I grew up going there - never smelled the paper smell there - only on the way. Never had a problem with bugs there. Great place - beautiful live oaks with spanish moss. King and PRince is the best hotel but they lost parts of their beach due to erosion - we always stay down near the life guard station. Crab Trap is our favorite restaurant - go early!

Maybe it's just off season, or certain days.

Anonymous wrote:Does it still smell? (paper mill)

Funny you should ask! I am the PP who recently re-visited and vividly remembered the paper mill smell on the way there (I even called my dad this time to say, "It still smells exactly the same!. However, I have never found that the smell was also at St. Simons!

Does it still smell? (paper mill)

My dad lived there as a middle schooler and we used to go visit his aunt who lived near the lighthouse until she was quite elderly. We stopped there for an hour or two on the way home from Disney recently and it really made me want to go back soon! Unfortunately, I have little advice about where to stay because we were always with family but The King and Prince is lovely! Enjoy!

Anonymous wrote:Beautiful mossy oaks, golfing and tennis, charming architecture. Great place to bike and play. BUT I found the ocean water to be a little brown and cloudy (tannins from the several nearby rivers that come out there) and the beach was hard packed brown sand, there were too many biting flies on the beach, made it hard to sit and enjoy. Prob not like that all the time.

Were you there in the summer? We only have been in March/April and there are no bugs. Wondered about the summer and the gnats.

We love Sea Island. We fly into Jax and then drive.

You can also fly into Brunswick (BQK) but it will be a change onto a small plane in ATL.
It's about a 15-20 minute drive from the airport to SSI.

We've stayed at the King and Prince.

The Cloister at Sea Island is a 5 star resort on Sea Island which is just north of St. Simons and corrected by a bridge. http://www.seaisland.com/

Beautiful mossy oaks, golfing and tennis, charming architecture. Great place to bike and play. BUT I found the ocean water to be a little brown and cloudy (tannins from the several nearby rivers that come out there) and the beach was hard packed brown sand, there were too many biting flies on the beach, made it hard to sit and enjoy. Prob not like that all the time.

We go every year. Usually drive, but this year we are flying to Jacksonvillle. It's about 45 - 1 hour north of there. You could also fly into Savannah. There is also an airport on St. Simons for private aircraft only. Not a lot of hotels on the island. The King and Prince is the nicest and largest. There is also a Hampton Inn away from the beach.

We love St. Simons. Can't wait to be back in a few weeks!

Has anyone been? How far from the nearest airports? Suggestions of where to stay?