The tide here on the southern tip of Tybee is such a trip!
One minute it’s way up near the beach…
…and then all of a sudden, it’s way, way out there…
It’s actually much farther out than it looks in that photo, too. It’s crazy!
Move your cursor over the photo below for the just-for-fun, interactive effect…
(Google Readers will have to pop over to our site to see this one in action!)
We’ve stayed in quite a few different cottages here on Tybee, but we’ve never stayed on this end of the island. The first day we noticed how far out the water had gone, we decided to walk all the way out there with our neighbors. I know, I know…the sign clearly says “danger of drowning beyond this point”, but we thought that probably meant when the tide was high (not low), and there were tons of other folks out there…so….well….uh…yeah, it was probably a bad idea.
But we made it back to the beach safe and sound, and we won’t be doing that ever again. (Says the girl who can only do the doggie paddle, and that may or may not have run/walked back to the beach when she got out there and realized the water was filling in around them pretty rapidly as they stood on a sandbar and stared at the sea.)
Anywho…ya see that sign out there…
We breezed right by that sucker on our way out there that day- then the next morning, it was mostly under water again…
(“I can’t believe I walked out there past that sign yesterday…and that sometimes these rocks are completely under water too…aaaaaah!!!”)
That being said, when the tide goes out, the sand looks really really cool out there. A lot like this photo of the desert, actually…
It was really hard to walk on (almost like concrete!), and it felt like we were on another planet or something!
Here are a couple more shots of the trippy tide, coming in and going out. In…
…and out…
And another interactive one, just for kicks…
I discovered the tide comes in even more in the middle of the night, too. I took this photo early one morning a few days ago…
(And one day the tide was out so far I swear you could walk all the way over to that island in the distance!)
But since breezing past “danger” signs is no longer an option for me, I decided to start walking the other direction every morning…towards Tybee’s beautiful pier…
The water is still warm here, and I love the way it feels when it rushes in and out over my feet! (Although, Holy Disorienting Batman when you’re walking one way, and it’s going back out another way- LOL!)
I filmed a little video snippet so you could hear the wild waves crashing and splashing, too…
Today is our last day here on Tybee. We’re gonna head out after I go for one last swim in the sea.
Just kidding!!!
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I loved those rocks you were sitting on, I took a ton of pictures of them when we were there a month ago! And of course of the peir! We never noticed the weird tide though, wish I had now.
http://littleblueprints.blogspot.com/2011/08/tybee-island-savannah.html
If you want to see some of the pictures I took on our trip there, you’re bringing back the memories! Have fun in your last few moments there!
Meg
I love that end of Tybee. I’ve been on those rocks you were sitting on, but didn’t walk out when the tide was low. You are brave!
There is a green house right there past those rocks where they filmed The Last Song with Mylie Cyrus a couple years ago. Kinda cool.
Hey Gloria!
We were actually here for “opening night” of the movie- boy was that fun! The locals cheered at different parts throughout the entire thing! 😀
I love staying at the beach- we had a family stay {all five of my children and their spouses and children} on the west coast near monterey last may… it was divine- beach stays are family tradition in our family. Thanks for sharing all those divine picture…makes me want to visit.
ps that is crazy how the tide comes in and way out like that…..it would make me a little nervous thinking a earthquake or something was about to happen.
I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!! Recently found you guys through YHL and since then have been totally hooked! Something about you both that makes me smile … and your home … sooooooo precious. God bless both of you!!! You have a fan in NJ for sure!
Layla, as a pacific coast girl I loved seeing these photos of Tybee! You said the water was ‘still warm’ and we never get that on the west coast either… even in August the water is still cold! Loved the tide videos too! Thanks!
It looks so beautiful there! That is amazing how the tide goes out so far & then comes back in…I’ve always wanted to see the bottom of the ocean, but to actually walk on it- how exciting!! I would have never though it would be so hard to walk on. Thanks for sharing- would love to go there 🙂
I was just there at that exact spot in August. I took SOOO many pictures of those rocks 🙂 I did notice the tide a little, but we were only there for a day trip and we didn’t stay overnight. I walked out to the Danger sign and then wanted to go back with my camera and the water was already covering it! It really is a beautiful place and we are definitely going back again.
I live close to the Atlantic near St. Augustine and I’ve never seen the tide go out that far. It really is amazing! And beautiful. And unexplainable!
we went to Maine last September and I had never been anywhere that the tide was an issue. It was so weird, one day the shops would be all on piers in a muckety muck mud, the next day they would have water lapping around them. We got to go to Thunder Hole on the eve before a hurricane was coming and watch the waves crash in, it was utterly breathtaking but scary. The year before some people were swept off the rocks by a hurricane and drowned, so last year they were closing the road before the worst of the storm arrived. One of the locals told us their home was on a river that swells 23 feet with an average tide! That is a lot! wow! I would love to visit Tybbee Island some day! Thanks for sharing your visit there.
Layla, thanks so much for all the Tybee info. We are headed there on Wednesday – sorry we missed you – and I am sooo excited. I won’t be brave trying to outsmart the warning signs at the beach, but I can’t wait to feel the water on my feet and enjoy this slice of heaven.
These pics are beautiful. I haven’t been to Tybee in years.
Hey Layla,
Thanks for including the wave sound. It is probaly one of my favorite sounds, right behind hearing my kids laughter. The beach is so peaceful to me! I have not been able to go in a few years (Dave Ramsey’s fault), but your clip brought back many memories!
Thanks
Gina
Sure thing, Gina! 😀
And I agree, there’s nothing like the sound of children laughing too!
I’m an Atlantic coast girl, Charleston, SC. Really appreciate the sights and sounds of Tybee. Lived in Savannah for a stint and would take my son to a little private Catholic school on Tybee. I always felt blessed to have that time in our lives. A true step back in time. Thanks for the memories!
You got it, Debbie! And what a cool place to go to school that must have been! 🙂
So jealous.. . . our family has been to Tybee a couple of times. Such good memories . . .it is a magical place!
We’re heading out today, but we sure are going to miss this place. I say we get a whole buncha’ bloggers together so we can buy & fix up one of these little places together- LOL! 😀
Sign me up!!
We stayed on the south end of Tybee several years ago and loved it. We had our chairs set up right next to the inlet and at times had dolphins so close we could hear them snorting when they came up to the surface.
My neice’s husband very nearly drowned because of the freaky tide. He had walked out to a sand bar and almost didn’t make it back and he is a strong swimmer! What a helpless feeling…We didn’t notice any signs at the time but people should definitely take heed.
Hi Melissa!
I just saw some dolphins this morning!! I couldn’t hear them snorting, but they were really close! Love that!
Sorry to hear about your niece’s husband’s experience…I can’t imagine having that! SO scary! :-O
We visited Tybee and Savannah, GA four years ago when our son, Luke, was 3 years old. He loved it as much as we did, of course that was this small town Oklahoma girl’s first trip to the ocean! Now, we have two more little guys, Eli and Isaac, and cannot wait to plan another trip!
By the way, your posts are always so funny and light-hearted. Keep ’em coming! 🙂
Hey Deidra!
Thanks for the sweet comment, and hope you have a chance to get away to the beach again soon! 🙂
Your pictures and stories of Tybee are so beautiful! I have been doing some research on the island and maybe we can head that way for spring break. I think that my family would love it! Thanks for being the Tybee Island cheerleader 😉
Love Your Blog!!! You and your hubby are so adorable and make me smile! Best of Luck in all your new ventures.
Kim
Hi Kim!
Thank you for the kind words! We definitely recommend a trip here! We’re sort of determined to buy and fix up a cottage here one day….we could name it “TL Sea”! 😉 (get it? TLC?)
Thanks for the info! I guess when we go back to Tybee I’ll have to remember this about the tides and NOT to go to that end of the island. Our kids would be racing out there before we could even get up off our beach towels! It reminds me of a tsunami because the ocean does the exact same thing. Freaky!!
there is nothing like the sound of the waves coming in <3 Thank you for sharing that sound with the rest of us!!!
I’ve always wanted to visit Tybee but our family has gone to St. Simon’s Island for the last 30 years. I’m going to have to make a point to visit for at least a day next summer.
Love your blog and the emails you send. You are hilarious and it’s so much fun to read. Especially loved the shoe thing you did a couple months ago. I’m a comfortable shoe fanatic as well and will wear one pair of shoes, that are comfy, until they wear out.
I fell in love with my husband on that end of the beach …moonlight picnics!
TL Sea…love it! Layla and Kevin, I can so see you two having a place there and fixing it up to be so special! Continued success on all your adventures; they say good things happen to good people…you two are proof of that! Safe travels back home, Cindy
Beautiful pictures of you!!!!! Loved the audio! I would have been squeeling with delight! I love the ocean!!!!! I have to live in a coastal state!
Ohh, it looks beautiful there. I think your week turned out much better than mine (sitting at my desk). I’m glad you had fun.
A well deserved vacation, you two! I need a continuous loop of that wave sound video.
Hi, Layla! Read the post about the Tybee tides. I live on Wilmington Island, which you are on before you cross the Bull River Bridge on the Tybee Causeway. The tides have been “spring” this week due to the new moon. Top that off with the change of season into fall the past week and you’ve got the “super” high tides along with the really low ones, too. It is really cool to see that on south Tybee at the back river.
I am always amazed at the tidal ranges here, so I read why in a recently published book by a Georgia naturalist. The Georgia coast is really on a “bay” called the South Atlantic bight, so we get the effect of higher high tides and lower low tides.
And, yeah, the lifeguards don’t like you traversing to Little Tybee at low tide. Going straight out toward the sandbar is not as big a deal, but you need to be alert to midtide, when the water really churns going out and coming in.
Tides were really awesome when Irene swept up the coast. The locals were all over Tybee that evening to see the spectacle and watch the surfers! Waves were coming all the way to the pavilion at the pier and hitting the dunes in places that they don’t hit at spring tide.
Glad to see you and Kevin had a great time and can’t wait to see what you were working on while here!
Did you find any horseshoe crab molts while on the beach?
We have neve been to Tybee, but I definately want to plan a trip after seeing all the cottages that you shown us over the past years, It looks so peaceful on the beach and not over-crowded. Can’t wait until the Spring/Summer next year to go. Thanks for all the pictures.
You tempt me to check out the real estate. 😉 Beautiful beach and you look so happy and relaxed!
You have successfully convinced me I need to vacation on Tybee! We were on Jekyll Island a couple years ago and loved that …. but Tybee seems more enticing.
I love the waves too, walking the beach is better than any therapy!
Just walked the shore of Lake Michigan in Door County, WI last week, and recorded the “lake waves” …. http://cherikirk.blogspot.com/2011/09/natures-sound-machine.html
It all looks so peaceful and relaxing. Can’t wait to see the results of the project you are working on.
Layla, I just loved this whole post… Wow.. I know yall are having a blast but beeeeeee careful.. That is soooo scary with the tide going out like that. We live near Destin and am shocked when the red flags are out and the tourist are venturing out into the water… I guess I am a scaredy cat. We had waves from lee tare our boat dock alllll to pieces last month. I have pics of the waves crashing into it. We found stuff from other folks docks that washed up in our yard. We live on the bay and not the beach but water is water. I would sooooo never be as brave as you were. Just promise you wont do it again. I just could not bare to read another post of yall dare deviling past the drowning sign… Thanks so much for sharing this with us. It was the most fun to read…Enjoyed the sounds of the waves crashing on the video too…. Blessings….
well, looks like you guys had a blast with the trippy tide! I think I might just need to hear your voice!
🙂
shaunna
My aunt and uncle have a house on Edisto- I can’t wait to get back to the States and have some down time there!
That happened to us one time on Jekyll Island…we walked way out on a sandbar, and were really consumed with collecting sand dollars (we left them there to live btw!). We knew it was getting deeper at our ankles, but weren’t prepared for how deep it was closer to shore, and it happened so quick! It was scary!
The photos are so beautiful. And what a place–definitely an opportunity to bond with nature!
Oh, it looks heavenly down there. I never knew the tide came in and out so far.
Up North here were are just beginning to lose our leaves, and the colors are heavenly. Nature is gorgeous !!
I will be thinking of you !
Oh wow,…. good thing, since you only dog paddle, that you are no longer anywhere near the underwater sign.. not good times..
Love the pictures.. There really is nothing like walking along the beach.. it’s awesomeness.
Congrats Wendy, I bet it will look fabulous in your home! 🙂
Just found out that we are moving to Miramar Beach, next to Destin. I will be < 5 minutes to the beach!!!! I am so excited and STOKED that I cannot stand it. Cannot wait to explore all the thrift and consignment shops!!!!!! I can walk to the beach every day!!!!!
HEAVEN! So thankful and so excited! Needless to say, my husband got a new job!!!!
Oh, Layla I just saw this…whoo hoo. I am thrilled. I think this is the first give away I was praying to win:) I know right where it is going.
PS
I love all the Tybee photos:)
Layla, I must ask you to stop blogging about Tybee–you’re giving away the secret! LOL! Love to see “our” island thru your eyes. It is a treasure for sure. We have been every year since our kids were tiny–2 in diapers at the beach is not recommended ;).
The tide is amazing for sure. I kayaked to the Cockspur beacon. Wish you could do that too, you guys take amazing photos, I’d love to see it from your lens. I also get a kick out of the backriver tides–all the boats in the air. You guys have to check out the Bonna Bella Yacht club sometime, the scenery is beautiful.
Thinking about a camping trip to Little Tybee next time, not sure if I’m brave enough.
Thank you for sharing the beach with us; especially the video. The beach is my absolute favorite place to be and I’m in need of a little beach therapy. It was nice to hear the waves.
Having grown up in that area, it’s so crazy to me to see Tybee featured here so much. Layla, did you go out to the beach at night? Next time you’re out there, walk backwards in the sand close to the surf, dragging your heels as you go. There’s a lot of phosphorous in the sand there – it turns flourescent green when you do that. Can’t tell you how many evenings my friends & I made little campfires and just hung out. Lots of good memories on Tybee. And yes, don’t play around with the tide down there. Pretty to explore, but dangerous to mess with. Guess the life guards are gone for the season. Usually they’re really good about keeping people out of there.