best islands caribbean

Things could get scary if the Fed Gov can't continue to give cause they have no money. I would think about it and plan. Really! Grow food, plan for high crime and disrupted deliveries: Not kidding! US Propaganda Mass media is trying to promote a race war too! Don't bury your head in the sand and let it catch you "by surprise" or "all in a sudden".

Buck was just rated #2 beach in the world, by travel and leisure magazine, we were just rated one of the ten best food islands, thee was an article from somebody else about this being the best kept secret in the Caribbean.

We could do more and I think we will, but we are a little better than being "the welfare island".

Interest statement… and i believe you are correct. And its not only STX, its going this way on many of the islands!
🙁

The whole country is turning into a welfare state. More people who vote for a living than work for a living.

Agenda 21 wants to reduce world population by 80-90%.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21

I found many articles that included STX. An article is just one person opinion and there could be many reasons why it did not make THEIR list. Was this thread created to start complaining about welfare? *-)

2013 travelers' choice - best Caribbean islands, stx is number 6.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Islands-cTop-g147237

America's Paradise? Not !!! *”

Sep 19, 2013, 1:10 AM
QualityOfLife F,
Christiansted, St. Croix, 2 forum posts

These islands are US territory and you'd think that they would be more sophisticated, modern and well maintained than some of the other independent islands like Barbados or Trinidad, right? WRONG! St. Croix is the largest of the three US Virgin Islands. I have actually lived on this island and it is practically a welfare state! I would wager to say that about 75% of the island is on some type of welfare, food stamps or section 8. As small as this island is, it is littered with low income/no income housing projects and they are not designated to one particular area of the island. They are ALL OVER. What shocked me most was that some of these projects are right on the beach front! That is prime real estate. Who builds projects on a beachfront? Since most of the population is dependent on government handouts, there are no middle class, well maintained apartment buildings with a laundry facilities or gyms for working class people. You'd either have to rent a condominium from a private owner or rent an apartment attached to someone's house. . .or purchase your own property.

If you love animals, you may want to wear blindfolds when driving around the island. Road kill is a very common sight. The general attitude of people when it comes to animals is PISS POOR. It is not at all uncommon to see a dead dog or cat with its brains or guts spilling out in the middle of the road while driving to work. Most likely, you will drive by two days later and it will STILL be there! There is only one extremely underfunded, struggling animal shelter on the island. There are no laws here to protect animals and no animal cops! There are a lot of strays on the roads because no one gets fined for owning a large pitbull mix that is out roaming the streets because they don't have adequate fencing around their house. It's very commonplace to see an emaciated dog tied up in a muddy yard with no chance of ever knowing what it feels like to run and fetch a stick.

The public school system is GOD AWFUL! If you want to give your child a decent education in a wholesome environment, you had better be able to afford private school! I invite you to research the stats yourself.

The roads - Oh goodness! Can you imagine having potholes on a highway? Well St. Croix is your place! Yes people. . .there are potholes on the highway here. Well if there are potholes on the highway, you won't have to guess what condition most of the main roads and side streets are in.

Lastly, customer service - it is practically non-existent here! People are often rude, their attitudes are extremely lackadaisical and their level of competence is questionable. On the rare occasions that I do happen to encounter someone who provides good customer service, I make it a point to commend them and let their supervisor or the business owner know how courteous they were and what great service they provided. There have been times when I attempted to report a person to the manager for providing terrible customer service, only to find out that they actually WERE the manager! Can you imagine?

As for the beaches, they're okay. They're highly overrated in those travel brochures and advertisements. I've visited the famed Magen's Bay on St. Thomas and was grossly disappointed! I've seen far more beautiful beaches on other islands such as The Bahamas and Tobago. St. John is the smallest of the islands and the ONLY island of the three that I would recommend that anyone visit. Most of it is a national park and it is indeed very scenic if you're a nature buff.

So there you have it - an honest, first hand opinion that the travel brochures won't give you! Happy travelling!

(I found this review on Trip Advisor)

wow.. such a nasty review...

being a US territory doesn't mean nothing. People who come here thinking things will be similar like how they are stateside only because of the "US Territory" fact I think are plain idiots. For god's sake, these are islands in the Caribbean with entirely different history and culture and people always come complaining how it's not like in the US. Seriously?

We have only been here for two months and we LOVE it. I never expect it to be the same like how it was when I used to live in California. I come with an understanding that I will be in a foreign place with a different vibe and culture and I try to respect it and learn about them. I have never encountered rude customer service anywhere I've been. I have been in circumstances where the person helping me in a bank/grocery store took longer because they were talking to their friends/acquiantances and this is not rude, this is their culture. As a matter of fact, this is the culture in many other places in the world. I have encountered worse customer service (and customers) in the States compared to here.

People (like this TripAdvisor reviewer above) who get seriously annoyed beyond normal with things like potholes on the highway, housing projects and long waiting time amaze me with their silliness. The time they spend complaining or writing extremely long nasty review is probably better spend with other things like, oh i dont' know, volunteering maybe... or meditating and trying to calm down. There are other more important things in the world to get annoyed with.

I understand the island life is not for everybody, and yes there are always people who take advantage of the system and there are always criminals, drugs, poverty, etc. But there is never a need to bring down and label a whole entire island as "welfare island" or label a whole entire popoulation as being "lazy". The Crucians have a long history and turmoil in the past that have shaped their culture, attitude and behavior in life that are different than our history.

There will always be potholes on the highways, stray dogs, low income housing and sadly dead animals on the streets. But there will also always be amazing snorkeling, gorgeous sunsets, beautiful beaches, very nice and friendly people as well as delicious local foods on this island and I can honestly say I'm glad that I live on STX.

This infuriates me. Clearly this person has the hand of God app that allows them to live in the perfect city with the perfect house and the perfect people on perfect land with perfect people surrounding them. I need that app lol. What a bitter A-hole. No doubt this lifestyle isn't for everyone. Honestly I believe this is the type of person that expects perfection and gets nasty when they don't get it. Here on the islands the WORST thing you can do is be impatient and entitled. Some people just cant go with the flow. I am myself a bit of a type A personality and want things my way but I am learning, slowly to relax - breathe.

The PROBLEM is people like this. Entitled, expecting the islands to be PERFECT. Nothing and no where is perfect, period. They realized they wont be waited on hand and foot here and decided they didn't like it. Even one day of research will show that yes we have issues. For 99% of the population; including myself "the juice is worth the squeeze!"

Its NOT a prison - you're free to leave ANYTIME ya want 😀

culturally challenged

Hey, I love stx as much as the next person, but was that review really that far off, except for our beaches?

I believe the person who wrote this Trip Advisor Review, lives or lived on Stx, is an actual board member here. They just wanted to spew their venom on Trip Advisor instead of on this board. This is only my opinion!

If it was easy everone would do it.

Your life will be exactly how you want to see it.

if you want it to suck, it will suck.

challenges will always be there, how you take them is what is important.

As my mom likes to say: Pain is mandatory, suffering optional.

I think some people just need perspective, I've only been here 8 months or so however, perhaps that’s not long enough to see this jaded view as valid?

The post has been removed by Trip Advisor, but response posts have not.

Yes, they can vent here, which looks like they have through individual posts, but for some reason they did a long winded review on Trip Advisor, instead of on ths board :S

Good riddance to this person. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
It's not that it is so incorrect but so focused on the negative.

You know I have lived some places in the U.S. that I really hated. LOL! That was all before the internet and trip advisor on line. I still don't think I would bash a place so completely even if I had had internet. I think it is ok, however, to give your experiences of places you have visited. That's why there are websites like trip advisor. The person who posted the review gave it away when they said that they had lived on St. Croix.

There is a very strange thing that goes on here. Most of the people from the states who live here and have been here a long time seem to consider this a badge of honor. Like they are some sort of "super survivors." If you are a person from the states and you don't like it here or you are shocked by the way things are here or dare to voice your dismay, ie, the government corruption, substandard schools, dead animals rotting on the side of the road, high food prices, lord help us the high cost of electricity, ect, then you don't have what it takes to live and survive here. You can love the beaches, the weather, the bars and the food but if you cannot "survive the bad stuff" then you just don't have what it takes. I completely understand the feeling that the "non survivors" have when they leave here. They are considered weak, intolerant of cultural differences, racist, and in general unable to deal with anything other than what they are used too. Aren't "we" the "survivors" being a bit intolerant as well? To some "people" this is so far from their norm, and nothing like they expected, that they cannot cope. So they live here for a while and leave as soon as they are financially able or when they just cannot take it anymore. Their anger comes from how they are treated by the long timers. This is not always the case and some of these people are just spoiled rotten a holes but some of them are not.

I love it here but I also love good medical care, Target, museums, long road trips, low prices and my family back in the states. I don't think it is so hard to live here but then again I can afford it and I can also afford to go to the states and visit family and enjoy all the things I like to do there. If I could not do all those things I might not love and enjoy this island so much. I suffer the mosquitoes, lack of air conditioning, the constant dusty house, everything breaking all the time, pot holes, ect. because I love it here and it is worth it for me, but it is not my norm or what I am used to.

Finally, yes, the person who posted that "nasty" review on trip advisor is just a nasty human being. He or she is not just a person who could not "survive" living here. He or she said it all when they posted about "ocean front projects" and "customer service." He or she is a person who is intolerant of the local population and their culture. I have lived many places in my life and I have never met more loving caring people that are on this island. Incredible people. I am very happy to have been able to live here and raise my son here. He has never lived in the states and St. Croix is "his" home. This is his norm, what he knows. The states are intolerable for him. He can only stand it for a vacation. His main complaint other than having to wear shoes is how "rude" the people are. I tell him he needs to be tolerant. It's a different culture. LOL!

But when I'm having a bad day, at least I'm having a bad day on St. Croix. I grab a beer park on the overpass lookout and it doesnt seem so bad.