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About Us

HomeAbout Us

Destination Amelia

Destination Amelia is a full-service vacation rental property management company, specializing in short-term vacation rentals. When our company began in 2012, we made a commitment to provide outstanding, personal service to both our owners and guests. As we have grown over the years, our management team has maintained that commitment. We have built a team that is like a family and we truly care about the experience of our guests.

Family-Owned Business

Destination Amelia was founded in 2012 by Ryan and Joanna Deems. Amelia Island has always held a special place in their hearts - they grew up vacationing on Amelia Island, were married at the Amelia Island Plantation Chapel, and soon thereafter relocated to Amelia Island to make it their home. They feel blessed to be able to raise their three children in their favorite place in the world and are grateful for the opportunity to help others love Amelia Island like they do.

Our Properties

We offer guests a variety of fully furnished vacation rental properties (condos, villas, and single family homes) on Amelia Island. These properties range in size and occupancy, and include a variety of amenities. We also offer a number of pet-friendly properties. Our goal is to always offer high quality, clean, and well-maintained properties at an excellent value. In keeping with our commitment to outstanding service, we only accept new properties that we would enjoy staying in ourselves.

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Meet The Destination Amelia Team

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Ryan Deems

President & Co-Founder

Ryan is the president and co-founder of Destination Amelia. He and his wife Joanna started the business in 2012. Ryan holds a BS in Business Marketing from Berry College and has a strong background in marketing and customer service. He has a passion for the vacation rental industry and takes pride in delivering great personal service to both owners and guests. He feels called to this role and sees it as an opportunity to serve others and help families make their own special memories on Amelia Island. Amelia Island is a very special place to his family. He grew up vacationing on Amelia Island Plantation throughout his childhood, he and his wife were engaged and married on the island, and later relocated permanently to Amelia Island in 2010. They now feel blessed to raise their three daughters in this place that is so special to them. Ryan is so thankful to have a career he enjoys and feels called to, while also living and raising his family in a place he loves. He was named "Business Leader of the Year" at the Nassau County Chamber of Commerce's 2022 Annual Business Awards.

Favorite restaurant? T Ray's - My favorite place for fried shrimp and a great laid-back, small town atmosphere.

Favorite beach activity? Anything with family! Late afternoon/evenings are my favorite time for playing on the beach with my family and looking for shark's teeth. 

Top sunset spot? Walker's Landing on Amelia Island Plantation. Second choice is the marina downtown right after getting ice-cream at Fantastic Fudge.

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Joanna Deems

Vice President & Co-Founder

Joanna owns Destination Amelia with her husband Ryan. She has a background in communications and leadership and holds a BA in Political Science from Berry College. She supports Ryan and the Destination Amelia team in decision making and planning, but her primary role is staying home with their three young daughters. Ryan and Joanna enjoy having their children take part in the family business and try to set an example of leading with integrity.

Favorite restaurant? Cafe Karibo! Everything on the menu I've tried is delicious (especially the Shrimp ’n Grits) and downtown atmosphere/outdoor seating is a favorite.

Favorite beach activity? Everything - the beach is my happy place. The girls and I could spend hours exploring, playing in tide pools, and looking for shark's teeth. Bonus when dad is there to boogie board and jump waves.

Top sunset spot? Walker's Landing on Amelia Island Plantation. It's where we had our wedding reception in 2007 and will always be our “spot".

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Chelsea Sandusky

Marketing Manager

Born in Ft. Lauderdale and raised in metro Atlanta, Chelsea fell in love with Amelia Island while on family vacations growing up. Before relocating here with her husband (Charles) in 2017, she put her Bachelors in Mass Communication to work writing full-time for multiple newspapers and magazines for seven years. As a travel enthusiast, she’s thrilled to share about Amelia Island with fellow travelers and help them plan a trip. She served as the Guest Services Manager for multiple years before moving into this other leadership role of Marketing Manager. She considers herself a digital marketing geek and photography aficionado. When not hard at work, she’s usually cuddling her kids, walking her rescue dog, trying a new restaurant with her husband, or dreaming about her next adventure!

Favorite restaurant? With over 90 restaurants to choose from, our island makes it hard for me to pick just one! So here’s two! I love the bistro fare and shaded garden patios at Cafe Karibo downtown, but David’s is an exceptional experience for special occasions!

Favorite beach activity? Pulling my chair right up to the shoreline, feeling the waves at my feet, and watching my children play in the surf.

Top sunset spot? Out on the water is best! Weather permitting, nothing beats views from a kayak, a private boat charter or the Amelia River Cruises’ sunset tour!

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Charles Sandusky

Maintenance Operations Manager

Charles has a Bachelors in Health Education: Exercise Science and a Masters in Divinity. He spent around eight years training people to achieve health and wellness goals, five years walking alongside people to help them know and follow God, and since 2020 has been with Destination Amelia helping people’s stays go more smoothly through inspecting and maintaining our properties in an operations capacity. He’s handy, loves people, and is very observant.

Favorite restaurant? Surcheros is my go-to because they have great, healthy options, the staff are friendly, and it’s a nice, clean atmosphere. Yum! Can’t beat the quality and ease for a good, quick meal.

Favorite beach activity? So far, skim boarding and shark tooth hunting are my top-rated beach activities; though, I’m having a go at surfing and SUP.

Top sunset spot? The grassy field/park overlooking the river at Old Town can’t be beat for sunsets. During a time of year that’s not bad on bugs, it’s THE best.

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Traci Peevy

Guest Services Specialist

In 2014, Traci and her family decided they wanted to live at the beach, so they moved from busy Atlanta to serene Amelia Island. In her free time, Traci enjoys bike riding downtown and hunting for shark teeth at Fort Clinch. She is thrilled to now be able to share everything she loves about living in Fernandina Beach!

Favorite restaurant? Timoti's is a great spot to get fresh, local seafood. I love their coconut rice box with blackened fish! Quick and yummy! If you have young kids, you'll love the playground for them.

Favorite beach activity? My dog, Zeke, and I love to take morning beach walks together.

Top sunset spot? I enjoy sunrises more than sunsets, and recommend ANY spot on the beach to enjoy the sunrise!

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Amanda Tanner

Guest Services Specialist

Amanda Tanner began as our new Guest Services Specialist in spring 2024. She originally arrived in Nassau County when her family relocated here from Oahu, Hawaii in 2019. As a military spouse, she has enjoyed her time spent living in different parts of the country and world.  Her love for travel began when she lived in Japan, learning and exploring the culture there. Upon arrival in our Fernandina Beach area, she was quickly charmed by the unique historic architecture in our downtown. Holding an Associate of Arts from Florida State College at Jacksonville, Amanda has an extensive background in customer service and is excited to help others arrange their visits to Amelia Island. She enjoys roller skating in her off time and spending time with her family and cats.

Favorite restaurant? Mezcal Spirit of Oaxaca! Awesome queso dip, Birria tacos and refreshing organic margarita or mezcalitos! Also, as someone who has been gluten free for 8 years it is tough to find anything fried that I can eat while at a restaurant. So I was elated to find a place like Bantam and Biddy, where everything that goes in the fryer is gluten free. Make sure to try their fried okra or fried green tomatoes.

Favorite beach activity?  I enjoy looking for shark teeth at the beach with my children or sitting and just watching the waves.

Top sunset spot? Anywhere at the beach or overlooking the marshes.

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John Robinson

Maintenance Technician

John Richardson has called Nassau County "home" for more than three decades and in all the work he does for Destination Amelia, his goal is to keep properties running smoothly and in pristine shape. Like his wife Jenny, he looks out for the best interest of guests by maintaining a clean and safe environment. In John and Jenny's personal lives, they're all about their family and helping friends. Having raised four children, they now enjoy as much time as they can with their grandbabies. They love cooking, camping whenever possible, catching sunrises on the beach, and sunsets on the river side of Nassau. Often they can be found in their favorite spot - on the water!

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