Short answer
Choose Tybee Island if you want to drive straight to the sand, with lifeguards in season, restaurants a few steps away and parking from $25 a day; choose Cumberland Island if you want 17 miles of undeveloped beach, wild horses and mansion ruins, and you are willing to book a ferry and carry in everything you eat and drink.
They are opposite kinds of day out. Tybee is Savannah’s beach town, reached by road. Cumberland is a National Seashore reached only by boat from St. Marys, near the Florida line, with no shops, no restaurants and no trash cans. That one difference drives cost, planning and who each island suits.
| Tybee Island | Cumberland Island | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting there | Drive onto the island | 45-minute passenger ferry from St. Marys (or your own boat) |
| Road miles from Atlanta | About 266 | About 311 to St. Marys, then the ferry |
| Book ahead? | No | Recommended; opens six months ahead, a month at a time |
| Getting-in cost | Parking: $4 an hour or a $25 day pass | Ferry $44 adult ($34 ages 6–15) plus tax, and a $15 entrance pass for 16 and over |
| Food and drink | Restaurants and shops in town | Nothing for sale on the island; bring it all |
| Dogs on the beach | No — $300 fine | Only by private boat; the ferry takes no pets |
| Lifeguards | Daily in peak season | None |
| Best for | Easy family beach days, day trips from Savannah | Hikers, cyclists, wildlife and history, a day with no crowds |
How do you get to each island?
Tybee: you drive onto the island and pay to park. The City of Tybee Island enforces paid parking citywide from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., every day of the year, at $4.00 an hour through the Park TYB app or a kiosk, or $25 for a day pass bought online; the city does not take cash or coins for parking (checked ).
Cumberland: the island is reachable only by boat. The passenger ferry leaves the Mainland Visitor Center in downtown St. Marys and takes 45 minutes each way.
Boats leave St. Marys at 9 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.; the last boat back leaves the island at 4:45 p.m. From October 1 to November 30 the only return times are 10:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., and from December 1 to February 28 the ferry runs Thursday to Monday only (checked ).
Check-in starts an hour before departure, and the National Park Service says unclaimed reservations are released to walk-ins 30 minutes before the boat leaves. Reservations open six months ahead, a month at a time (every November date opens May 1), and the park warns that “due to visitation limits” walk-ins may be put on standby or turned away (checked ). You must buy a round trip, and the ferry does not carry cars, kayaks or pets.
Road distance, from our Georgia drive-time matrix: Atlanta to Tybee Island is about 266 miles, Atlanta to St. Marys about 311. From Jacksonville the order flips: St. Marys is about 40 miles away, Tybee about 156.
What does a day cost for a family?
Using published prices for two adults and two children aged 6–15:
| Family of four, one day | Tybee Island | Cumberland Island |
|---|---|---|
| Getting in | $25 parking day pass | Ferry: $44 × 2 + $34 × 2 = $156, plus tax |
| Entrance | Beach is free | $15 × 2 adults = $30 (under 16 free) |
| Parking | Included above | Free lot near the St. Marys visitor center |
| Total before food | $25 | $186 plus tax |
Add the Tybee Island Light Station if you want a paid stop on Tybee: $14 for adults and $12 for ages 6–17, which takes the family total to $77 (checked ). On Cumberland, the $15 entrance pass is good for seven days and the park is cashless; a $45 Cumberland annual pass covers the holder and three adults. Build your own number in the day-out cost calculator.
Can you bring a dog?
Tybee: not on the beach. City code bans dogs and other pets from the beaches and the structures on them, with a $300 fine; trained service dogs are exempt (checked ).
Cumberland: only if you have your own boat. The ferry carries only ADA service animals, not pets or emotional support animals. Pets that arrive by private boat must stay leashed, may visit for the day only, cannot stay in campgrounds, and are not allowed in the wilderness area that covers most of the north half of the island (checked ).
If the dog is coming to the beach, neither island is the easy answer: Jekyll Island allows leashed dogs on the sand year-round.
What is there to do beyond the beach?
Tybee Island
- Tybee Island Light Station — the historic lighthouse, closed Tuesdays, last ticket 4:30 p.m.
- A beach-town day — restaurants, shops and the pier, all reachable without a boat.
- Lifeguarded swimming — Tybee Ocean Rescue covers the beaches daily in peak season and keeps a presence year-round.
- More in our Tybee Island guide.
Cumberland Island
- 17 miles of undeveloped beach — one of Georgia’s most important loggerhead sea turtle nesting areas. There are no lifeguards.
- Dungeness ruins — the shell of the Carnegie family mansion, first built in 1884, a short walk from the Dungeness dock.
- Feral horses — the NPS counts 120 to 148 a year, the only unmanaged herd on the Atlantic coast. Stay at least 50 feet away and never feed or pet them.
- Plum Orchard mansion — free tours, but it is about 7 miles north of Sea Camp dock, so it needs a bike, and it closes during managed hunts between October and January.
- More in our Cumberland Island guide.
Which is easier with small children?
Tybee, clearly. You can park near the sand, buy lunch, find restrooms in town and swim at lifeguarded beaches in season.
On Cumberland everything is on foot or by bike from the dock, there is nothing to buy (the ferry sells ice, chips and drinks only while docked at Sea Camp), there are no trash cans, and you are tied to the ferry times — miss the 4:45 p.m. boat and there is no later one.
The park does lend free all-terrain beach wheelchairs at the Dungeness and Sea Camp docks. For more on Tybee with young children, see Tybee Island with kids.
Which island fits your trip?
- Easy beach day with young kids: Tybee.
- Wild beach, horses and ruins, no crowds: Cumberland.
- Deciding the morning of: Tybee. Cumberland ferries are best booked ahead.
- Cheapest day: Tybee, from $25 for the car against about $186 plus tax for a family of four on Cumberland.
- Coming from Jacksonville or the Golden Isles: Cumberland is the closer of the two.
- Bringing a dog: neither works well; look at Jekyll Island.
Comparing the whole coast? Georgia beaches and islands, every one compared.
FAQ
Is Cumberland Island or Tybee Island better for a day trip?
Tybee is easier: you drive on, park from $25 a day and have restaurants, restrooms and lifeguards in season. Cumberland needs a ferry booking, costs more ($44 adult ferry fare plus tax and a $15 entrance pass) and has nothing for sale, but offers 17 miles of undeveloped beach, feral horses and the Dungeness ruins.
Can you drive to Cumberland Island?
No. Cumberland Island is reachable only by boat. The passenger ferry leaves downtown St. Marys, Georgia, and takes 45 minutes each way; it does not carry cars (checked ).
How much does it cost to go to Cumberland Island?
The ferry is $44 for adults 16 and over, $42 for seniors 62 and over, $34 for ages 6 to 15 and free for 5 and under, plus tax. Everyone 16 and over also needs a $15 National Park Service entrance pass, valid for seven days; the park is cashless (checked ).
Are dogs allowed on Tybee Island or Cumberland Island beaches?
Tybee Island bans dogs from its beaches, with a $300 fine. Cumberland allows leashed pets for the day only if they arrive by private boat, since the ferry carries only service animals, and pets are not allowed in the island’s wilderness area (checked ).
Can you see wild horses on Tybee Island?
No. The wild horses are on Cumberland Island, where the National Park Service counts 120 to 148 feral horses a year. Visitors must stay at least 50 feet away.
How we checked this guide: Dates, hours, admission and parking prices, and access details were verified against the official sources listed below on . Operators change schedules and raise prices without notice, so confirm anything time-sensitive before you drive. The figures in this guide also feed our Georgia Attraction Transparency Index and Family Day-Out Cost Index.
Sources
- NPS — Cumberland Island Fees and Passes
- NPS — Cumberland Island Basic Information
- NPS — Cumberland Island Permits and Reservations
- NPS — Cumberland Island Pets
- NPS — Things to do on Cumberland Island
- NPS — Cumberland Island Feral Horses
- NPS — Cumberland Island Accessibility
- NPS — Cumberland Island Directions
- NPS — Plum Orchard
- Cumberland Island Ferry — Ferry schedule
- City of Tybee Island — Parking Services
- City of Tybee Island — Beach Rules
- City of Tybee Island — Ocean Rescue
- Tybee Island Light Station
- It’s Georgia — Georgia Drive-Time Matrix
Hank Whitlock is the pen name of the It's Georgia editor. Every guide is built around the questions a busy family actually asks before a trip: how long is the drive, what does parking cost, can the stroller make it, are dogs allowed. Details are checked against official park, city, and venue sources, and each guide shows the date it was last updated.
