Hovensa

Maybe, you should be thinkinofmovin to Galveston

In answer to your question - Hovensa is one of the few well paying employers. It is really the backbone of St Croix economically speaking. There are quite a few stateside transplants working there. Many come down on closed ended contracts - 6 months to 2 years etc.
The wages are good and the health insurance etc is very important. Housing is often provided.
I do know that many of the statesiders have their children's private education subsidized (if not paid for completely). This definitely offsets the high cost of living for those who have a family.
I would say that if Hovensa is paying then it is definitely the affordable way to live on St Croix.

Jane thank you for the response, my spouse is considering a job opportunity with Hovensa that has been offered during a recent consulting trip. Their experience on the island has been very positive during the past three weeks and I'll be travelling down to visit next week. This message board and the stories posted in the moving section have tempered my excitement, though I think with the financial resources that Hovensa will provide our move will be a bit easier. I guess I'm trying to figure out if there is anyway this move won't be a positive for our future. We are young, recently married, no kids, no pets, no house. I would be the primary one taking care of logistics and understand that I will have to adapt to the pace of island bureaucracy. If anyone has an opinion on the following questions I'm considering I'd appreciate the knowledge of other's experiences.

Obviously the answer to these questions will be impacted on the length of time we end up staying, though I won't be able to answer that until we have been living on St. Croix for some time. So I really don't know what to do.

Living within Hovensa housing or renting a house/condo?

Packing up all the wedding gifts to furnish a home or is everything readily available to purchase on the island?

Shipping down a brand new Honda Civic or looking for and purchasing an island car?

Wood furniture and the island climate/insects?

Things not to bring other than our winter clothing.

Important things we should purchase/bring from the mainland since they are not readily available.

Also we would want to travel throughout the region as much as possible while living there, any information on the costs and availability of travel amongst the islands of the Caribbean and Central/South America as well as any recommendations.

Thank you

When Hovensa brings mainlanders to the island for contracts, they very often include a moving expense stipend as part of the package. That might cover bringing down your new car and wedding gifts. While we do have stores where you can buy the basics you need for living here, there are many specialty items or products of nicer quality that aren't available. Most houses and condos come furnished. Some of the furnishings may be things you quickly want rid of, but you usually have enough to get started until you're ready for the expense of replacing it piece by piece.

You will find you need less "stuff" on the island. Bring sporting goods you are likely to actually use since they can be difficult and expensive to replace, but maybe don't bring every last nicknack that would have to be dusted and polished non-stop in this environment.

Hardwood furnishings hold up well. Chipboard does NOT.

You will probably want to live somewhere other than within the Hovensa grounds. Many people who start out living on-site at the refinery start to go stir crazy and feel like they are living in prison behind all that chain link fence and barbed wire. It's nice to get away from the job, especially since the employees work pretty long hours and getting AWAY from the plant when it's time to go home does help emotionally. Spouses who don't work at the refinery but live on-site sometimes find it hard, practically and emotionally, to develop friendships outside the grounds. Life becomes very insular and the remainder of the island may seem an alien and scary place to explore. If you start out in the refinery housing for a month or two while you learn your way around the island and find another housing option, that could work well and it would take some of the stress off in your initial moving process to have housing already set up at least to start.

You and your husband should make a list of all the things that the refinery sometimes pays to its employees as benefits and he shouldn't be afraid to ask them for as many as he can get as part of his compensation package.

How high up on the chain is your husband. If hes high than they will supply the housing for free.. if not they will give you a monthly allowance for housing.

Hey thinking of moving,
I agree with alaxandra. Dont live on sight. Only at first and very temp. This is a tropical place where as Hovensa is an industrial giant; not a choice backyard.
My advise would be to plan on moving with as little as possible. I came here with a duffel bag and have plenty of creature comforts already and havent been here for a year yet. So dont sweet stuff. Do without. Best case scenario is if your stuff was well labeled and prepared for shipping so you could send for it ala cart as you needed it with more experience here. Face it as an adventure and have fun with the differences the island will surely present to you. Stay open minded.
As far as cars go well, I think its 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. I sold my car and bought one here. But cars are more expensive here. I say that if you like your car and know that it is a sound car that will last with few repairs then ship it. Dont ship down a car that will need repairs soon. You want something reliable here. repairs are expensive and sometimes timely and very inconvenient. Shipping and buying I think will run you about the same in the long run. Shipping may even be a little cheaper for a nice new car.
Good luck hope it this helped.

We saw your post and are in the same boat. We are recently married and looking at moving to St Croix to work for Hovensa. Do you have any advice on the hiring process(will they negotiate) and the relocation? We pretty much have all the same questions you had in your post. Thanks

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