NOTE: There is a $8 per day parking fee collected at the visitor plaza on the causeway. If you are staying for 4-5 days or more, buy the $38 weekly pass for your convenience (and savings). This gets you lots of convenient parking, clean restrooms and open-air showers. If you think you will be making return trips to Jekyll, the $55 annual pass RFI tag is a real bargain and very convenient NOTE: There is now a $13 surcharge for first time annual passes. This pays for a radio frequency tag on your windshield that lets you drive through any lane at the gates. The old bar-code decals are gone. If you are replacing an old bar-code decal, there will be the $13 one-time fee to upgrade to the new radio sticker.

Rider Chris Rieke catches a lot of flies in his mouth because he cannot wipe the wide grin off his face while riding the coastal winds of Jekyll Island.	Team Rider Chad Golden stacked two Peter Lynn Venom kites one year at JIBE and had a real handfull. Great to see so much ripstop Nylon in the sky at once, though!

What to Bring to JIBE

• For buggies, standard 4" wide tires are fine on the hard-pack sand. Wider tires just offer more versatility and are easier to get through the soft sand to the beach.
• Tow leash/ rope for the buggy; useful for letting the buggy down the beach stairs backwards.
• Kites for all possible wind ranges, if you can.
• Helmets are required by insurance and are a good idea. The hard-pack is like concrete.
• Sunscreen and lip balm with SPF. The sun is bright and the sand reflects it.
• We will have water and ice, but bring any favorite sports drinks.
• Alcohol is OK on the beach (no glass!), but watch out for dehydration.
• Spare fast-drying clothes and towels. You may get wet splashing through tide pools and surf.
• Dogs are welcome on the beach. Leash laws are in effect May-Sept, but well minding loose dogs are tolerated by most.
• Snacks. There is a basic market in the new retail village and a convenience store near the island entrance, but for more extensive provisioning, shop on the mainland and call us for locations.

Getting There
How do we get to Jekyll Island?
It's easy. You will need a car, as there is no local public transportation. Just take I-95 to exit 29 or 38 in Brunswick, Georgia. Jekyll Island about is 15 or 20 minutes from either one. (Exit numbers in Georgia are referenced by their mileage from the Florida border). Brunswick is a little over an hour south of Savannah and about an hour north of Jacksonville.

Flying
The Brunswick / Golden Isles Region is convenient to three airports:

• Brunswick Golden Isles Airport. Served by two or three flights a day from Atlanta by Atlanic Southeast Airlines with Delta connections. Major car rentals available. Located near I-95 exit 38.
• Jacksonville International Airport (JAX). Served by most major and regional airlines. All major car rentals available. Just 45 minutes to exit 29 and another 15 minutes to Jekyll Island. Southwest Airlines (always easy on baggage charges) serves JAX, too.
• Savannah Hilton Head International Airport. Served by most major and regional airlines. All major car rentals available. Just over an hour's drive to Jekyll Island.

• Take I-95 north to exit 29
• At the exit 29 ramp, turn right to go east/north on US Rt. 17/ GA 25 for about 5 miles (If you need to shop for provisions, a Winn Dixie Supermarket is to the left 1/2 mile west). Get cheap gas just to the west of the exit if you are low, as gas is more expensive at Jekyll Island's single gas station.
• Turn right on to the Jekyll Island Causeway. The causeway is well marked and is right before the large Sidney Lanier suspension bridge.
• Take the causeway another 6 miles and cross the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to the Island. Purchase your parking pass ($6.00 per day or $28 per week) at the collection station located near the Vistor's Center 4 miles out on the causeway.

From Savannah and points north

• Take I-95 south to Exit 38.
• At the end of the ramp turn left onto the 25 Spur/ Golden Isles Parkway, south.
• After 4 1/4 miles, the Spur merges into US Rt. 17/ GA 25 south/ Glynn Ave.
• Go about 6 miles, passing over the Sidney Lanier suspension bridge. Get gas along here if you are low, as it is more expensive on Jekyll Island. If you need to shop for provisions, there is a Winn Dixie supermarket on the right, just after you pass the causeway to St. Simons Island.
• At the base of the other side of the bridge, turn left onto the Jekyll Island Causeway.
• Take the causeway another 6 miles and cross the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to the Island. Purchase your parking pass ($6.00 per day or $28 per week) at the collection station located near the Vistor's Center 4 miles out on the causeway.

Once on the island, you will find ample beach parking, clean public restrooms, water, water fountains for people AND dogs, outdoor showers and easy beach access.

The Cuaseway to Jekyll Island is easy to spot off of Route 17 / 25.	From here it is 6 miles over the salt marshes to Jekyll Island.
The striking Sidney Lanier Bridge on Route 17 / 25, next to the Jekyll Island Causeway entrance.	The plaza for island parking passes located 4 miles out on the causeway at the Visitor Center. Any lane accepts cash, credit or debit (faster than cash) or annual passes in the form of RFI (radio) tags.

The new retail village next to the convention center is now open. See the map below. Navigate the roundabout exiting to the north (towards your left up the beach) then go about 1/2 mile and you will see Tortuga Jacks restaurant on the right, with a parking lot overlooking the beach. Pull in there and you will see the ramp with stairs going down to the beach. If you have a big, heavy buggy you may want to use the ramp to the beach at Great Dunes Park. It is just 800 feet south of the JIBE staging area in the Great Dunes Park.

The ramp to the beach is about 6' wide. It has stairs, about twenty steps, going down to the beach. It is easy to get a light or moderate weight buggy down by putting a tow leash on the foot pegs and letting the buggy down backwards. I did this all the time with my 75 lb Bigfoot loaded with gear. Going up is not as bad as it sounds. There is also a wider handicap ramp at the new Great Dunes Park 800' to the south.

Bring a rope leash to lower your buggy down the stairs backwards. It's easier than you'd think, even with smaller 16" wheels.	Getting your buggy up the stairs is not as hard as it looks, even with lots of gear in it. Turn the front wheel to the side, rest it on your thigh, and go up one step at a time. This way the weight and strain is on your legs and not your back. It works with 16" wheels just as well, too.
The Great Dunes Park and deck pavilion, immediately to the south of the restaurant parking lot. It features outdoor showers and bathrooms with private changing rooms. The wheelchair ramp up to the deck is narrow for a lot of bugs, so you will have drag big buggies up the three or four steps to get access to the ramp to the beach.	The handicap ramp on the beach side of the pavilion is 7 1/2' wide, plenty for even the big buggies. The ramp is about 800' south of the Jibe staging area.

There are public restrooms in the lot just to the south, in the Great Dunes Park, and they feature private changing rooms and outdoor showers nearby.

"Kite Beach" is the 1/4 mile stretch of beach from the access stairs up to the Jekyll Island Club Pavilion, the next building up the beach. Because it is between public access ramps, it is not crowded with a lot of sunbathers. There is a sand bar here at low tide that makes it an ideal spot for kiteboarders and kitesurfers, too.

Jekyll Island & major landmarks. The heavy beige line represents beach sections accessable for buggy runs, about 4 miles. From Kite Beach it is 2 miles down to the southern water tower. The area south of the southern water tower is now off limits to buggies and other wind-powered vehicles due to sensitive nesting and wildlife habitats on the south end of the island. Going north from kite Beach and the sand bar, you can go about 2 miles before you run out of room as the beach narrows (low tide only for the north end).

Wind & Weather
Perfect winds for Jekyll Island buggying is east-southeast, with anything a few degrees off one way or another still just fine. The beach runs south-southwest to north-northeast. Right at Kite Beach, there is a bend in the beach right at the sand bar that favors a northeast component to the north, and a southeast component to the south.

Anything can happen, but unless we are influenced by a major frontal system, we can expect good buggy weather for early May. This time of the year, we are under the influence of the default patterns that put a high pressure system off the Carolinas with the clockwise rotation bringing northeast or east-southeast winds onto the South Georgia and North Florida shores. It is normally warm enough that the sea-breaze effect kicks in as the island heats up in the afternoon, drawing the wind right off the water for a decent on-shore breeze. If we do not get the sea-breeze, and end up with northeast or east winds, the we can still work extended runs but with up-wind slogs in one direction and fast deep broad reaches the other way.

If we do get a frontal system moving in from the west, all is not lost, but we might end up with lumpy west winds coming over land.

The WeatherFlow station near the southeast corner of the parking lot overlooking Kite Beach provides near real-time wind data and is accessible on iKiteSurf.com.

Wind velocity is normally forecast at 10-15 knots, but 7-12 is almost as common, with 15+ less common but often enough for the kiteboarders to get excited. Mornings can start with light winds, building in the afternoon, usually. For this week, low tide and maximum buggy space is in the afternoon. We now have a WeatherFlow station installed right over the dunes at Kite Beach, providing wind data in near real time. You can access it at iKiteSurf.com.

Temperatures in the Georgia summer can be hot and humid, but early May tends to keep the edge off, with average temperature ranges listed as 67-81 F, rather than the 90's or higher that can prevail in July and August.

Of course, there is no guarantee!

Things to do for the Whole Family
The "Golden Isles" region of Brunswick, Jekyll, and St. Simons Islands has much to offer for any family members not into kite flying. Some possibilities are...

• Bicycle rentals are available just south of the convention center and there are miles of bike and walking paths throughout the island.
• Miniature golf right across the street from Kite Beach, and Georgia's largest public golf course nearby.
• Summer Waves Water Park (weekends only till mid-May)
• Horseback riding on the north end of the island.
• Fishing, Boating & Dolphin/ Wildlife tours in the rivers and salt marshes
• The Jekyll Island Historic District offers...
  • Guided trolley tour of historic district including restored "cottages" (mansions, really) from the glory days of the late 1800's.
  • Art galleries and shops
  • The Georgia Sea Turlte Center

• On Jekyll Island: Look here for a current directory of island hotels.Room rates for May on the island start at just over $100 plus tax for basic rooms with breakfast and WiFi. There is also camping available.The campground has full facilities for tents and RV's, showers, laundry, general store and WiFi. Campers tell us that the place is clean, neat and quiet. Camping is not allowed anywhere else on the island and overnight parking in public lots is prohibited without a permit from the campgrounds. NOTE: Make reservations for camping well ahead of time as it books up fast! Here are some places to eat.

• Brunswick area, mainland: For very affordable accomodations, we have many of the brand name budget and travel motels clustered around I-95.
• In addition to numerous fast food joints and diners, we have Zachry's Seafood and Steak House near exit 29. Highly recommended with decent food and resaonable prices. Also new recently is Bubba JAX Crab Shack , also near exit 29 and next to McDonalds. We like it a lot. Steaks and burgers are good if you can't eat seafood.

Contact: Angus Campbell, Coastal Wind Sports.

• 912-577-3920
• angus at coastalwindsports.com

Last updated 10/17/2020

Copyright 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Angus Campbell.