Tybee Beach Ecology Trips

An incredible way to spend an afternoon at the beach! This is great for families or groups of adults. Dr. Joe, a retired marine biologist, is friendly, personable, and a fountain of knowledge. He truly enjoys these tours. Dr. Joe brings all of the equipment to find marine creatures and shells. If you want to spend time at the beach but enjoy having activities rather than just sitting in a lounge chair, this trip is for you! Dr. Joe’s tours meet by the lighthouse which offers public parking, restrooms, and the North Beach Bar and Grill for a quick bite.

Our family of 6 just got back from a trip with Dr. Joe. This is a do not miss opportunity if you have an interest in what’s living at the beach. My 8 &11 yr plus my 70 yr old parents loved it. It makes a good vacation even better! We used shovels & nets to find all sorts of things! Just wow

We read about Dr. Joe Richardson (
) on TripAdvisor and decided to spend a few hours with the family on one of his nature/​ecology tours of the Tybee coast. As a professor of Marine Sciences, he has taught courses in marine biology, invertebrate zoology, marine chemistry, oceanography, botany and other coastal ecology subjects. In our conversations with him prior to the tour, we found out that he has been leading field studies at the beach for school classes, teachers and other groups for a while, but really started marketing this service a little over a year ago. We also found out that he and his wife are avid surfers!
Anyhow, Dr. Joe brings along all the equipment necessary to catch & release a variety of sea and shore life during your «tour» and talks in-​depth about what to look for, how to identify certain creatures, the ecology of the shoreline and the jetty, etc. Great idea for families (which I believe made up 100% of our group) that want to explore and learn a little in the process. We caught a zillion hermit crabs, some olive snails, a small turtle and some minnows in the shallows around the jetty. We also found a few ghost shrimp, but were unsuccessful in retrieving them from their holes. Dr. Joe and one of the guys on the tour also pulled a large net through the surf and pulled in some other fish that he identified and we talked about.
All in all, the kids enjoyed it and we all learned something — so time well spent.