Jekyll Island, Georgia

Just off the southern Georgia coast, idyllic Jekyll Island is one of the state’s four Golden Isles and boasts 10 miles of shimmering soft sand beaches, including dreamy Driftwood Beach. The island is reachable from the mainland via the Jekyll Island Causeway and is considered a census-designated place. It has no official town.

In the late-1800s, a few wealthy individuals named Rockefeller and Morgan purchased the island and turned it into a private retreat named The Jekyll Island Club. Many of the stately mansions (“cottages”) built during that time still stand today and are designated historic landmarks.

The State of Georgia bought Jekyll Island after WWII and today contracts with Jekyll Island Authority to manage it. The island covers 5,700 acres but thanks to state law, only about 1,600 acres, mostly on the Atlantic side, are open to development, giving much of the island an untamed quality.

Within those 1,600 acres, condos and single family homes are for sale, but the land under them is not. Instead, homeowners enter into a long-term land lease agreement with the state. Lease costs are typically calculated at 0.4 % of the assessed land value, which is often 20–40 % of the total home price.

Also within the 1,600 acres are hotels, seafood eateries, touristy shops, 63 holes of golf, a water park, bicycle trails, dolphin tours, mansion tours, a tennis complex and a sea turtle center, all of which draws tourists.

The Turtle Crawl and the Shrimp and Grits Festival are just two of many fun annual festivals. Sunsets seen from St. Andrews Beach, which is the only west-facing beach in the Golden Isles, are spectacular.

It is worth noting that a pass is required to enter Jekyll Island. The discounted cost to residents is $50-$100 per year, depending on vehicle size.