Moving to St. Thomas in a month and....

Hey there.. I moved to St. John about 10 days ago and was in the same situation. Jobs are pretty easy to find right now, although a lot of bars/restaurants are closing down for a couple of weeks/months. Most apartments are found through word of mouth so it might be easier to find a job and then someone you work with will probably know of an apartment to rent. I'd suggest getting a cheap hotel for a couple of weeks and then work from there.

PS - I originally planned to live/work on St. Thomas too.. but then I saw St. John and realized this place was more what I was looking for.

Good luck!

Hello! My name is Ashley I am planning on moving to St. Thomas in the end of October. I am visiting the week-end of Sept. 17th to find an apartment and a job. I have been in the hospitality field for about 5 year. I am currently bartending in FLorida. If anyone has any has any contacts for jobs or places to rent I would love to hear from you guys. Thanks!

hey thanks for the response! i was wondering...did you move first to st. thomas then decided to go to st john or did you go for a pre-move visit. we will not have the oportunity to go before we move. Also what is the major tourist city on st. thomas that we would want to be in, near? are cheap hotels easy to find or are there mainly the large, tourist hotels?

Hi Kat,

I am moving down to St John as soon as I can sell my house. I am hoping about the beginnning of Oct. Do you have any suggestions about which hotels are cheap? Also, everyone is telling me to go to St Thomas but I like the pace of St john better. Did you know anyone when you moved there? I will be arriving solo and I have a few aquaintences on St Thomas. Any advice would help!

Sorry to do this in bullet form, but I want to get it out before the power flickers (again)..

1. I did originally plan on living & working on St. Thomas, but I didn't do a pre-move visit. My first day here I came over to St. John, my roommate and I decided this is what we were looking for.. we found a job in about 15 minutes, the owner of the bar knew of an apartment to rent.. we went and looked at the apartment, liked it.. and moved in the next day. The whole process was WAYYY to easy and apparantly we were very lucky. My roommate and I didn't know anyone when we moved here, but the island is very small and friendly.

2. The Inn at the Tamarind is a good place to stay for a week or so. I think it's the cheapest on the island, it's right in Cruz Bay, and there's AC and cable. I think the St. John Inn is good too.. (Some people camp out at Cinnamon Bay for awhile before they find a place to stay. But I'm not much into camping)

3. Right in Cruz Bay, about a block from the ferry dock is a place called Connections. They have a HUGE message board with people selling stuff, apartments to rent, roommates wanted, etc. I think you can call them and have them post something for you. I don't have the number but it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Good luck guys!! It's a lot of work to get down here but it's definitely worth it. Even when there's a hurricane it's still beautiful. =)

Wow!! Thanks for all the great information. I have asked a lot of people questions and yours were the kind of answers I was looking for! Specifics! Can you answer a couple more please. How much $ do you need to have to move with? (ballpark) and what do you do about buying a car? Thanks so much for all your help!

Hey.. Glad I could help. Everyone has different answers about how much money to bring - and it all depends on how soon you find work and whether or not your new landlord requires first,last & security deposit. I came down with $2500, didn't have to pay last months rent or a security deposit .. and still have about $1500 left. I eat out 2-3 meals a day and hit the bars every night. If things were different and I had to put all that money up front I probably would have been fine too.. Keep in mind that if you work for a bar/restaurant you'll have to train for 3-5 days before you start making money.

About a car - don't buy one right when you get here, because more than likely you'll get ripped off. The most prominent car on St. John is a Suzuki.. I drove one in the States about 5 years ago and it was a piece of crap back then. Here today it would be worth at least $2000. It's crazy. I'd wait until you become settled and inevitably you'll know someone selling a car.

Thanks! Where are you working? I sell advertising right now but I am also an artist. I've looked up a few of the galleries on St John and was wondering if it's hard to get a job with them. I hope that you are having a great time! I'm excited and can't wait to get down there. Hopefully by mid-OCt.