Bluebeard's Beach (Great Bay)

Beaches St. Thomas Red Hook and the East EndLast verified October 31, 2026

Around Red Hook and the East End

Sailboats moored on the turquoise water of Red Hook Bay, with red-roofed waterfront buildings, marina docks and green East End hills behind — Red Hook, St. Thomas

Yellow, teal-roofed Urman Victor Fredericks Marine Terminal on the Red Hook waterfront, seen from an arriving ferry, with homes on the green hillside above — Red Hook, St. Thomas

Clear turquoise water at Coki Beach with snorkelers offshore, the white dome of Coral World's observatory tower and Thatch Cay behind — Coki Point, St. Thomas

Bluebeard's Beach is the white-sand beach on Great Bay, on St. Thomas's East End, in front of The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas. It is not the former Bluebeard's Beach Club, now Limetree Beach Resort. The Department of Tourism calls it the hotel's private beach, and the Ritz-Carlton Club at one end offers its amenities to guests only, but under Virgin Islands law the shore is public up to the high-water mark. The Swim Guide's listing, last updated for the 2023 season, says entry is free by a public access road just past the hotel's main entrance, with a small parking lot. Expect mostly calm water, sea grape shade, a reef just offshore for snorkeling and no lifeguard. The beach held Blue Flag certification from December 2025 to June 2026. The Department of Planning and Natural Resources tests the water weekly; it met the standard for October 26 to 30, 2026.

Services

Free entry by a public access road past the hotel's main entrance (Swim Guide, 2023 listing)
Small parking lot at the access road
Snorkeling on a reef just offshore
No lifeguard
Blue Flag certified for the 2025-26 season
DPNR tests the water weekly

How we checked

Last verified on October 31, 2026. We checked it against the sources below.

Source: USVI Department of Tourism, https://www.visitusvi.com/experience/indulge-in-st-thomas-luxury-resorts/ (the Ritz-Carlton's private white-sand beach along Great Bay) and https://www.visitusvi.com/experience/family-friendly-st-thomas-resorts/ (guests snorkel the reef just off the resort's beach); The Swim Guide (Swim Drink Fish, data managed by Blue Flag), 'Great Bay - Bluebeard's Beach', https://www.theswimguide.org/beach/10244 (Ritz-Carlton Club at one end with amenities for guests only, public access road just past the Ritz-Carlton's main entrance with a small parking lot, free entry, no lifeguard, white sand, mostly calm water, sea grape trees; Blue Flag beach for the 2023 season); St. Thomas Source, December 5, 2025, https://stthomassource.com/content/2025/12/05/two-st-thomas-beaches-earn-2025-to-2026-blue-flag-certification/ (The Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas at Great Bay certified for the 2025 to 2026 season, through June 30), December 17, 2020, https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/12/17/wyndham-destinations-reopens-two-upgraded-resorts-on-st-thomas/ (Limetree Beach Resort, formerly Bluebeard's Beach Club, in Frenchman's Bay) and July 26, 2025, https://stthomassource.com/content/2025/07/26/honeymooner-may-have-gotten-false-private-beach-promise-thats-nothing-new/ (all Virgin Islands beaches are public up to the high-water mark; quotes V.I. Code Title 12, Chapter 10); DPNR Coastal Zone Management public access page, https://dpnr.vi.gov/coastal-zone-management/public-access-viczmp/ (beaches cannot be fenced off; report a denial of beach access to the division) and its 'Parks, Beaches and Public Access' map, https://arcg.is/0iPDCi (a beach point named 'Bluebeards Beach' on the west shore of Great Bay); DPNR beach data, https://dpnr.vi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Beach-Data-10.30.26.pdf and advisory https://dpnr.vi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Beach-Advisory-10.30.26.pdf ('Bluebeard's Beach' met the standard for October 26 to 30, 2026); all accessed 2026-10-31. Map point: GNIS feature 1993680 (Beach, 'Turquoise Beach'), the GNIS beach on the shore that DPNR's map labels Bluebeard's Beach; GNIS's 'Bluebeard Beach' (1993747) sits about 500 m away on the north shore of Great Bay, below Cabrita Hill (feature 1613766), by GNIS coordinates. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, Virgin Islands file published September 29, 2026, https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/StagedProducts/GeographicNames/DomesticNames/DomesticNames_VI_Text.zip, accessed 2026-10-31.

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