Island info
Parking is the one genuinely stressful part of a Tybee day trip, and it is entirely solvable if you plan for it. Every public space on the island is paid, every day of the year, and enforcement is quick.
Pay by plate at a kiosk or in the Park TYB app — there are no windshield tickets to display. The app lets you extend time from the beach without walking back, which is worth setting up before you leave home. Residential streets are permit-only and towing is not a bluff.
The south-end lots by the pier are the most convenient and the first to fill, usually by 10am on summer weekends. The north-end lots near the lighthouse and Fort Screven hold spaces later in the morning and put you next to the quietest beach. Mid-island street parking along Butler Avenue is the fallback.
The island shuttle loops Butler Avenue between the north-end lighthouse area and the south-end pier roughly every twenty minutes during the season. Park once at whichever end has space, ride to the other, and skip the circling entirely. It's free, it's air-conditioned, and it takes strollers.
Street-legal golf carts are everywhere on Tybee and most rental cottages include one or a rack of bikes. Both need a legal parking space just like a car, but they turn the island's one long avenue into a five-minute trip. Bike lanes run most of Butler; helmets are required for riders under sixteen.