Tutu, St. Thomas

Staying in Tutu

Tutu is where St. Thomas runs its errands, and staying here puts the errands at the bottom of the hill. Tutu Park Mall, in Estate Anna's Retreat, lists over 60 stores on its own site, among them Kmart and The Market, which the mall's store page calls a family-owned full-service supermarket. The mall opens 10 am to 7 pm Monday to Thursday, 10 am to 9 pm Friday and Saturday, and 11 am to 4 pm on Sunday, per Tutu Park Mall as of October 2026. The US Census Bureau's estate map files Anna's Retreat, Tabor and Harmony and Langmath to this area, and the houses sit on the slopes around the valley rather than on the water.

A car is the rule here. The ground measures rolling, gentler than the north side's hills, but a driveway off the through road can still climb, so ask the owner whether a sedan reaches the door. Tutu sits in the middle of the island's eastern half, which is the point of it: from the middle of the area, the Red Hook ferry terminal and Charlotte Amalie are each 16 minutes by car. The St. John ferry runs from Red Hook on the hour, and its last boat back leaves Cruz Bay at 10 pm per the Department of Public Works as of September 2026. Cyril E. King Airport is 31 minutes, the one long drive of the week. On the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's 2022 tariff, the latest as of October 2026, a taxi from the airport to Tutu is $17 for one person or $12 each for two or more, plus $3 a bag. The mall's page says VITRAN buses and safari taxis stop there; the Department of Public Works posts the bus times.

Every beach is a drive, and none of them a long one. From the middle of the area, Coki Beach at Coki Point is 6 minutes; it charged no entry as of October 2026, and its parking is scarce and paid. Lindquist Beach at Smith Bay Park is 8 minutes away and has been closed for sargassum by order of the Magens Bay Authority since July 9, 2026; nothing had reopened it by October 8, 2026, so ask the Authority before you drive. Sapphire Beach on the East End and Bolongo Bay on the south shore are 11 minutes each, and Secret Harbour 14. Magens Bay, over the ridge on the north side, is 16 minutes, with entry $7 a person and $2 to park per the Magens Bay Authority as of October 2026. Two coasts in under a quarter of an hour is what an inland base buys.

The tradeoff: Tutu is a place to sleep between beaches, not a beach place. There is no sand in walking distance, no water view promised by the address, and the heart of the area is a mall and its 1,600-space parking lot. A couple who want to wake to the sea and walk to dinner will be happier at Red Hook or on the East End shore. A family or group cooking most nights, shopping once for the week and choosing a north-side beach one day and a south-shore one the next will have the supermarket at the foot of the hill and the ferry and town each 16 minutes away.

Suits a group with a car that cooks in, wants the grocery and the mall close, and drives to a different beach each day.

Getting around

Tutu needs a car: the roads roll rather than climb, the nearest sand is 5 minutes by car and Charlotte Amalie is 16 minutes by road.

Much of Tutu draws on the public water main from the Donoe tank, though the higher streets of Anna's Retreat lose pressure first when a main breaks, so houses here keep cisterns as well. Signal around Tutu Park Mall is strong, by our read, and since the valley shared the island's rotating outages in 2026, ask whether the house runs a generator.

Beaches near Tutu

• Coki Beachabout 6 min
• Lindquist Beachabout 8 min
• Sapphire Beachabout 11 min