Tangier Island is one of the Chesapeake's two true islands (not a peninsula or not connected to the main land by a causeway) with a significant permanent population.  The other being Smith Island, just to the north across the MD/VA state line.  The economies of both islands are almost totally dependent upon the bay (crabbing and oystering), but over the last 30 years tourism has also become important.  The combination of a remote island and the isolated lifestyle of these islands has made them a popular destination for sailors on the Chesapeake Bay for several generations.

In the late 1970s, when the pictures below were taken,  there was a tourist excursion ferry out of Reedville, VA that used to take people for day and overnight trips to Tangier Island.  I don't know if that service is still in operation.  The islands are served commercially by other ferry services, primarily out of Crisfield.  These ferries also took children to school on the Eastern Shore.  I think even the Tangier children went to school in Crisfield, MD although they are residents of Virginia.  There might be a school on Tangier, at least there was a gymnasium when I last visited in 1979.

Moderate draft vessels (6' or less) should have no trouble visiting Tangier from either the Tangier Sound or bay-side entrances.  Vessels drawing more than 6' should probably use the bay-side entrance.

Conditions like these have constantly eroded both Tangier and Smith Islands.  There has been a great deal of work done to curb this erosion, including the creation of a man-made reef off Tangier.  I don't know if any of these efforts have had a beneficial effect.