Bolongo Bay, St. Thomas

Staying in Bolongo

Bolongo covers two estates on the south shore and the bay in front of them. Our area map, drawn on the US Census Bureau's estate lines, takes in Estate Bolongo and Estate Bovoni to its east, and the Bolongo Bay Beach Resort stands behind the beach at the foot of the hill. A house here is the choice for a group that would rather cook, keep its own hours and share one front door than book a block of hotel rooms, and whatever owners have listed in Bolongo appears in the villa grid on this page.

Mim's Seaside Bistro, at Watergate Villas on Bolongo Bay, serves from 5:30 to 10 pm and closes on Wednesdays, per Mim's Seaside Bistro as of October 2026, so plan the Wednesday meal at home or in town. For anything more, an evening out means Charlotte Amalie, 15 minutes from the middle of the area.

Bolongo is car country. Measured from the middle of the area, the Red Hook ferry terminal is 17 minutes and Cyril E. King Airport 28. Hourly boats link Red Hook with Cruz Bay on St. John. Plan the return around the last ferry, 10 pm from Cruz Bay per the Department of Public Works as of September 2026. To take the rental car across instead, the car barges also leave from Red Hook, the last of them between 6 and 7:30 pm depending on the company, per the Virgin Islands Port Authority's schedule, at $65 a car one way on the Big Red Barge and Love City Car Ferries rates pages, both as of October 2026.

Bolongo Bay is the area's own beach, 1 minute by car from the middle of the area. Under the Virgin Islands Coastal Zone Management Act the public may use the shore, per the Department of Planning and Natural Resources as of October 2026, and the chairs and pool behind the sand are the hotel's. For more sand, measured from the same point, the south shore offers Limetree Beach in 7 minutes and Morningstar Beach, below Frenchman's Reef, in 12. Secret Harbour Beach in Estate Nazareth is 14 and Vessup Beach 15, and Coki Beach and Sapphire Beach, both on the far eastern shores, are 17 each. Brewers Bay, past the airport, and Hull Bay, on the north shore, are 25 each, and Magens Bay, across the island on the north side, is 26, the longest beach drive from here.

Bolongo asks two things of a guest. The first is the hill: the ground measures steep, and the owner, not a map, knows what their own road and driveway ask of a car. The second is the beach. The beach below has a hotel behind it, and no parking for beach visitors is published, as of October 2026. Ask the owner how they get down to the water and where they leave the car. Of the everyday drives, the airport is the longest at 28 minutes; on the last morning, count back from the flight with that number.

Suits a group that wants a house near one south-shore bay, with town and the St. John ferry each within 17 minutes by car.

Getting around

Bolongo needs a car: the ground measures steep, so ask the owner about the driveway, the nearest sand is 7 minutes by car and Charlotte Amalie is 15 minutes by road.

Houses around Bolongo Bay catch their rain in cisterns, and some on the slope add a well or solar panels, by our read of recent sale listings, so ask the owner what keeps the lights and pumps on in an outage. The weak signal measured at Frenchman's Reef next door reaches parts of Bolongo too, by our read, so expect to make some calls over wifi.

Beaches near Bolongo

• Bolongo Bayabout 1 min
• Limetree Beachabout 7 min
• Morningstar Beachabout 12 min