Savannah Airport to Tybee Island: Every Option

The flight lands, the bags come off the carousel, and then comes the part nobody plans well: twenty-some miles of marsh road between you and the island. The good news is that Savannah/Hilton Head International is one of the easier airports to leave. The less good news is that every route to Tybee runs along the same single road, so your real choice isn't which route to take. It's what you'd like to be sitting in while you take it.

There are four sensible answers: a rental car, a rideshare, a taxi, or a car service booked in advance. Which one fits depends on how long you're staying and whether you plan to leave the South Beach end of the island at all.

The trip in numbers

From the terminal to Sea and Breeze at 16 Tybrisa Street, the drive is about 27 miles. A routing tool gives roughly 45 minutes with no live traffic. Traffic on the day decides the rest. Plan on 40 to 50 minutes, and a maps app on the day has the live picture.

The route itself is simple: out of the airport, across Savannah, and east on US-80 to the island. There's no alternative approach, which matters for the timing section below.

The options at a glance

Rideshare prices move with demand, and car services quote their own rates. For anything that changes, the airport's own ground transportation page at savannahairport.com is the place to look.

Renting a car

Rental counters sit in the baggage claim area, with the lots by the terminal, so you can go from carousel to keys without leaving the building. Nine companies operate here: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless and Thrifty. Hours differ by company, and the airport publishes each one, which is worth a glance if your flight lands late.

A rental makes the most sense if you aren't planning to stay put. Savannah's historic district, Fort Pulaski, the north end of the island and the dolphin-tour docks at Lazaretto Creek are all easier with wheels, and a car lets you leave on your own schedule.

Two things to settle before you commit. First, parking at the destination. Parking on Tybee is paid on public streets and lots, so a rental left at a public spot costs you each day. At Sea and Breeze, parking is free on site, one car per room, so a rental you keep for the whole stay doesn't add a daily fee at the hotel. Second, whether you'll use it. If your plans are the pier, the beach and dinner on Tybrisa Street, a car you drive twice is an expensive guest. Our post on visiting Tybee Island without a car goes through exactly what's walkable from this end of the island and what isn't.

Rideshare

Uber and Lyft both serve the airport. Pickup is at the north entrance of baggage claim, so follow the signs there rather than waiting at the curb outside the main doors.

For a stay built around South Beach, rideshare is the sensible default. You arrive, you're dropped at the door, and the car never needs to be parked, fueled or returned. The catch shows up on the way back. Drivers are thinner on the island than in Savannah, so for a departure flight, request your ride with a generous cushion instead of waiting until you're packed and standing outside.

Because rideshare pricing is dynamic, the quote in the app at the moment you book is the only number that counts. Check it before you accept, particularly if your arrival coincides with a big flight bank or a weekend event.

Taxis

Taxis wait on demand on the lower level outside baggage claim, including late at night. If you don't have a rideshare account, or your phone is at four percent after a long travel day, they're the simple option: walk out, get in, give the address.

Ask the driver how the trip will be priced before you set off. That's an ordinary request and nobody will think twice about it.

Limos, sedans and shuttles

Car services of every size operate at the airport, from sedans to larger vehicles, and the rule that applies to all of them is that they need to be booked ahead of time. You don't walk up and hire one. Rates are set by each provider.

This is the option for a larger group that would otherwise need two rideshares, or for a very early or very late arrival where you'd rather have a name on a sign than a hope on an app. Give the provider your flight number and the hotel address, 16 Tybrisa Street, and confirm the pickup point they'll meet you at.

Timing: the one road in

Tybee has a single road on, US-80, and it crosses the Bull River and Lazaretto Creek bridges before it reaches the island. That has a few practical consequences.

It's the same road for everyone. A summer weekend, a festival, a good beach day: all of it feeds through one corridor. If you're arriving on a day when the island is busy, build extra time into the drive and into any plan you've made for what happens after you land.

The bridges don't give you an alternative. If traffic backs up on either side, there's no side road to try. That is a reason to keep your check-in plans loose rather than a reason for worry.

Savannah itself adds variability. Much of the trip is spent getting across the city before the road opens out toward the marsh. That is where a no-traffic routing figure and a real afternoon drive tend to part ways.

Check live conditions before you leave the terminal. A quick look at a maps app while you're waiting for your bag will tell you more than any published average. Treat the 40 to 50 minute figure as the baseline and adjust from there.

Whatever the clock says, check-in at Sea and Breeze starts at 4:00 PM. If you land at 10 in the morning, you'll be at the island well before your room is ready. That's not a problem to solve so much as a free morning: the pier and the beach are a few steps from our door, and the Tybrisa Street restaurants are a short walk.

Arriving at Sea and Breeze

We're at 16 Tybrisa Street, steps from South Beach, in the hub where the pier, the sand and most of the island's restaurants are close together. Your driver, rideshare or taxi can take you right to the front, and if you came by rental, parking is free on site, one car per room.

Once you're in, you can park the car and mostly leave it. A walkable South Beach trip is where this end of the island is strongest, and it's the main reason the airport-to-island transfer, however you do it, is the only stretch where you have to think about logistics. If you want to see what that looks like on foot before you commit to a rental, is Tybee Island walkable covers it.

Here is how the whole transfer runs, start to finish, whichever option you pick:

1. At the airport. Renters head to the counters in baggage claim. Rideshare riders walk to the north entrance of baggage claim. Taxis are on the lower level. If you booked a car service, go to the pickup point you confirmed with the provider.
2. On the road. Every one of those cars takes the same route: across Savannah, then east on US-80, over the Bull River bridge and the Lazaretto Creek bridge, and onto the island.
3. At the hotel. Ask your driver for 16 Tybrisa Street. If you're driving yourself, parking at the hotel is free, one car per room.
4. At the desk. Check-in begins at 4:00 PM. Arrive earlier and the beach is a short walk away while you wait for the room.

Only the first step changes with the option you choose. The road and the hotel are the same for everyone.

For rooms, see our rooms. If you're sorting out dates, special offers is the place to look first.

A quick way to choose

• Staying three nights or fewer, mostly on South Beach: rideshare or taxi, and skip the car.
• A week, with Savannah and Fort Pulaski on the list: rent at the airport.
• A group of four or more, or an awkward arrival time: book a car service in advance.
• Unsure: ask how many days you'll actually leave South Beach. If the answer is none or one, you don't need a rental.