Tybee Island, located only 18 miles away from Historic Savannah, Georgia and consistently named as one of the top-rated beaches in the US, will let you unwind in style and comfort.
Tybee has installed beach mats which makes reaching the beach from the walkway ramps easy peasy. These beach mats wind throughout the entire tip of the peninsula and the city offers free beach wheelchairs to cross the sandy areas.
In addition to beach mats, Tybee Island has floating beach wheelchairs which allow you to enjoy the water with a companion.
Regular wheelchairs’ tires aren’t usually compatible with sand, but Tybee Island makes sure that won’t deter users from enjoying their beaches. Special wheelchairs with big tires are available to check out for free at the lifeguard station, located next to the Marine Science Center. In addition, three locations have beach mats, which create a hard pathway so regular wheelchairs can get close to the ocean without getting stuck in the sand. They’re located at crossovers at North Beach, Second Avenue, and 16th Street.
The Tybee Pier and Pavilion has ramps leading up to its entrance and is fully accessible. It’s a great place to get a close-up view of the water below. Wheelchairs can pull up to the end of one of the picnic tables to enjoy a quick snack sold in the pavilion.
Tybee Island is an important nesting area for loggerhead sea turtles, and you’ll often spot the little ones making their heroic journey to the sea, especially during the early dawn hours or late nights. These special turtles are protected, so please do not touch them or their nests, or shine bright lights on them during the nighttime.
The City's public facilities are either all ADA compliant or a compliance plan is in place to make it so but they do not yet have a swimming rig/accessible dock to allow for safe swimming for disabled visitors.
Beach Accessibility
The beaches are being made more accommodating by featuring hard-surfaced, wheelchair mats at the end of several of the dune crossovers, and fat-tired wheel chairs are available at the Ocean Rescue HQ at the south beach near the ramp up to the Pier and Pavilion off the end of Tybrisa Street. If you need to check availability of one of these wheel chairs before heading to the beach, you can check in with the lifeguards at 912-786-4573, ext. 119.
Wheel-chair mats provide a hard surface for wheelchairs. Beach mats are being extended from the end of the dune cross-over out to the hard sand at the high water mark, which will allow for even more mobility up and down the beach, especially with our beach wheelchairs. These wheelchairs are made to be easy to get into and out of and are built with fat, plastic tires to keep them from sinking into the sand. The floating chair even floats, although the exact type of chair available may vary from time to time depending on repairs and purchases of equipment! To check out the chairs, you will need a valid photo ID, and we ask that you fill out a survey to help us determine how and when the chairs are being used.
The Beach Mats are located at:
- North Beach Mid-Lot Cross-over
- Second Avenue Cross-over (East Gate)
- 16th Street (Tybrisa) Cross-over
