Aug 4

Aug 4 Cumberland Island National Seashore. Woodbine, Georgia.

Sarah Cosca

Travel, USA, usa roadtrip

Cumberland island:

To visit Cumberland island, you must purchase tickets in advance and print them out. I cannot stress this to you enough! A digital copy on your phone will not work. To purchase tickets go on the Cumberland island national park page here.
You must arrive early to get checked in. The line backs up, so I would give yourself about an hour to get checked in and to the dock on time.
The ferry ride over is about 45 minutes.

Before you go:

There is no food vendors or stores over on the island, so everything you need, you must bring with you. It is hot there, so make sure you bring plenty of water. Once you are there, there is only a few ferries throughout the day, so bring snacks, etc.
print out your tickets
There are no cars on the island, besides one tour company that is operated by Lang’s Seafood. They are an authorized tour group through the National Park Service. This website gives you all tour options. https://www.nps.gov/cuis/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm
You can rent bikes over there, but it is very expensive. You can bring your own for $10 on the ferry.
On the ferry, they sell little snacks like candy bars/chips as well as water bottles/sodas.
There are no trash cans on the island, so al wrappers and bottles must be brought back with you on the ferry. Make sure you bring a trash bag with you, so that this isn’t an issue.

The Tour:

The tour I went on, takes you in air conditioned shuttle buses around the island.
The guide has tons of knowledge about the rich history, geography and animals on the island. Ask as many questions as you can think of!
The island is only 18 miles long and four miles wide (at the widest point), but there are no paved roads, so driving it takes a long time. You will take the last ferry home if you go on this tour, so make sure to plan accordingly!
It is extremely bumpy. At some points you may be bouncing out of your seat bumpy. The guide even told us before hand that if we didn’t think we could handle it, to go back to the office to get a refund.
- I did not think it was bad enough to deter me from having a good time. I also thought seeing the whole island is the only way to do it. If you’re already there, its the only way to see the whole island. They said only 20% of people who visit ever see that much.
They will make bathroom stops. I believe that there were 3 spots where you could use the restroom, but I just wouldn’t pass up any opportunities for that!
Clean running water to refill bottles at the beginning and the end of the tour. Our guide/driver brought extra bottles for people. I am not sure if that is standard with the tours or just something extra that he did. Either way, it was greatly appreciated.

History of the island:

Very famous people like the Carnage’s, rockafeller’s lived on the island.
JFK Jr. got married on the little church there.
Thomas Edison himself came to the island to install electricity for a few of the houses there.
Eli Whitney even invented the cotton gin there on the island.
If you are a man however, you may not want to pack your bags and move to this gorgeous oasis. The men who held any power here seemed to all die soon after moving to the island.

Camping on the island:

You can camp on the island. I did not do this, though I wish I had. If you are interested in doing so, here is the website with all the information that you need. https://www.nps.gov/cuis/planyourvisit/camping.htm

Other things that you can do on the island:

Hiking, biking, hunting, swimming, youth activities, stargazing, boating & so much more.
check out this website for all the information you need! https://www.nps.gov/cuis/planyourvisit/things2do.htm

Packing list: Although this is not a full packing list, but these are things you absolutely should not forget.