Kayaking in the Golden Isles: Brunswick, St. Simons Island, and Jekyll Island, Georgia

With an abundance of marshes and the Atlantic Ocean, opportunities abound to go kayaking in the Golden Isles of Georgia. While I have seen lone kayakers start off at the St. Simons Island Pier and brave the often choppy St. Simons Sound to paddle along with pleasure boats, fishing boats, and ocean going cargo ships, the best bet for visiting kayakers - both experienced and inexperienced - is to join one of the many tour operators who take tourists and serious kayakers alike on tours of the marshes and ocean of Georgia's Golden Isles.

Jekyll Island Kayak Tours

Located on Jekyll Island, Georgia is the Tidelands Nature Center. Sponsored by the 4-H Club and the University of Georgia, Tidelands provides 3-hour kayak tours of the tidal creeks around Jekyll Island. After some basic instruction, kayakers can paddle along and see all kinds of birds, dolphin, and even manatee if you are lucky. There's also likely to be the occasional alligator sighting, too.

Cost: Single kayak - $50; Tandem - $75; Bring your own kayak and join the tour - $30. Tours available year round. Reservations required.

Tidelands Nature Center
100 S. Riverview Dr.
Jekyll Island, GA 31527
(912) 635-5032
www.tidelands4h.org/index.html
tideland@uga.edu
Tidelands Nature Center Facebook Page

St. Simons Island Kayak Tours

With locations on St. Simons Island, and in Brunswick, Georgia, Southeast Adventure Outfitters has the market cornered on the most kayak tour offerings in the area. Choose from the St. Simons Kayak Tour which ventures along the shoreline of St. Simons Island, or be brave and cross the St. Simons Sound to Jekyll Island and land at the boneyard beach. You can also visit remote and beautiful Little St. Simons Island.

Or start from Southeast Adventure Outfitters Brunswick location and take a slower, more relaxing ride in the "Marshes of Glynn" made famous by poet Sidney Lanier. Other tours include rides along the Altamaha River, the Saltilla River and along Cathead Creek.

For the very adventurous, there are overnight and multi-day trips available to other local, but more wild and slightly more remote, barrier islands. Kayakers who also like to camp may select a trip to Cumberland Island to see the wild horses; to Sapelo and Blackbeard Island; or along the Altamaha or Saltilla Rivers.

Southeast Adventure Outfitters will design a personalized kayak tour package for groups as small as 4 persons. Custom trips - such as learning to fish from a kayak - are also available.

Visit the calendar page at the Southeast Adventure Outfitters Website to choose a date and kayak tour. You can also rent single and double kayaks for the day (starting at $35) to explore the marsh on your own.

Southeast Adventure Outfitters
Main Location: St. Simons Island
313 Mallory Street
St. Simons Island, Georgia 31522
(912) 638-6732

Brunswick Location
1200 Glynn Avenue/Hwy 17
Brunswick, Georgia
(912) 265-5292

www.seaoutfitters.com
Kayak@SouthEastAdventure.com

Sources:
Personal experience.
Tidelands Nature Center
Southeast Adventure Outfitters