Description:
Beaches on Blackbeard Island are for lovers of the wilderness. You can drive to Jekyll Island, and you can take a public ferry to Cumberland Island, but no cheap and easy way exists to reach Blackbeard. And that, for many folks, is the main reason why the place is so attractive. Blackbeard’s nine miles of beaches is used by loggerhead turtles as a nesting site during May and June. Visitors during this season often notice the telltale signs of a loggerhead’s path (like tiny railroad tracks drawn in the sand) leading from the sea to the edge of the sand dunes, where a huge female turtle may have buried up to 100 eggs (visitors should not disturb the nests – loggerheads are an endangered species).
All of Blackbeard Island has been owned by the federal government since 1800. Portions were logged long ago, but now the island, a national wildlife refuge, is fully protected. The southern third of the island, which encompasses about three square miles, has been designated a wilderness area and is left virtually untouched. Good shells are often found on beaches here during the fall and winter months. The entire island is open to visitors everyday during daylight hours, except for several weekends during late fall, when it is open only to pre-registered deer hunters.
Several charter operators on the coast will arrange boat transportation.