Captain Derek’s Dolphin Adventure

Tybee Island, Georgia

When first arriving at the small stone driveway and seeing that everyone was parking along the side of the road, Rich wondered what I had arranged for us. I could tell he was more than curious about how shady of a deal we were in for.

But, let me just say right here, that Captain Derek’s Dolphin Adventure Boat Tour is highly recommended by us and very reasonably priced. It was a great afternoon seeing dolphins and the crew made the trip extremely enjoyable.

I didn’t take a lot of still photos of the dolphins. They are hard to capture. I mostly recorded videos. The two photos above I snapped from one of the videos.

The tour boat drives right by the Cockspur Island Lighthouse, which is the smallest lighthouse in Georgia. Earlier in the day we toured Fort Pulaski National Monument and expected to see the lighthouse from there, but found out it was a 0.8-mile hike one way to see the lighthouse and it could only be done during low tide. The National Park Service cut a trail from the fort to the lighthouse through the brush in 2005 to allow visitors a closer vantage point. Since this wasn’t an option for me, we succumbed to the fact that I wouldn’t get to see it.

I was so pleased that it was visible from the boat. Not only was it visible, but Captain Derek and his crew were associated with the friends of the Cockspur Island Lighthouse and helped raise money for its upkeep. They drove us up close to the lighthouse and the oyster and mussel bed it sits on.

The lighthouse was originally built simply as a day marker without lights for boats entering the Savannah River from the Atlantic Ocean. Construction lasted from March 1837 to November 1839. Lights and reflectors were added by 1848. The original lighthouse was damaged by a hurricane in 1854 and rebuilt a little larger by 1855.

The light was extinguished for a time during the American Civil War during the battle that brought the defeat of Fort Pulaski. The lighthouse suffered little or no damage, even though it was in direct line of fire. It was relit in 1866. — Wikipedia

On June 1, 1909, the light was permanently extinguished. The United States Coast Guard relinquished control of this lighthouse to the National Park Service on August 14, 1958. Along with the entire National Monument, the lighthouse and the island is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Starting in 1995 and lasting until 2000, the upper portions of the lighthouse were restored, although the foundations still require protection from wave action and tidal erosion. -Wikipedia

It was a beautiful day on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Georgia seeing dolphins and lighthouses.

If you are looking for something to do while in Savannah, Georgia you should consider putting these places on your list.

And if you want to give an old article some love, here is the one I wrote about visiting Fort Pulaski.

Thanks for reading.