Just 29 miles northeast of the Jacksonville International Airport lies Amelia Island, recently named #5 of the top 10 North American islands by Conde Naste traveler's reader choice awards (ahead of Hilton Head, Sanibel and Captiva)! The beautiful island of Amelia is located in the southernmost chain of the Atlantic coast barrier islands that stretch from North Carolina to Florida. It is in the northeastern corner of Florida and is a home-away-from-home for vacationers year round. On the island is the Amelia Island Plantation, located in extreme northeast Florida, and across the St. Mary's River from Georgia, and is one of Florida's premier resorts. Nestled among centuries-old Live Oaks, a maritime forest, vast tracts of salt marshes on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Amelia Island Plantation is a gated family community with miles of beaches, multiple golf courses, a world class spa, tennis facilities, seven miles of nature and hiking trails and world class restaurants. An endless vista of treetops will greet your eyes. More than 80 percent of the natural vegetation was preserved during the construction of this 1,350-acre resort. The result is a nature lover's paradise--an endless canopy of live oak, water oak, pine, magnolia, sabal palms, cedar, and cypress. The wide beach is scattered with shells. Brown pelicans glide inches above the waves searching for fish and crustaceans, and sandpipers scurry along the water's edge looking for their own meal. Since the Plantation is surrounded on 3 sides by water - the Atlantic Ocean, the Intracoastal Waterway and Nassau Sound, there are plenty of surf fishing and deep-sea excursion opportunities. Chartered sailing expeditions are available as well. Inland, freshwater lakes and brackish lagoons yield bass, bream, tarpon, snook and redfish. Walker's Landing, a recreation and boat launch area on the creek, has excellent crabbing.