The Beach (Atlanta, Savannah, St. Simons: condo, wedding, school)

[seacook]

We will soon be moving to the outskirts of Atlanta and we are very excited with all of the pictures that the computer offers. After finding a few showing the sand and water we couldnt help but think that it looks an awful lot like some of the California beaches. How does it compare?
Thanks

[xxman777]

Uhh...The beach is at least a four hour drive from Atlanta (depending on what one you go to). I think the beaches here are completely different from CA beaches, pretty in their own way but not at all the same.

[seacook]

Thanks. We are coming from Arizona where it is so hot that everyone stays close to their air conditioning vents. As a result of that it is not uncommon here for people to take trips that take several hours in length just to beat the heat. Since our plan is to live in the Atlanta area I was relating a trip to the beach like as if it was here in Phoenix, a thing of the norm. Even if it is not close in likeness to a California beach, the pictures are beautiful!!!

[atlantagreg30127]

I'm still trying to figure out what pictures that "the computer offered" of Atlanta that showed sand and water (??) you saw. Maybe someone just spilled a bad of cocain and their water bottle fell on top of it during a bad drug deal and those were what you saw (more appropriate for Atlanta than a beach). LOL. Oh, fine. Sorry. (but it's true).

The closer area to Atlanta is Savannah Beach and it's a pit. Really bad. Dirty and full of freaky folks. I've seen everything from used condoms (yes, really) to human waste on that beach. If you want something a bit better, Folly Beach off of Charleston, SC is better, or head south to Panama City Beach - each about 5-5.5 hours.

[seacook]

SCARY...
The area we were looking at was Tybee island. Not looking forward to taking the kids by all the used condoms and human waste much less drugs and freaky people. Guess we just have to get there and find the good locations for everything.
Thanks

[spacelord75]

About 5 hours away is St. Simons Island, which is located in GA and pretty nice. I've spent all of my 32 years in Atlanta and finally went there for a wedding and thought it was pretty cool. As the previous poster mentioned, another good bet is the Florida panhandle - Panama City Beach, Destin, etc. which are way better than CA beaches in my opinion - (a) you can actually swim in the water b/c it's warm and (b) I prefer white sand to yellow. It is anywhere from 5-6 hours away. I really like FL beaches, on the Gulf side you get warm water but not much in terms of waves, and then on the Atlantic side you can maybe cooler water but larger waves. You will not have the rugged coastlines of the Pacific coast, but like I said, at least the water is nice and warm.

[ATLienGirl]

My school spent a few days in Tybee Island for a Science Field Trip on the beach, and being it was my first time there, the beach was pretty nice. However, I have this thing of not wanting to swim in water that doesn't have chlorine. All my life I've been going to east coast beaches and prefer not to swim in the water, but, that's my personal preference. Since an earlier post said something about Savannah Beach, Tybee is right outside of Savannah and is kind of the same beach, but, as we were walking along, I didn't see any used condoms or freaks.

[seacook]

Thanks for the reassuring replies Spacelord75 and Atliengirl, time is running out and we will soon be living in Georgia. Its good to know that maybe the beach experience can still be fun!!!

[spacelord75]

Oh yeah, definitely! Tybee Island is pretty nice, and if you don't like that, there are tons of beaches all equidistant from Atlanta (ie, nearly all of them are in the 4.5-6 hour range driving). Another cool thing is that the Bahamas and Jamiaca are 3 hour or less direct flights from Atlanta also, so if you want to get down to the Carribean it's way easier than getting there from the western US.

[forresthills]

St Simons is the best. I use to live there. Its a little overdeveloped but still beautiful.Next door is Jekyll Island loaded with mansions of millioniares from days past now a state park. You have Savannah about a hour away and Jacksonville fl. also a hour away so take your pick!!!