Vessup Bay is the land area across the harbor from the "town" of Red Hook on St Thomas' East End.   It's generally everything to the north of the road that goes out to the Ritz Carlton.  On the south side are the Ritz Carlton, Elysian, Cowpet Condos, Anchorage Condos and Secret Harbor.    Vessup Bay also refers to part of Red Hook Harbor, depending on what map you're looking at.    An old Vessup Bay Estates map circa 1968 provides some perspective (note the Bluebeards Beach Club originally on the site of the Ritz Carlton).

Mostly residential, Vessup Bay also hosts Vessup Point Marina tucked away in a corner.   Known for Latitude 18 Bar and Restaurant there,   it's easier to see across the inner harbor from American Yacht Harbor than it is to get to.

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Latitude 18 was established and nurtured by Ron Arens, initially started pre-1995  with a cooler under a picnic table in the old Johnny Harms Marine parking lot, now American Yacht Harbor.  Ron formalized Latitude as a bar and restaurant in 1995, moving to more robust facilities across the bay at Vessup Point Marina. 

You can only stay landlocked so long, so Ron passed Latitude's ownership and responsibility to Alex Bar-Sela in 1997, while Ron focused on his charter sailboat s/v Alaunt.   

Alex had to close down his very popular version of Latitude 18 when the ownership of the marina changed hands, and gave way briefly to the short-lived Nipa Bar and Restaurant whose  legacy was remnants of its website, showing Vessup Bay viewed from Red Hook Mountain (and at ground level ).

Latitude 18 by name and reputation came back into its own, with Ron at the helm again, after Nipa had folded and Alex had already gone on to a higher calling at The Tramway's Paradise Point above Havensite.

The most current proprietors are Trish and Tracey, both originally patrons of Latitude 18 in it's early days. 

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Vessup Beach is immediately adjacent and accessible from the Marina's parking lot (though the public should not park there because towing is occasionally enforced).

More a locals beach because of it's limited accessibility and remoteness, it nevertheless is a small beautiful white sand beach looking over to Cabrita Point Peninsula, St John and the British Virgins. (Not a place to be after dark because you can't see your hand in front of your face unless a full moon is out.)

Vessup Beach will soon become an official public beach protected from developer encroachment, as most other East End beaches have slowly but surely succumbed to development pressure.

West Indies Windsurfing also has a water sports center there on the beach end closest to the Marina. Sailboards, kites, small sailboats, small catamarans, and many other water toys are available for rent. I bought my first sailboard from the proprietor John Phillips when he was operating out of Sapphire Beach in the early 80's, when there was nothing but one room bungalows there Oceanside.

The Dept. of Interior/National Park still has a small official presence in Vessup Bay in the form of a fringe of land and asphalt road that follows the harbor on the opposite side from Red Hook. The road culminates in a dock that was/is used in by Caneel Bay in St John for their guests boarding.  The docks at the National Park and also at Vessup Point Marina were a springboard into the day for President Clinton and his family when they vacationed in St Thomas several times, offering a convenient place for larger sailboats and sports fishermen to pick up the presidential party.

All in all, Vessup Bay tends to be a small quiet community, off the beaten track, but with enough goings on to keep things interesting.

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