moving to st. thomas/st. john

Only a bicycle?

If you value your life... forget about the bike idea. The roads have no shoulders, not to mention you'de have to be Greg Lemond to deal with the hills. This is the tropics it can rain at any moment. Your chances of getting where you need to go and arriving dry (work) are not usually good. Public transport is the only alternative to a car.

July, Aug, Sept, October are the slowest tourism months. Finding a job then will be tough if not impossible.

St John is a quiet Island. St Thomas is where the night life is.

JET

This is the most asked question on this forum. Do two things first. Go to the "older topic" section and read all the posts about moving to St Thomas, then order a copy of the "Settlers Handbook". Listen to what Islander says.

For housing you will need to be "on the island" to find what you want. You can get short term housing at a place like Ronnie's. St Thomas is where most jobs can be found and it has a more active nightlife. St John is smaller and quieter with fewer restaurants,stores, etc. Grocery items are more expensive, but not excessively so.
Transportation can be a problem but if you are young and flexible you can work it out.

This might help others as well. Go to "search" at the top of the page and type in "moving". I got 91 postings. That should keep you busy for awhile.

Hey Justin,
I used to live on STT and it was fantastic. I loved it so much that I too am moving back there in July. People think that life is so expensive in the islands, and for some it is (ie a gallon of milk for $4.50 or a gollon of gas for $2.75) but being you are a bartender or waiter, you are probably like the rest of us and you drink and smoke. If you do, life is pretty cheap (ie a carton of marlboro for $14.00 or a litre of Absolut for $10.00), bear in mind, everything is relative. Regarding your living situation, you should really consider STT your first choice because STJ is 75% national park. In other words, there is very little housing there, nor is there much industry. Even if you found a place to live on STJ, you would more than likely have to take the ferry over to STT to work every day. Speaking of work, let's say you and I do some networking together. I just sold my bar here in the Cleveland area, and am going to be buying a bar in STT. I hope to have it up and running by the beginning of Oct. I plan to call it "The Jungle" and it will cater to the locals, you know, cool guys like us that just like to hang out. Who knows, perhaps you and your friend may consider working there? Anyway, keep in touch, my e-mail is Kiawaso@aol.com. Look forward to hearing from you.

Scott.

Hey Jet,
I too am going to be moving to the islands in July. Only I am going to be opening a bar out there. I recently sold mine here in the Cleveland area, and have always wanted to move back to STT. I used to live there 3 years ago. Let me know how life has changed, if any on the island.

Hey Bill,
How long have you been on STT. The reason I ask is I lived there 3 years ago. Anyway, I am going to be moving back in July, and if all goes as planned, will be opening a bar there by October. Let me know how the island has changed, if any, for the better or worse. I look forward to seeing everyone again.

Hello Justin,

First I would suggest you do what others suggested - there are lots of post about all the things you asked, would be good to read through some of them - go to the top of this page you will see search... use that to search for moving, apartments, jobs.... and so forth.

Definately order a Settlers Handbook from http://www.vitraders.com it will answer all the questions you have and some you didn't think of. Jobs, history, bus, pets, gardening, apartments, homes, social atmosphere, boatings... everything.

In terms of apartments: Go to the top of this page and click on Moving Guide - and select Housing... there is a table there with average cost of apartments based on size (rooms....) and info. on finding places. Overall the apartments in the VI are not like in the mainland where you can call a Apartment complex office and ask for information on an apartment because the complex has 100 apartments that all look alike. In the USVI apartments are part of homes - folks build 2 story houses - they live in one story and rent out the other. So your landlord usually lives in the house. So finding an apartment is very much about getting down to the island staying in a b&b for a night in some cases or a couple nights - a week maybe and getting the newspaper/Island Trader calling some places, ask prices and go look at the apartments to see if its what you want and if it will work for you. It is next to impossiable to secure a place from away - because the landlord doesn't get to see you and make a deal with you, and you dont get to see the apartment, where its located, if its down a steep road, if its in a hole, if its clean or not, nice view or not, close to work or not.... best advice save some money for a couple nights in an inexpensive b&b and do the search for apartment asap when you get here.

Some apartments are furnished some are not. Depends. 1or2 bedroom depending on location and view can run 550-1000, averaging maybe 700....

Bicycle is not a great choice for transportation. The only way I see a bike working is if you live in East End right around Red Hook, and also work there in one of the bars/restaurants there. You can ride into work, get to know you co-workers mabye catch rides with them. And catch the public bus and $1 safari to get to Tutu to do grocery shopping and stuff. If you live in Northside or West Side next to impossiable - hills, curvy roads, far from possiable work in most cases.... Also its hot, and you will be very sweaty when you get to work if you work far from home.

St. Thomas or St. John is relative to what you want. St. John is quieter. Nightlife is better on St. Thomas. There are hotels and resterants where you could work on St. John - perhaps work in accounting for one of the hotels... this would work well. St. Thomas also has those jobs and more because its a more busy place. It is very difficult to work on St. Thomas and live on St. John or vice versa - because you have to head out early to catch the 7-8 am ferry or thereabouts to get to work on time. If its full you get stuck, late... so you spend perhaps 1hour and a half travel time to get to work - and on an island hey who needs that. 🙂 but lots of people do it.

Accounting jobs - you might find, you would have to be on island, maybe take a waiter job at first and then search out businesses for accounting. But yes I think you could find something - qualified accountants and office professions are hard to come by - private sector business' often look for good employees in this field. The pay is often less then in the states but hey....

You could perhaps do both accounting day time and bartending/waiter part time evenings - lots of folks do that too, helps to get you set up in the islands faster, then you can relax when you are more confortable finacially in terms of island living.

Average wage for food industry.... well you get below minimum wage and you make the money in tips!!! Take a look in the moving guide on this site like I mentioned before - look in employment there is a chart there with average salaries of jobs in the USVI - will give you an idea for accounting jobs and food service. Also in food service you need a health card - so get that first thing when you get on island too - so you are qualified to work. Instructions in the employment section as well.

Grocery cost - go to moving guide look under Island Living - select Cost of Living there is a chart with groceries and the prices - you can see what things cost, cheese, apples, beer, milk, steaks, chicken - everything. Also there is a chart with electricity, cable and stuff.

--Islander

Hi Scott..
I am moving down to St. Thomas in the middle of August and coming down with two guys. One of them is currently a bartender in Philly and hopes to tend bar in St. Thomas. I am hoping to get a teaching position, but am looking to pick up a second job when I move down.
If you need an laid back group of people for bartenders/waitresses, let us know!
Brooke
Checka6@aol.com