Hull Bay, St. Thomas

Staying in Hull Bay

A stay in Hull Bay starts at the water. The middle of the area sits on the shore, and the sand is less than a minute on foot from it by our measurement, so the first swim of the day needs no car at all. Our area map, built on the US Census Bureau's estate boundaries, also files Dorothea, St. Peter and Caret Bay here, and the ground around the middle of the area measures steep. Fishing boats work out of the bay from the ramp whose rebuild the Department of Planning and Natural Resources has planned since August 2023, and The Shack at Hull Bay lists Tuesday through Sunday and says the schedule can change, as of October 2026. A week here is mostly the bay, with Charlotte Amalie 12 minutes away for shopping and dinner out.

Everything past the bay is reached by road, so book the rental car with the flights. With ground this steep, the owner is the one to say which car makes it up their driveway. Flying in costs little time: Cyril E. King Airport is 21 minutes from the middle of the area. Going east costs more. The Red Hook ferry terminal is 34 minutes away at the East End, the longest drive on the record for this area, and from there the boat to Cruz Bay crosses hourly in 20 minutes; the last ferry back is 10 pm from Cruz Bay per the Department of Public Works as of September 2026. Charlotte Amalie also has a St. John boat, which Transportation Services of St. John sails twice a day each way as of October 2026; Varlack Ventures' sailings on that route stop for the off-season, so check the schedule before you count on one.

The beach in the bay is the one you walk to, and its own guide covers the ramp, the snorkeling and the rest. Every other beach with a guide is a drive, each measured from the middle of the area. Magens Bay is 16 minutes east, where a day costs $7 a head plus $2 for the car, payable to the Magens Bay Authority, whose gates open 7 am to 5:30 pm as of October 2026, and lifeguards are on the Authority's list of amenities. Brewers Bay, across the island near the University of the Virgin Islands, is 17. Coki Beach and Morningstar Beach are both 23, and Sapphire Beach on the East End is 28. On most days the choice is simple: the bay for a morning in the water, Magens Bay when someone wants a lifeguard.

East is the weak direction. No public body lists a lifeguard on its own sand, the beach is shared with boat trailers and the people who fish from them, and the St. John ferry sits at the opposite end of St. Thomas. Every St. John day from here adds more than an hour of driving, there and back, to the two crossings. For a couple who want the north coast quiet and Charlotte Amalie close, that is a fair trade; for a family planning a week of island-hopping, an East End house turns the longest drive here into a short one.

Suits a couple or small group who want to swim before breakfast and drive west, to town or the airport, rather than east.

Getting around

Hull Bay needs a car: the ground measures steep, so ask the owner about the driveway, the beach is on foot and Charlotte Amalie is 12 minutes by road.

Hull Bay houses keep their water in cisterns; the generator question goes to the owner, as it does across St. Thomas after the rotating outages of 2026. The bay sits below the north side ridge, so by our read the signal at the water is weaker than on the estates above it.

Beaches near Hull Bay

• Hull Bayabout 0 min
• Magens Bayabout 16 min
• Brewers Bayabout 17 min