Island in Georgia turned into an adventure park where you can search for treasures
What could be cooler than starting the year by exploring the island in search of treasure? If you visit Jekyll Island State Park, you can take part in a treasure hunt starting January 1st and running until February 28th. Time-out.
This small island in Georgia - 11 km long and 2,5 km wide - hosts the 21st annual treasure hunt. Island Treasures.
Here's everything you need to know about this free outdoor adventure.
What are they hunting
Hunt for beautiful glass balls. Created by US artists, they resemble the hollow glass floats of the early 1900s used by fishermen to mark their underwater nets. The floats sometimes broke free and were taken home by happy beachgoers as souvenirs, a tourist hobby in the 1950s. These days, one-of-a-kind glass balls are ordered for this event.
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How it works
Every day, trained and cunning Beach Buddies volunteers hide clear plastic balloons all over the island. If you find one, you can trade it in for a real handmade glass ball (the fragile decoration is safer to keep indoors, and its proxy can be hidden in the wild!). All you have to do is take the plastic sphere to the Jekyll Island Visitor Information Center to exchange it for a glass one. Inside the plastic ball is a number corresponding to a particular glass ball.
The whole island is involved in the treasure hunt
Yes, over 11 km of beaches! You can walk or ride a bike. There are 35 km of bike paths on the island. The pleasant temperatures in January and February are very conducive to hunting.
Need to take a ferry to get there
No. It is the only one of Georgia's four barrier islands with a paved road that can be driven from the mainland. Although the event is free, you will need to pay an on-island entry fee of $8.
This island is named after Dr. Jekyll
The name of the island does not come from Robert Louis Stevenson's cult novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is named after the British politician who funded the creation of the island as a colony despite its Native American population, Joseph Jekyll. The island served as a plantation that used the labor of enslaved people, and in 1858 became the penultimate stopover for slaves from Africa. It later became a playground for the wealthy, including the Rockefellers, and is now a state park owned by the state of Georgia.
How old do you have to be to participate
Everyone is welcome! You just need to have a photo ID to get the glass treasure.
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How many treasures will be hidden
Two hundred within two months, which is roughly equivalent to three per day, although there may be more or less depending on how many have already been found on a given day.
They hide in the morning
The balls are hidden during the day, which means that Beach Buddies must be very tricky (and event website implores visitors not to follow those they suspect may be hiding treasure so that the hunt is fair for all).
What if some treasures are not found before February 28
There is a one-month grace period to find the orb, until March 31st.
How to find out if there are still unfound balls
This can be checked in Jekyll Island Visitor Information Center. There you can see how many balls are left.
Do you need a shovel
No, this is not like pirates looking for buried treasure (although Jekyll Island does have a history of French pirates raiding and brutally killing the natives of Guale and Mocam).
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The balls are hidden in plain sight, and visitors are urged to stick to the paths and not roam the beach dunes, golf courses, swamps, or private property.
What if you fail
You can buy a glass ball for $75 at the Guest Information Center or online. Better yet, come back in 2024 to try again!
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