--- title: "Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas: $7 Entry, 3 Min from Red Hook · Virgin Islands Villas" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/lindquist description: "Lindquist Beach is Smith Bay Park on St. Thomas: $7 entry and $2 parking as of October 2026, 3 minutes from Red Hook, closed for sargassum since Jul 9, 2026." updated: 2026-10-16 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/lindquist --- [St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas) · [Beaches](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches) · East End · Smith Bay Park # Lindquist Beach Lindquist Beach is Smith Bay Park on the East End of St. Thomas, 3 minutes by car from the Red Hook ferry terminal and 21 from Charlotte Amalie. The Magens Bay Authority charges $7 a person as of October 2026, and closed the park for sargassum on Jul 9, 2026, so call first. Below: the drive, fees, water. **Conditions:** Sargassum is the condition to check here. The Magens Bay Authority closed the beach to swimming on Jul 30, 2025 over a heavy landing. In 2026 it closed the park over the Fourth of July weekend, reopened it on Jul 7, and closed it again from Jul 9 until further notice, in its own words as carried by the St. Thomas Source. No reopening notice was found on the Authority's site or in the Source as of Oct 8, 2026. Call 340-777-6300 before you drive. *A rooster and a beach towel on the sand under a sea grape branch at Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas, with swimmers and buoys beyond.* Photo: CJ Sugg, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. ## Lindquist Beach at a glance | | | | --- | --- | | Entry | $7 per person for non-residents, $2 for residents with local ID, children under 12 free (the Magens Bay Authority, as of October 2026) | | Hours | 8 am to 5 pm daily when open, per the VI Department of Tourism (as of October 2026); closed for sargassum since Jul 9, 2026, so call 340-777-6300 | | Parking | $2 per vehicle, at the lot just west of the beach (the Magens Bay Authority, as of October 2026) | | Restrooms | Yes | | Shade | Some | | Snorkeling | 4 of 5, Very good | | Crowds | Quiet | | Drive from Charlotte Amalie | about 21 minutes by car | | Lifeguard | Yes | Verified Oct 9, 2026. ## Conditions today at Lindquist Beach As of 7:00 AM on Oct 16, 2026, island time. Read each morning from the National Weather Service, DPNR and Open-Meteo; the bay opens northeast, by our read from the map. **Sea state** **Swell at an angle.** The swell is from the east at 0.9 m, period 5 seconds; Lindquist Beach opens northeast, so the swell comes in at an angle and the water moves without breaking hard. Open-Meteo wave model at the nearest ocean cell; the bay's opening is our read from the map. **Rip current risk** Low. Surf around 3 feet, east winds around 15 mph. National Weather Service San Juan, surf zone forecast for St Thomas, St John and adjacent islands, issued 3:51 AM. **Water test** **Met the standard**, week of Oct 9, 2026 (DPNR's site "Lindqvist Beach"). Met it in 73 of 73 weeks sampled since Aug 2, 2024. [The advisory](https://dpnr.vi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Beach-Advisory-10.9.26.pdf). DPNR samples for Enterococci bacteria and turbidity weekly; a result after heavy rain can change within the week. **Rain** Dry through the day; the chance of rain peaks at 21%. Open-Meteo hourly forecast at the pin. **The day** UV index up to 8; sunset 5:56 pm; sea 30 °C, 85 °F. Open-Meteo. ## Getting there About 21 minutes by car from Charlotte Amalie. How to reach St. Thomas: [Flights to St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/flights), [How to get around St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/getting-around), [St. Thomas airport](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/airport), [St. Thomas cruise port](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/cruise-port), [St. Thomas map](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/map), [St. Thomas weather by month](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/weather), [Things to do in St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do). ## How to get to Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas Drive Smith Bay Road, Route 38, and turn toward the water at Lindquist Beach Road: the park's lot is 3 minutes from the Red Hook ferry terminal and 21 minutes from Charlotte Amalie, by our measurement. From town that is 10.7 km; from Red Hook, 1.9 km. OpenStreetMap maps the lot about 160 meters back from the waterline, so the walk from the car is short. Without a car, take a taxi. The tariff the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission has used since October 2022 has no Lindquist stop; the nearest is Smith Bay, whose name the park officially carries, at $18 from Charlotte Amalie for one person and $12 each for a party of two or more. It lists nothing from Red Hook, so agree that fare and the ride back before the driver leaves, because nothing is sold at the park and no source describes a taxi stand there. From St. John, Red Hook is where the Cruz Bay boat lands, and the gate is 3 minutes up the road from the dock. Coki Beach is on the same road, 9 minutes from Red Hook, if the day needs a second stop. Before either, check the gate: the park has been closed for sargassum since Jul 9, 2026. ## Where Lindquist Beach is, and what Smith Bay Park is Lindquist Beach is on the north-east shore of St. Thomas, on the East End, and Smith Bay Park is its official name; the Magens Bay Authority's own page spells the beach Lindqvist. The Virgin Islands Department of Tourism adds the names you will hear on the island, Secret Sands and the pink-sand beach. The Authority, the public body that runs Magens Bay, holds Smith Bay Park as well, and the fees, rentals and closures here are its decisions. The sand has a faint pink tint, from tiny bits of coral and shell in it, by the Department of Tourism's account. The beach faces east toward St. John, where Magens Bay, the Authority's other beach, faces north. ## Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas: hours, fees and what $7 buys Entry is $7 a person for non-residents, $2 for residents with local ID and nothing for children under 12, with $2 to park, per the Magens Bay Authority as of October 2026. When the gate is open, the park keeps 8 am to 5 pm daily, by the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism's guide as of October 2026, and the parking pass lasts the day, even if you leave for lunch. The Authority's own page prints no hours, so call 340-777-6300 to hear whether the gate is open at all. Those are the prices the Authority charges at Magens Bay, and the comparison is the point. At Magens Bay the $7 comes with a bar, a restaurant and rental stands. Here, as of October 2026, it buys restrooms, rinse stations, picnic pavilions, lifeguards when the park is open, and a beach the accounts we read describe as quiet; nobody publishes a count. The Authority's page lists beach chairs, umbrellas and cabanas to rent, paddle boats, kayaks and Sunfish by the hour, and event sheds, shaded spaces for a party or a picnic, all as of October 2026 with no prices printed. Ask at the gate what is out, and bring a chair if the day depends on one. A wedding or vow renewal on the sand is $250 on the Authority's page as of October 2026. The tradeoff: no food and no drink. The Authority's general manager told senators on Aug 17, 2026 that the park has no food concession, with a request for proposals for a food van in preparation, as the St. Thomas Source reported. Pack lunch and water. ## Swimming, snorkeling and whether the park is open The Authority's page describes gentle surf for swimming, and lifeguards are on duty when the park is open, as of October 2026. Shade is some, not much: the sheds and pavilions are shaded and umbrellas rent, but no source we hold says which end of the beach keeps its trees. We rate the snorkeling 4 of 5, a score the closure does not change. The Department of Tourism describes stingrays, sea turtles and schools of fish in the calm bay, and the local accounts we read put them over the sea grass at the right-hand end as you face the water; the rocks at the left-hand end are worth a look only on a very calm day. The Authority's rental list carries no snorkel gear as of October 2026; pack your own mask. Sargassum is the risk to plan around, and it decides whether the gate is open. The Authority closed the beach to swimming on Jul 30, 2025 after seaweed covered the shoreline. In 2026 it closed the park over the Fourth of July weekend, reopened it on Jul 7, and closed it again from Jul 9 until further notice, in its own words, with lifeguard services withdrawn, as the St. Thomas Source reported. As of Oct 8, 2026 we found no reopening notice on the Authority's site or in the Source. Call 340-777-6300 before you drive, in any month. Suits a visitor staying in Red Hook or coming off the St. John ferry, a family that wants lifeguards and restrooms without the crowd at Magens Bay, and anyone content to carry their own lunch. Less so a visitor who wants a bar and a rental stand on the sand, or a day that cannot bend if the gate is shut. ## Questions people ask about Lindquist Beach **How do you get to Lindquist Beach in St. Thomas?** Lindquist Beach is reached from Smith Bay Road, Route 38, by turning onto Lindquist Beach Road on the East End; the park's lot is 3 minutes by car from the Red Hook ferry terminal and 21 from Charlotte Amalie. Parking is $2 a vehicle as of October 2026. The park has been closed for sargassum since Jul 9, 2026, so call the Magens Bay Authority at 340-777-6300 first. **Where is Lindquist Beach in St. Thomas?** Lindquist Beach is on the north-east shore of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, on the East End, 1.9 km from the Red Hook ferry terminal. Its official name is Smith Bay Park, and the Magens Bay Authority runs it. **Is there a fee at Lindquist Beach?** Yes. As of October 2026 the Magens Bay Authority charges non-residents $7 per person and residents $2 with local ID, with children under 12 free and $2 per vehicle to park. The prices match Magens Bay's; older guides still print $5. Written by Virgin Islands Villas. Facts verified Oct 9, 2026. Updated Oct 16, 2026. Facts checked against [the Magens Bay Authority](https://magensbayauthority.org/smith-bay-park/) and [the St. Thomas Source](https://stthomassource.com/content/2026/07/08/sargassum-closes-lindquist-beach-through-thursday/). Checked October 2026. ## Nearby beaches - [Sapphire Beach Sapphire Bay · 0.8 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/sapphire) - [Coki Beach Smith Bay · 1.6 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/coki) - [Vessup Beach Red Hook · 2.1 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/vessup) [Every beach on St. Thomas, compared](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches)