Smoking / asthma

Smoking is prohibited in all public indoor areas and within 20 feet of entrances to restaurants, bars, etc.

The air quality is sometimes poor due to Saharan dust and volcanic ash from Montserrat. It can be very hard on asthmatics.

I never see anyone follow the 20 feet rule. The thing is most of our restaurants are open door so even if they were 20 feet away (which they are not) you would smell it. My allergies are bad here but better then we lived in CA but worse then TX and AZ. We have dust all the way from Africa that is very hard on many people and things are constantly growing and its a humid climate so there is always mold somewhere. And we live with our windows open as a/c (electric) is very expensive, most use it at night only if they use it at all..

So depending on what triggers your wife it could be very bad. Definitely come out for a month or two for a visit and see how it works. But stay in a house or condo and live like a local and not a tourist. It's a very big cultural change, yes, even if your well traveled and have lived other places. Also I would wait at least 6 months because we are in a huge financial trouble. It could be very hairy to live here for the next year.

Read everything on this board from the beginning to the back before you really make any serious decisions and definitely do a PMV!

I am allergic to pollen from spring-flowering trees and was MUCH better in the USVI.

My allergies have disappeared on STX. But I know several people who have moved here, and within a few months are extremely sick. It is important to stay more than a week or two for her to really evaluate if she's "okay" or not, as Hiya! says.

my husband's allergies were horrible during the sahara dust stuff, and one of my friends is currently having some bad allergy issues here but i am not sure the cause. depends on the type of allergies, but i would speak with her dr regarding her specific allergy triggers and how the vi would exacerbate or ameliorate them.

We had to rehome a much loved pet back to the States as his allergies on island were unbearable for him 🙁
The Saharan dust and the mold can both be real triggers for asthma.

my husband has severe reactions to all of the bad air here, he sometimes needs an inhaler. we do live on stx, we have wapa and hovensa here. hovensa for not much longer. air quality is NOT good here.

Speed, I disagree strongly. I lived on the North Shore, facing south and our air was excellent. Of course different areas might have different experience.

I have to agree with Linda J--I live on the North shore/West End area and think the air is great where I live. I also think it is excellent in the lesser developed parts of the island (ie not Sunny Isles/Hovensa/near main roads mid island areas). Much better than anywhere I lived in the US or foreign countries.

i live in town, we can see the sahara desert dust on the horizon. when it is really thick it is hard for him to breathe. sometimes he has such trouble breathing he needs his inhaler. we get excellent breeze too. he never had these problems in the states. Most of my husbands trouble with air comes from the desert dust. some from the road dust from the never ending bypass.
we know its going to be a bad day when STT is covered in yellow air from the desert dust.

My allergies, are far as running nose, itchy eyes, etc all bus disappeared when we moved here from Phoenix. But a lot of times, the air feels kind of thick to me, and my nose will get a little clogged up and I have trouble actually getting a full breath. It is worse during the Saharan dust times and also when my neighbors are burning things. 🙂

100% RIGHT Beth, also coughing way too much. i wonder if the lungs of non smokers here look similar to those of smokers?

cookieboss, The mold count is extremely high on the island. It took us two years to find out what was making my son so sick. Before we found out what was causing it he had been to many doctors, some said he had asthma, allergies, suppressed immune system, ect. Poor kid was always on some kind of medication. We found that the school he was attending was the source of his illness and he is allergic to mold. I also became ill if I was at his school any length of time. We took him out of school in Oct. 2010 and he hasn't been sick since. Even if you are not allergic to mold it will affect you here. We live on the drier east end of the island and our house has no mold. Google mold count St. Croix USVI and it will take you to VI ear nose and throat. They have a daily mold and pollen count posted.

Hate to tell ya Linda and stxem but just because you don't have problems does not mean there is a problem. Everyone reacts differently to different things and the mold and sahara dust are all over this island, it doesn't not hit the north shore. Glad you two do not have any problems with the air though always a good thing, but others of us do suffer. I am NOT knocking north shore, just saying someone with asthma will likely have problems here (meaning the whole island). But for some it's treatable or manageable and no big deal, but always best to really try it out first! 🙂

Thanks for all of the responses!8-)

I just moved from Richmond, VA on Dec 1st.

1. air quality is much much better
2. I have bold mod allergies, still do, but my blotches on my face disappear when I am on the island. (STT). That isn't to say there isn't a ton of mold everywhere but it doesn't affect me much.
3. My pollen allergies are non existant.
4. If my wife forgets her allergy pill she will have a tight chest.
5. Running on the beach and being able to breath without a tight chest is great.

Don't worry about smoking. Richmond and VA in general has a crazy high smoking rate in relation to the rest of the country. For your purposes, people rarely smoke here.