
If you can spend several hours with just what's on your back, and don't mind the walking (no cars there aside from the Greyfield Inn's vehicles), there's no prettier beach in the state.
You have to take a 45-minute ferry ride (or take a private boat) from St. Marys, and that's the reason the beaches are so unspoiled and empty. Only 300 people per day are allowed to take the ferry.
If you can spend several hours with just what's on your back, and don't mind the walking (no cars there aside from the Greyfield Inn's vehicles), there's no prettier beach in the state.
Oct 21st, 2007, 05:24 PM
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The Jekyll as described is soon to be no more. The southern end will be developed with new condos, hotels and a "city centre". The firm that developed Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee won the bid. A lot of folks are up in arms at the upcoming development of Jekyll.
I love Jekyll for the many reasons folks list as criticisms.
I love Jekyll for the many reasons folks list as criticisms.
Oct 21st, 2007, 11:50 PM
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I never wrote that Jekyll properties were dumps, but many are dreary and drab, as I wrote. It would be a stretch to state that Jekyll has many "fine" lodges or hotels, though the Jekyll Island Club is an above average hotel away from the beach. Most of the significant architecture (the cottages of the super rich and the Jekyll Is. Club) was in place before the State of Georgia took control of the island.
The 4-H club facility sits on a prime piece of beach front property. Part of the facility was a segregation era motor lodge, the Dolphin Club, which sat crumbling for years, though was renovated recently. Still looks as though it is a product of a Stalin era design committee.
I've never had a memorable meal on the island, at least in the good sense.
The southern end of the island has a beautiful beach, likely the best of the major "Golden Isles" beaches.
Enjoy your trip.
The 4-H club facility sits on a prime piece of beach front property. Part of the facility was a segregation era motor lodge, the Dolphin Club, which sat crumbling for years, though was renovated recently. Still looks as though it is a product of a Stalin era design committee.
I've never had a memorable meal on the island, at least in the good sense.
The southern end of the island has a beautiful beach, likely the best of the major "Golden Isles" beaches.
Enjoy your trip.
Jan 31st, 2008, 08:21 PM
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Dear Poss,
Go to www.BuyGeorgia.com and click on Georgia communty magazines, and then click on the icon for Brunswick & The Golden Isles...You can download a 120 page magazine we produce for free and it will give you significant information and other websites to search.
The Golden Isles are wonderful and Jekyll is a great place to ride bikes with awesome views of the tital marshes and historic homes.
Go to www.BuyGeorgia.com and click on Georgia communty magazines, and then click on the icon for Brunswick & The Golden Isles...You can download a 120 page magazine we produce for free and it will give you significant information and other websites to search.
The Golden Isles are wonderful and Jekyll is a great place to ride bikes with awesome views of the tital marshes and historic homes.
Feb 3rd, 2008, 07:33 AM
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As a lifelong visitor to the Golden Isles, I wouldn't want you to overlook St.Simons Island. Yes, the tide changes dramatically, and certain times of day for an hour or so, the beach shrinks to a sliver, however almost anytime you choose to go you will find it beautiful. We love to walk on the beach in the mornings as the sun rises; there is nothing more beautiful than the changing of tides, when the beach expands to a series of sand undulations and tidal pools. My kids love to walk out on the sand bars at low tide and have found tons of sand dollars at the sea edge. St.Simons also has a charming historic village, is packed with fabulous restaurants, bike trails that meander though the giant oaks dripping with Spanish moss (you have to have a court order to cut down a tree!) St.Simons has a facinating past, beginning with Bloody Marsh and Fort Fredrica built there before the Revolutionary war, through the plantation period and the Civil War, when the first light house was blown up by the Confederates in an (unsucessful) effort to keep the Union troops off the island. Christ Church is one of the oldest in the country visited by no less than three presidents, and you can still see the pock marks in the gravestones of the courtyards from the occupation by the Union troops. Try a Trolley tour or a Ghost tour to discover more about St.Simons. Sea Island is a resort community with a guard gate at it's entrance, Jekykl is an unspoiled beach (at least at the time of this writing) with park and Millionaires village which you can pay to get in to, but St.Simons is a real working community full of friendly folks and so much to do.
