Frenchman's Bay and Frenchman's Cove, St. Thomas

Staying in Frenchman's Bay

Three resorts hold most of the shore at Frenchman's Bay, and the houses sit on the hill above them. Frenchman's Reef, on the headland at the harbor mouth, is two hotels under one name, the Westin Beach Resort St. Thomas and the Buoy Haus Beach Resort, both named on its own site as of October 2026. Marriott's Frenchman's Cove, the name most people search for here, sits on the hill above Pacquereau Bay at the western edge of the area. To the east, the Limetree Beach Resort by Club Wyndham gives its address as 7511 Frenchman's Bay. A villa listed here is the other way to stay on this shore: a whole house with one owner, and the same beaches a few minutes down the hill.

A week here is built around the car and the town. Charlotte Amalie is 11 minutes from the middle of the area, close enough that dinner in town is a short drive rather than a plan. Nearer home, the Limetree Pool Bar is open 10:30 am to 8 pm daily per Limetree Beach Resort by Club Wyndham as of October 2026.

As on most of St. Thomas, plan on a car here; the ground around the middle of the area measures rolling. From the middle of the area, Cyril E. King Airport is 24 minutes, so the drive to an early flight home is under half an hour, and the Red Hook ferry terminal is 18. By taxi from the airport, the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff, in force since October 2022, sets $15 for one person or $12 each for two or more to Frenchman's Reef and Frenchman's Cove, and $18 or $14 each to Limetree and the rest of the bay, plus $3 a bag. The passenger ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay runs hourly, and the last boat back leaves Cruz Bay at 10 pm per the Department of Public Works as of September 2026, so a day on St. John ends with that boat and a drive across the island.

Each of the three nearest beaches sits in front of a hotel. From the middle of the area, Limetree Beach and Bolongo Bay are both 3 minutes by car and Morningstar Beach, below Frenchman's Reef, is 8. The shoreline at all three is public under the Open Shorelines Act, per the Department of Planning and Natural Resources as of October 2026; the chairs, pools and cabanas behind it belong to the hotels. For a beach with no hotel on it, Magens Bay on the north shore is 23 minutes. Secret Harbour Beach, near the Red Hook ferry, is 16.

The tradeoff: the sand here comes with a hotel attached, and you reach it by car. Our measurement puts the beach a short drive from the middle of the area, not a walk. Limetree Beach Resort by Club Wyndham publishes no parking rule for visitors, and Frenchman's Reef keeps its beach cabanas for Buoy Haus guests, both as of October 2026. What you get for it is the middle of the island: town in 11 minutes, the St. John ferry in 18.

Suits a group that wants a whole house between town and the airport, a short drive to three beaches, and a car for the week.

Getting around

Frenchman's Bay needs a car: the roads roll rather than climb, the nearest sand is a few minutes away and Charlotte Amalie is 11 minutes by road.

Phone signal is the weak point: the Naval Postgraduate School's 2023 study found poor reception around Frenchman's Reef despite the carriers' maps, so plan on wifi for calls. The houses on the hill store rain in cisterns, and the resorts on the shore are the ones to ask about backup power for a room or a villa there.

Beaches near Frenchman's Bay

• Limetree Beachabout 3 min
• Bolongo Bayabout 3 min
• Morningstar Beachabout 8 min