SID WAS HERE
Premier Property Management
Tybee Island sits eighteen miles east of Savannah and runs on its own permit system, its own beach culture, and its own pace. Sid Was Here manages legal, licensed Tybee Island rentals — and tells you upfront which blocks are worth booking and which to skip.
100+ properties managed across coastal Georgia · 50,000+ bookings · 2,292+ Airbnb reviews · Licensed under City of Tybee Island STR ordinance
Tybee Island is Georgia’s easternmost barrier island, 18 miles from downtown Savannah via US-80 East. That is the only road on and off the island — there is no second route, no bridge alternative, no shortcut.
Off-season, plan 30 minutes door-to-door from Forsyth Park. In peak summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day), on Pirate Fest weekends, or during the Beach Bum Parade, that drive can stretch to 50–60 minutes. Plan accordingly if you have a downtown dinner reservation.
The island itself is roughly 2.7 square miles. North to south is about 3 miles. You can walk the length of it in an hour, bike it in 20 minutes, and drive it in five outside of summer traffic.
Tybee is small enough that “walkable” actually means walkable. Most of the island sits within a 15-minute walk of either a beach access or a restaurant. Here is what is genuinely close to most rentals — and where you will need to drive or bike instead.
Tybee looks small on a map, but the feel changes meaningfully every few blocks. Sid Was Here does not list rentals in zones where we wouldn’t tell our own friends to stay, and we are direct with guests about which streets fit which kind of trip. Here is the honest breakdown.
Where: Roughly 14th Street south to Inlet Avenue, ocean side to Butler Avenue.
Vibe: Loudest, busiest, most amenity-dense block on the island. Pier, pavilion, bars, food trucks, t-shirt shops.
Best for: First-time Tybee visitors, groups of friends, anyone who wants to walk to bars and food without driving.
What’s hard: Parking is genuinely difficult on summer weekends — even with a private rental driveway, your guests will park three blocks away. Noise carries from Tybrisa until about 11pm in summer. Light sleepers should book Mid Beach instead.
Where: The middle third of the island, ocean side of Butler.
Vibe: Residential, quieter, beach access every block via boardwalk crossovers.
Best for: Families, couples, anyone returning to Tybee who already did the South Beach thing once. The sweet spot of the island.
What’s hard: You will drive or bike to dinner. Walking from 7th Street to Tybrisa is doable but it is a 25-minute haul in beach gear.
Where: Officer’s Row, Van Horn, Polk, Meddin Drive, the streets surrounding the lighthouse.
Vibe: Historic, residential, oak-shaded, almost entirely free of tourist commercial sprawl. The locals’ end.
Best for: Repeat visitors, photographers, people who want to walk to the lighthouse and the quietest beach on the island.
What’s hard: Furthest from South Beach amenities. Some streets here have homes that are not in great repair — Sid Was Here only books rentals on blocks we’d stay on ourselves, and we are specific with guests about which side of Polk to walk.
Where: Bottom of the island, facing Little Tybee across the inlet.
Vibe: Calm, marsh-and-river side, shrimp boats coming in, AJ’s Dockside is the anchor.
Best for: Families with small children (calmer water), sunset chasers, anyone who hates ocean surf.
What’s hard: No surf means no boogie boarding. If your kids want waves, this isn’t it. Also: the no-see-ums are real at dusk in summer. Bring repellent.
Where: West side of the island, facing the marsh and Lazaretto Creek.
Vibe: Quietest, most residential, longest walk to any beach.
Best for: Owners who want lower nightly rates and longer stays. Less in-demand for short trips.
What’s hard: You will not walk to the beach from here in any reasonable time. This is a drive-or-bike zone. If your guests think they’re booking “Tybee” and don’t read the listing carefully, they will be disappointed.
Tybee Island has its own Short-Term Rental ordinance, separate from the City of Savannah’s STVR system. If you are buying or operating a rental on Tybee, you are dealing with City of Tybee Island staff, Tybee’s permit fees, and Tybee’s enforcement — not Savannah’s. This is the single most common mistake out-of-state buyers make.
A Tybee STR is any residential property rented for stays under 30 consecutive days. Anything 30 days or longer is a long-term rental and falls outside the STR ordinance.
This is the rule that changed Tybee STR investing in 2024, and the one most buyers don’t know about until the closing table.
Passed June 13, 2024, Ordinance No. 08-2024 establishes that in residential zones, a Tybee Island STR permit terminates upon the sale of the property. It does not transfer to the new owner. The new owner has to apply fresh — and depending on the zone and current cap status, they may not be approved.
Roughly 750 properties on Tybee are affected by this rule. If you are buying a Tybee rental, the listing photos and “active STR permit” language in the MLS comments are not a guarantee you will be operating an STR after closing. Get the zoning verified, get the permit cap verified, and get it in writing.
Sid Was Here works with Tybee buyer-investors before they close so this conversation happens before the contract, not after.
For permit-specific questions: 912-472-5089 (City of Tybee Island STR Help)
Tybee is Pay & Display island-wide. Every public parking space on the island is metered, including most of the residential streets near the beach.
If a listing claims “free parking for 6 cars,” it is either lying or is a pre-2010 grandfathered property. Verify before booking.
Sid Was Here’s house manuals cover this on day one of every guest stay.
We only manage Tybee rentals that hold an active City of Tybee Island STR permit. We verify this every January. If a property loses its permit — through abandonment, sale, or ordinance change — it comes off our roster the same week. You won’t book a rental from us that gets shut down mid-stay.
Julie Gates has been operating in coastal Georgia for over a decade. Sid Was Here manages 100+ properties and has hosted 50,000+ stays. We know which Tybee streets get loud at 11pm, which driveways flood in October king tides, and which “oceanfront” listings are actually three blocks back. We tell guests that before they book, not after the complaint email.
Julie is a published BiggerPockets author (The 30 Day Stay, 2023), Forbes Business Council member, and host of the Cashflow Savannah Podcast. Sid Was Here is run by people who own rentals — not a hospitality conglomerate that bought a brand. Owners who hand us their Tybee property are working with operators who think like operators.
Tybee’s STR rules changed materially in 2024. If you bought before the ordinance and haven’t reviewed how the sale-termination rule, the 60-day activity requirement, and the cap dynamics affect your exit strategy, you are operating on outdated assumptions. Sid Was Here works with Tybee owner-investors on permit strategy, occupancy optimization, and full management — and we are direct about what the math actually is.
Schedule an Owner ConsultationOwn a home on Tybee Island and considering short-term or vacation rentals? Sid Was Here provides full-service Tybee Island property management — from permit compliance and dynamic pricing to guest communication and turnover cleaning. We manage 100+ properties across Savannah and Tybee with 2,292+ verified reviews.
Learn more about our property management services or Tybee STR laws for investors.
Experience professional management, local market expertise, and a team that lives and breathes short-term rentals. Let the results speak for themselves.
