TYBEE ISLAND ― Sand is currency at Georgia’s most popular beach destination, and as this summer wrapped, Tybee was nearly broke.
Erosion along the 3-mile shoreline topped 60% in August and narrowed the beach to a point even Tybee lifers professed to have never seen. Low tide exposed the concrete and rock infrastructure — known as groins and jetties — used to shore up the beach a half-century ago. At high tide, sunbathers crowded into a neat line in front of the dunes, with the surf tickling their toes.
Making the situation more dire was word that a scheduled sand replenishment, known as a beach nourishment, would be delayed a year because of federal funding cuts. The federal government contributes $12 million toward the $20 million project, and the other funders — the state as well as Tybee Island — didn’t have the resources to cover the shortfall.
The potential for the beach, Tybee’s biggest tourism draw, to shrink even more posed a serious threat to the island’s economy. Tybee’s busiest months, May through July, saw a year-over-year decrease in 2026 in both hotel-motel taxes and parking revenue.
In July, island officials had mounted a last-ditch effort to secure $12 million from Congress when they learned other nourishment projects had come in under budget.
But they received no response, and when lawmakers left Capitol Hill for their August recess, islanders turned their hopes away from landing sand dollars and toward praying away erosion-causing storms.
Those prayers were dashed earlier this month by two nor’easters, with 30 mph winds driving powerful waves onto the beach. Yet as conditions worsened in Georgia, they improved in Washington, D.C.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
The head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Adam Telle, was promoted to U.S. Army Secretary and vowed to prioritize infrastructure projects. Tybee officials and Georgia lawmakers, led by U.S. Congressman Buddy Carter and Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, mounted an after-hours push for money.
“The Georgia delegation came through big time,” said Bret Bell, Tybee’s chief administrator. “It was a matter of right time, right place — and right person.”
The funding approval was announced Wednesday, clearing the path for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to finalize permits and procure dredging equipment. The plan is to start moving sand in December and finish by the end of February. The nourishment is expected to require 1.3 million cubic yards of sand.
Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via
Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via
Tybee officials are confident the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will meet the timeline. Design and planning for the nourishment project continued even in the face of the funding cuts. They cited a “great relationship” with the agency’s regional office, based in Savannah, and that all indications are the project is “ready to go.”
“Our beach is our greatest natural asset, a critical part of our economy and our most important protection against ocean storms,” Tybee Mayor Brian West said. “This funding means we can now bring the beach back to the condition that generations of Tybee residents and visitors remember so well.”
The nourishment news touched off celebrations on Tybee, particularly among those in the business community. Tybee enjoyed a tourism surge following the COVID-19 pandemic, due in part to the state’s less-restrictive approach to coronavirus regulations. First-time visitors discovered Tybee in 2020 and 2021 and, according to hoteliers and vacation rental management company representatives, many returned in 2022 and 2023.
Hotel-motel tax revenue more than doubled between 2020 and 2023 but has dipped in the summers since as the beach narrowed.
“The visitor economy, or tourism industry, truly drives the economic vitality on Tybee Island, and having a healthy beach is the foundation of it all,” said Joe Marinelli, president of both Visit Tybee and Visit Savannah, the local convention and visitors bureau.
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