Tybee, month by month.

Cold, grey, empty and genuinely lovely if that is what you want. Water in the fifties, nobody on the sand, and the best shelling of the year because no one has picked it over. Expect restaurant closures and shortened hours.

Tybee Polar Plunge — New Year's Day, check the city calendar

The same, with more daylight. Mardi Gras brings the island's first real weekend crowd of the year. Still too cold to swim; perfectly good for walking, birding and Fort Pulaski.

Tybee Mardi Gras — February, dates vary

The island wakes up. Savannah's St. Patrick's Day spills out here and that one weekend is busier and more expensive than anything until Memorial Day. The farmers market opens on the lighthouse grounds and runs through October.

Savannah St. Patrick's Day · Farmers market opens

Arguably the best month. Warm days, cool nights, water still bracing, prices not yet at summer levels. Spring break weeks are the exception and they move around, so check a school calendar before you commit. Gnats and no-see-ums arrive with the warmth; bring repellent.

Turtle season and lifeguard season both begin on the first. Water becomes swimmable. The Beach Bum Parade — a town-wide water fight, and exactly as advertised — is the island's own holiday. Memorial Day weekend is the first genuine crush.

Turtle season begins · Lifeguards on duty · Beach Bum Parade

Hot, humid, busy and excellent if you accept all three. Book months out. Hurricane season opens on the first, which matters less for June than for August and September, but it is when you should start reading your booking's cancellation terms.

The busiest weeks of the year and the hottest. Afternoon thunderstorms roll in most days and clear in an hour. Fourth of July fireworks over the water are the island at its fullest — plan your parking hours ahead, not minutes.

Fourth of July fireworks

Hottest water of the year and the most jellyfish, which is what the purple flag is for. Crowds thin noticeably once Southern schools go back in the first half of the month. Peak hurricane season runs from here into September.

Summer water, spring crowds. The single most underrated month on the island — still warm enough to swim, quiet enough to park. The trade is that this is the statistical peak of hurricane season, so buy the insurance and watch the forecast.

The other best month. Warm, dry, low humidity, water still swimmable into the first half. Pirate Fest takes over the island for a weekend and is either the reason you come or the weekend you avoid. Turtle and lifeguard seasons both close on the 31st.

Tybee Pirate Fest — October 8–11, 2026

Cool, clear and very quiet. Too cold for most people to swim, ideal for everything else. Thanksgiving week is the one busy stretch.

Post Theater music fest · Kite Festival at North Beach

Empty until about the 20th, then full. The island does a Christmas parade and a lighted boat parade, both small and both charming. New Year's on the beach is a real tradition here.

Christmas parade · Lighted boat parade