Cowpet Bay (Elysian Beach)
BeachesSt. ThomasRed Hook and the East EndLast verified October 31, 2026
Around Red Hook and the East End
Photo: Gruepig, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Fred Hsu, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Smallbones, CC0
Cowpet Bay is a cove on the south shore of St. Thomas's East End, home to the St. Thomas Yacht Club in Estate Nazareth, with Club Wyndham Elysian Beach Resort next door. The yacht club runs sailing classes and summer youth camps on the bay and has offered introductory sails to locals and visitors, so expect small sailboats. A boater told the St. Thomas Source in 2025 that the bay is popular with water sports and sea turtles. Wyndham calls the resort's beach and cove private, but under Virgin Islands law the shore is public up to the high-water mark. No source confirms a public route over resort property, parking, facilities or lifeguards, so ask at the resort gate or arrive by water. The Department of Planning and Natural Resources does not test the water here.
Services
- Resort-fronted shore, public up to the high-water mark
- Sailing classes and youth camps at the St. Thomas Yacht Club
- No public path or parking confirmed: ask at the gate or arrive by water
- Not among the beaches DPNR tests
How we checked
Last verified on October 31, 2026. We checked it against the sources below.
Source: St. Thomas Source, December 17, 2020, https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/12/17/wyndham-destinations-reopens-two-upgraded-resorts-on-st-thomas/ (Club Wyndham Elysian Beach Resort on the eastern end, 'exclusive access to a private beach and natural cove', right next to the St. Thomas Yacht Club), August 1, 2026, https://stthomassource.com/content/2026/08/01/summer-sail-program-celebrates-new-youth-sailors-and-instructors/ (two-week summer sailing program at the St. Thomas Yacht Club in Estate Nazareth; campers sail Cowpet Bay), November 3, 2024, https://stthomassource.com/content/2024/11/03/v-i-olympic-medalist-gives-a-sailing-lesson-in-cowpet-bay/ (free introductory sails from the club's dock into Cowpet Bay at an open house; the club promotes them to locals and visitors), January 14, 2025, https://stthomassource.com/content/2025/01/14/billionaires-proposed-private-dock-concerns-conservationists/ (a boater calls the bay popular with water sports enthusiasts and sea turtles), December 17, 2025, https://stthomassource.com/content/2025/12/17/armed-robbery-reported-near-elysian-beach-resort/ (the Elysian Beach Resort and a parking lot across from it), 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) and December 9, 2022, https://stthomassource.com/content/2022/12/09/public-and-private-interests-clash-at-the-coastline/ (anyone may reach beaches by water; hotels have been required to provide some public access); Wyndham Destinations press release, December 4, 2020, https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/resorts/resort-news/club-wyndham-elysian-beach-resort-reopening ('its very own private beach on the eastern end'); DPNR Coastal Zone Management's 'Parks, Beaches and Public Access' map, https://arcg.is/0iPDCi (a beach point named 'Cowpet Bay'); DPNR beach data, https://dpnr.vi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Beach-Data-10.30.26.pdf (Cowpet Bay is not a testing site); all accessed 2026-10-31. No source gives a public route or parking. Map point: GNIS feature 1613853 (Bay, 'Cowpet Bay'); GNIS has no Beach feature for it. 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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