Moving to STX- Some Lingering Questions!

I think you might have trouble getting a dependable car for that price. Once you have been there for a while, and through contacts, you "MIGHT" find a good deal on a car.

IMHO, which is worth nothing, you are moving to the wrong area, unless you are working at the DIVI. Without a dependable car, or relying on public transportation, it is a long way from most jobs. VERY NICE AREA, but a long ways away.
I don't think you need a license for a small boat.

That area is not a good area for SCUBA. There is only one dive sight even marked.

Try to get a job at DIVI casino or resort Not too much else out there. To my knowledge, there isn't any public transportation out there. Just realized I have used the term "out there" twice already. As to the dinghy, well there really isn't anywhere to go from "out there". You're too far away for a comfortable (or safe) small boat ride to anywhere else. Jobs in the off season are tough. I haven't been in the job market on STX, but I do know STT. It is possible, just not as easy to get a job in the summer. Probably even harder on STX.

You can buy a cheap car and re-sell it at the end of your stay, and probably not have more than $1000 invested when it's all said and done, but that could be a hassle, and who knows if you will be able to sell it in a timely manner. Just a thought. Good luck.

Dittoing Juanita and Terry.

Get a car. Bring a car if you can... you can buy a cheap american car in Florida and ship it here for less than what you'd pay for the same car here. Sell it when you leave as Juanita said.

Forget about the dinghy as it will do you little good on STX...unless you live on a boat in the harbor.

The DIVI location is great for a summer vacation (which it sounds like is really what you are doing ... June to Oct.) If you have a car, you'll be fine. If you don't... you wont last long out there unless you get a job right there. Taxi's from DIVI are expensive and no public transportation. Hitching with new neighbors will get old.

If you are a college grad looking for fun and excitement... you'll find STX pretty laid back and little to do at night. Don't come looking for a spring break enviro... its not here. 🙂

Jobs... who knows, its a tough time to be looking. Depends on who you meet, what you can do, what wage... best steady option would probably be light construction.

Good luck and have fun.

check with michael the fb director at the divi hotel 773-9700 ext 755 he's always got jobs available or call leslie over at the deep end/galleon she almost always has a job,both east end places

Thanks you all very much for your feedback. Although the news is discouraging, I'm glad I found this out before I go on my STX journey. A women on this site posted the costs to move a car from Florida to STX. (moving story #11) This is the breakdown:

Shipping My Car

Tropical Shipping $800
Export Power of Attorney
(needed for Tropical to handle paperwork)$50
USVI Vehicle Road Tax $.16 a lb.
(2899lbs x .16) $463.84
Personal Use Tax: (Value - $1000) x 4% $22065(Blue Book for my car) x 4% $882.60
Licensing/Registration/Title (DMV) $150.00
Registration Fee $240.00
Customs Brokerage $80.00
Managed Freight Handling Fee $160.00
Total $2826.44

Now, almost 3 thousand dollars to get a car there, plus the expense of a car is far too much. Of course it wont be that much, but I need an alternative. On the island, do people sell mopeds/scooters? Does anyone know if you need to pay such fees and taxes on them? I am at a loss as far as transportation, because we don't have that kind of money. We can basically pay for rent and food, but much for a car. ANy ideas? $1000 bucks for 4 months of transportation....hmmmm

As far as Jobs go, it sounds like our ONLY option (if we don't have a car) is the Divi Carina. Thanks for giving me the names of people to call there, and I will certainly do so. Any other ideas for jobs in that part of the island?

We are moving to an awesome little house on the beach, but I had no idea it was so far away from everything. I thought that Christiansted would be just a ride away on public transportation, but I had no idea it wasn't accessible from there. Anyone know where the closest pub trans. stop is?

And no snorkeling in that area? isn't there a decent spot on the east end to swim off the coast? I read that there was somewhere. And lastly, why wouldn't a dinghy get me around? Couldn't I boat around the island, and possibly to Buck Island(assuming I devoted a good day)?

Thanks for your help guys, this is HUGE!

JChase, I went through the same process. I ended up leaving my car in the states and moved here with the idea of buying a scooter. After being here a while, I realized that riding a scooter is just dangerous. Drivers here are horrible.

After 4 months of bumming rides, a friend of a friend was moving away and had a 93 Volvo. I picked it up for $2300 and it was a great buy with only 120K miles. Insurance was $400 for a year and it was licensed already so I just transferred the title and register.

I think it gets easier when you start networking and word of mouth kicks in. Also, the classified ads in the local paper seem to have new items everyday.

Noah

There is snorkeling on that side, not SCUBA, at the DIVI area.
IF you ship a older car, it is cheaper, also one built in the US. Check your VIN number. MY Ford Super Duty is built in Canada and therefore there would be import taxes. A Toyota built in the US would have no import tax.

I shipped down a very good condition 1985 Ford Bronco II. From AZ it cost about $2800. This included shipping from az, and the shipper that shipped it to the USVI overcharged me $500 more than Flemming was going to. I made the mistake of signing their form without double checking. They were supposed to only ship the car to FL. Flemming was supposed to ship it from FL to STX. I also paid more to have Flemming do all of the title transfer and licensing. If I was there for more time I could have done that myself. But with a limited time I chose toi pay them to have it done. When I arrived, it was waiting for me at Flemming with everything done.

Thanks Terry, good to know... But, thats out of the question. Shipping costs way to much. My options are these:

1- buy two mopeds/scooters down there. (is this a possibility on the cheap?)

2 - buy a car in STX ( under a 1000? possibility)

3- ship two scooters from New Jersey (wouldn't that cost a lot less because they are small and weigh nothing?)

4 - any other ideas for transportation?

Does anyone know how far it is from Divi Carina to Christiansted? Whats the best way to get there?
Wow, Im stuck with no solid options. Any suggestions on the cheap? Also - me and the guy I am moving with are pretty smart guys with business degrees, but we are fairly good at labor work/bartending/and restaurant work. Any job opportunities out there?!

-Jesse

From the Divi to C'sted, you will usually drive 15-20 minutes in a car each way. Public transportation is not available and taxis often run $15-20 per person each way for that route. If you work at the Divi, you save those commuting miles, but still need transportation to get to a grocery store as there aren't any at the east end and you will have to come back to Christiansted or points further west to do any shopping.

Taking a dinghy around the east end of the island to head to Buck Island would be extremely unsafe. I've made the trip around Point Udall a few times in our 24' SeaRay and sometimes it was pretty scary when the waves were up and we were getting thrown all over the place. A dinghy would be almost certain disaster other than on the calmest few days of the year when the wind dies completely.

Snorkeling on the southeastern barrier reef is good and you can do shallow scuba dives there and in Jacks and Isaacs Bay. More like deep snorkeling on SCUBA than a real dive, but still some cool stuff to see like enormous nurse sharks and 8 pound lobsters, etc. 🙂 You could use a dinghy along the shoreline inside the barrier reef on the south shore, but that's about the extent of its usefulness in that location. You'd also need a way to get gasoline for the dinghy and the only east end gas station is in Solitude, which is not walking distance to the Divi.

What you would be wise to do for transportation is budget a little more for a buy-in price, such as $2500 for a reliable little car, and then plan to sell it for about the same amount when you leave island, resulting in a very inexpensive net cost. Cheap cars often sell very quickly if they run well and aren't falling apart and there will be lots of new arrivals seeking cheap cars in October as workers arrive to gear up for "Snow Bird" season. Buying something under $1K is a recipe for disaster since you'd likely wind up spending a couple thousand more on repairs and be without transportation frequently. MoPeds aren't a great transportation mode in the USVI, but you could possibly make it work for a summer to get from the Divi area to C'sted as the roads are mostly flat and not too curvy between those two points. You can haul small bags of groceries in a backpack if you can't find a new friend with a car to take pity on you and drive you to the market once each week or two.

Divi is running an ad for a bartender in today's paper.

Just off the cuff, I'm guessing about 8 miles from Divi to C'sted. I don't know a thing about shipping, but if you had scooters, you could go back and forth during the day. The road is pretty good and more wide open than some. But I wouldn't even think about doing it at night.

You can access the Crucian Trader online. Go to www.vidailynews.com and scroll down on the left to Crucian Trader. You will find some cars for sale. Unfortunately, the STX daily paper, the Avis, isn't on line.

About your earlier dinghy question. It's just not the right conditions. You would beat your brains out. It's too much open water and just too far to anything. You would need a very large dinghy, and that would cost considerably more than a car, and it comes with it's own set of issues, like dockage.

You can always rent a car by the month. I don't know the costs. I have always used Midwest Auto Rental, in the past. Or try Judy's of St Croix.

It might be cheaper to rent another place closer to Csted or Sunny Isle, where public transportation is available.

It seems as if you are planning a move to STX and haven't had a chance to even consult a map or webmap of the island. Alexandra gave you some right on info on the car solution -- spend $2-4K for a reasonable island car , get it insured and registered and you will likely recoup most if not all that, selling it when you leave. STX is a rather large island - if you don't live near Csted or Fsted you will need a car for sure. I second all the votes against scooters.
Finding a job is likely if you present yourself well and can adapt to new situations. Keeping a job will rely on how responsible you are.
A dinghy that could get you around the island would be way more expensive than a car - and again Alexandra is a boater and speaks from a knowledgeable base.
You will need to be mobile to enjoy your stay and use your days off to see the island and its recreational possibilities.
Don't bring more than you can carry , have a round trip ticket and I feel that about $5K is the minimum to get setup with a car , rent , food and a few days cushion until you can start working and making money. There is no question - it has been done with less $. Good luck - it is a fine place to spend time.

We just did the car search in STX, and couldn't BELIEVE the high prices for used cars at the lots. I'm sure you could find a better deal if you stumble upon a car for sale, but ChefNoah's car for $2300 with 120,000 miles sounds like an amazing deal after having been shopping for 2 weeks. I haven't seen a used car for under 6K yet, (I know they exist, but I haven't seen them) prices are unbelievable.

Longterm rental will be around 800/month not including insurance. That is for a small car. SUV would be $1200. Maybe the prices will have dropped by June, don't know the effect of low season.

Good luck! It will definitely be an adjustment, but probably fun too!

It was an amazing deal and I feel blessed with a car that will go the distance.

Not to mention, it's a turbo station wagon!

A couple of quick notes based on recent posts:

-My understanding is that even a "foreign brand" car (e.g., Toyota) built in the U.S. is going to face some fee when brought here - just not the full amount. I just bought a U.S. built Ford F250 which is on it's way and expect to not pay this particular fee at all. I will have to spend a comma on the road tax fee due to the weight of this thing though.
-From what I've read on another post here the Personal Use Tax was banned as unconstitutional and is no longer charged. I guess I'll find out for sure in a couple of weeks.

That said if you are looking for reliable inexpensive cars you are probably best to do what others have said - budget more and buy a basic car on island.

Good luck.

I thought that all F250 Fords were built in Canada.

Does anyone know what fees you have to pay when buying a car on the island? Our plan is now to rent a car upon arrival and scour the island for cars for sale. GO to some bars and meet some people, see if anyone knows of anything. What rules and regulations are associated with purchasing a car on the island. Hopefully we will find something under 2k!

Just like in the states. I have been told to be sure that is no outstanding tickets against it. They will transfer to the new buyer. Don't know if that is true or not.
Have Mike at MPH auto, located at 5 corners, look it over if you are unsure of the mechanical aspects of the car.

No, I think my F=250 was built in Kentucky but I just don't remember (there's a sticker with the name of the American plant in a corner window but I haven't seen it in a couple of weeks and it's in transit.)

All you need to do in look at the first character of your VIN. If it starts with 1 or 4 then it was made in the US.
2 = Canada
3 = Mexico
W = Germany
Z = Italy
J = Japan

Tickets go with the registration. Registration stays with the registrant upon sale of the vehicle.

Just make sure there are no lien holders on the title.

LOL sorry! Please don't take offense but I'm having visions of Dumb and Dumber when they rode into Aspen on a mini bike scooter. Maybe just buy one and save on gas!! 🙂

Do not rely on a scooter for safe transportation on STX. Unless you work and play VERY close to where you live.