Bluebeard's, St. Thomas

Staying in Bluebeard's

The neighborhood takes its name from one building. Bluebeard's Castle Resort, on the hilltop above the harbor, tells its own history plainly: the Danes built a watchtower there in the late 1600s and called it Frederik's Fort, and the tower and the house beside it became a hotel in 1933. The United States government sold the hotel to a private buyer in 1954, in the resort's account. The resort says it reopened after renovation in 2011 and needed further rebuilding after the 2017 hurricanes. Its site, checked in October 2026, takes hotel guests as well as timeshare owners. The pirate in the name is part of the resort's story rather than the record.

Most of Bluebeard's is houses on the slope, not the castle. Our area map, built on the US Census Bureau's estate boundaries, files Taarneberg, where the resort stands, and Havensight, on the shore, under this name, among others. Per the Virgin Islands Port Authority as of October 2026, the Havensight cruise dock is the West Indian Company Limited's, and that company publishes its ship schedule. Town is the reason to choose this hill: the shops, the waterfront and the historic district are a short drive down, and the West Indian Company's schedule shows which days a ship is in.

Drive here, and pick the car for the hill. The ground around the middle of the area measures steep, so a listing should say how its driveway is reached; if it does not, make that the first question in your note to the owner, and rent to the answer. From the middle of the area, Cyril E. King Airport is 20 minutes by car and the Red Hook ferry terminal, where the boats to St. John leave, is 28 minutes away at the other end of the island. A taxi from the airport to Bluebeard's Castle or the Havensight crossroad is $12 for one person or $11 each for two or more on the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's 2022 tariff, the latest as of October 2026, plus $3 a bag. The last passenger ferry leaves Cruz Bay at 10 pm per the Department of Public Works as of September 2026, and from Red Hook the drive back here is 28 minutes.

None of the beaches this site has a guide for lies inside the area; the nearest are over the hill on the south shore. From the middle of the area, Morningstar Beach is 12 minutes by car, and Limetree Beach and Bolongo Bay are 13. The north shore is barely further: Hull Bay is 15 minutes, Magens Bay and Brewers Bay 17. The East End sits at the far end of the drive, with Coki Beach at 22 minutes and Sapphire, Secret Harbour and Vessup at 26 to 27. Morningstar, Limetree and Bolongo share one pattern, a resort behind the sand, and that shapes parking and chairs; each one's own page sets out what a visitor may use.

What Bluebeard's asks for is the car and the climb. There is no swim on foot, the nearest guided sand is 12 minutes away, and St. John begins with the drive to Red Hook. What it gives back is the town and the airport within easy reach. Choose it for a week split between Charlotte Amalie and the south-shore beaches, and settle the driveway question before you settle the rental.

Suits a couple or family who want Charlotte Amalie close and the south-shore beaches a short drive, in a car that handles a steep hill.

Getting around

Bluebeard's needs a car: the ground measures steep, so ask the owner about the driveway, the nearest sand is 4 minutes by car and Charlotte Amalie is 5 minutes by road.

For a room at Bluebeard's Castle Resort, ask the resort how it rides out a power cut; for a private house on the hill, ask the owner whether there is a generator and whether the house draws town water as well as its cistern. Phones hold a strong signal here, as they do across Charlotte Amalie, by our read.

Beaches near Bluebeard's

• Morningstar Beachabout 12 min
• Limetree Beachabout 13 min
• Bolongo Bayabout 13 min