Living in St. John - Working in St. Thomas

Unless it's absolutely imperative that you live on St John, you should live on St Thomas. People who live on one and work on the other very quickly tire of the commute and the transportation hassle. It's idyllic for the first few months commuting by water but it gets old fast.

Not having a car on STT isn't viable. You may be able to find some long term overnight parking in Red Hook so could check the parking lots there. There's the ferry parking lot and a couple of private lots close by. Or if the car barge schedule fits your business hours you can drive over every day.

Another thing you should consider is a business emergency. If your business is broken into, goes on fire or anything similar happens at night, not much you can do stuck on St John. I owned a business on STT for 16 years and, trust me, the security companies are very efficient at waking you at 2AM and dragging you out of a deep sleep when the alarm goes off ... 😀

In my opinion you should rethink the plan. Good luck in your new venture!

People who commute either to or from St John generally rely on the local safari so they don't have to worry about parking etc. You can buy books of commuter tickets to make it more affordable.

If your business is open at night, you can arrange to have a taxi pick you up after hours and take you to Red Hook.

You may find a monthly lot on St John.

You're asking for a big headache if you live on STJ and plan to commute to your business, twice daily, coming and going on STT. Between the obvious expense of the daily commute, in terms of time and money, you're going to need a car on each island, parking for them day or night and all the other things OT mentioned.

Ferries don't always run on time, sometimes they don't run at all.
Are you going to enjoy the min. 2- 3 hour commute daily/365?
I doubt it as you'll find rushing to catch the ferry, trying to find parking, frustrated by traffic if doing so and a myriad of other little things that will drive you bonkers, fairly quickly.

Seriously think about either living on STT where the business is located or buying a business in STJ, if that's where you must live.

There is little to no parking in STJ by the ferry dock.

Hmmm... well, it depends a little on what type of business you're talking about, but in general I echo others' comments that owning a biz on one island and living on another, especially when you first move here, is a very complicated idea.

The people I know on STJ who work on STT tend to either 1) get a ride to and from town from their spouse or neighbor or 2) arrive early and park in one of the few free parking lots available in Cruz Bay. Some take the bus or catch rides, but those methods are not reliable.

Average walk to the ferry dock from a parking spot in town takes about 5 minutes, not so bad when it's not raining or blazing hot. The gravel parking lot by the port, the largest free option, is likely to become paid parking in the not-so-distant future. It is also not really safe to leave a vehicle there overnight. Private parking rates closer to the ferry cost at least $100/month.

Once on St Thomas, many folks use the safaris, as Ms411 mentioned. They cost a dollar or two, and they make frequent stops to drop off and pick up passengers. At peak times, the first safari that stops may be full, and you'll have to wait for a second or even third one.

Assuming your business is on the safari route, this option may work for you. Otherwise, you will need a car. You'll want to look at the costs of maintaining two vehicles versus going to STT by barge daily ($50 round trip).

The time, money, and hassle factor of what you are suggesting is substantial. Even if the expense is not a huge obstacle for you, there are lot of factors in there that will be beyond your control. On some days you'll make the trip in record time, and on others you'll wonder what circle of hell you've just joined.

For example, when there is a tropical storm warning, the ports will close, and whichever island you are on, you will be stuck there until they reopen (sometimes this is just for a day, sometimes longer). Sometimes there are not enough ferries or barges running when one is out of service, and if it's a barge, you better hope you make the last one back. And as OT noted, there will be nothing you can do about anything that happens to your business between 12a and 6:30a unless you have access to a private boat.

Can I ask, what are the factors that make you want to do this?

For a year and a half I lived on St John and commuted from STJ to STT two days a week, plus made regular weekend shopping trips back and forth as well. With less than a handful of exceptions, I always took the car barge because I needed to be able to drive around regularly. I lived in Coral Bay and would leave just after 5 am to catch the 6am ferry to Red Hook. From there, drive to Charlotte Amalie and work all day, then head out (before rush hour if possible) to catch the 5 pm car ferry back to Cruz Bay, returning home to Coral Bay after 6 pm. I'm not sure if the price has gone up, but six years ago it cost $50 per round trip for the car ferry. It was pricey but for me, still cheaper than buying and maintaining an additional vehicle on STT, but not by much.

What I learned during that time was that the ferry dictates your life. Two extra minutes feeding the dog or washing some dishes can result in long waits if you miss the boat. Regularly the car barge back to STJ would fill up quickly and I would have to sit and wait until another one came back- and sometimes only one would be working so I would be stuck for hours at the dock. 2-3 hours daily of commuting was definitely the reality. All in all, commuting is possible and lots of people do it, but it will take up a significant portion of each day and add quite a bit of cost as well. If your plan doesn't work out, you can always make the move to STT later, but you can save yourself some headache by starting out there.

On a side note, I can guarantee that either way you will make memories for a lifetime. Imagine paying $50 just to get car access to a worn out Kmart and what in the states would be considered a half rate overpriced grocery store at best. Now buy enough groceries and dry goods to make it worth having to pay $50 to get there (maybe $500 or more worth of stuff). Now drive to the ferry dock and wait in 95 degree heat only to watch the car barge fill up without you, raise its ramp, and sail away to return in an hour. All of your veggies start wilting, frozen foods start thawing, your ice cream starts melting, and your milk is room temperature so you crank up the ac in your car if you are lucky enough to have it, which is running on gas that cost $5 per gallon, but doesn't change the fact that the groceries you just went to all of the effort and expense to buy are now turning to garbage before your eyes. Now do that once a month and you can call yourself a St. Johnian!

Anyway, move here with the right mindset and you can have a blast through it all. Enioy!

To answer your question, insanity?

Seriously, I really appreciate all of the feedback. Being a pretty pragmatic person, I would agree that we really should live on St. Thomas. We love the quiet and rural aspect of St. John and it would be our chosen place to live. However the business we located that would fit us best is right on the water front in Charlotte Amalie.

So, I guess the next question would be, where to live on St. Thomas? We'd prefer a quieter, more sedate neighborhood but are not really familiar with the island. The other complicating factor is our youngest son who starts high school this Fall would seem to fit best at the Gifft Hill School, but that is on, yes, you guessed it, St. John.

This whole move seems to get more complicated by the day!

Northside St. Thomas would be a good fit.
What age/grade will your child be in?

What time would you need to get child to school in morning would dictate what ferry you get if on STJ commuting to STT.

You may have to deal with commuting no matter which island if you've got to be dropping off and picking up a school aged child.
Don't know if Gift Hill has school bus service.

Sorry, just saw that he starts high school.

We love the quiet and rural aspect of St. John and it would be our chosen place to live. However the business we located that would fit us best is right on the water front in Charlotte Amalie.

So, I guess the next question would be, where to live on St. Thomas? We'd prefer a quieter, more sedate neighborhood but are not really familiar with the island.

Ah, now I see the underlying problem - lack of knowledge about St Thomas! There is an abundance of quieter rural outside the hub areas of St Thomas. Like Alana, I live on the Northside and it doesn't get much quieter and more peaceful yet I'm only 10 minutes from town, 10 minutes from beautiful Magens Bay, 10 minutes from Hull Bay and 15 minutes from the East end. I've lived East, South and North and there is quiet and "sedate" in all parts of the island.

Have you looked into the St Thomas schools for your boy, both public and private?

I don't know how much time you've actually spent here but maybe now's the time to do a more in-depth visit so you have a better idea of what's where and your many options. Good luck!

Did you buy Tavern on the Waterfront?

Did you buy Tavern on the Waterfront?

That question is probably on "a need to know" basis and not really our business. There are a few businesses for sale in town/ waterfront at this time.

The OP can choose to answer or not. OP opened the discussion by mentioning it. OP could have just asked if it's feasible to commute from STJ to STT.

The OP can choose to answer or not. OP opened the discussion by mentioning it. OP could have just asked if it's feasible to commute from STJ to STT.

The fact that the OP is planning on purchasing a business is relevant to his question as owning a business entails way more than working for someone else. In context, the investment he's making is irrelevant and indeed nobody's business. 😀

It's just a question. He can answer or not. The end.

The other complicating factor is our youngest son who starts high school this Fall would seem to fit best at the Gifft Hill School, but that is on, yes, you guessed it, St. John.

Have you visited any of the schools or talked with parents yet? Definitely do this before making a decision; it's really hard to get a true feel of a school just from a website. A number of Gifft Hill School parents recently have switched their kids to Antilles. This is not the place to go into any reasons why, but as we just discussed, commuting from one island to another is a big hassle, so it was hardly an easy-breezy decision for these families.

If it were me, I'd start out with a rental on northside STT for a year while you settle in, get your feet wet with the new biz, and decide what fits best for everyone in your family. Good luck and keep us posted!