St. Croix

Having moved to St Croix two months ago, I will try to offer you my somewhat limited insight to the island. I'm not sure what you mean by "least American". There is a large mixture of different kinds of people here. West Indian, Black, American White, European and Puerto Rican to name a few. It has been my experience that the groups get along better here than they do in the states. If you use the island rules of civility, I find them to be friendly, open and helpful. What I mean by rules of civility is opening conversations with Good Morning, Good afternoon, etc. I have found no one that if treated with respect who did not reciprocate. It reminds me of the rural South of my youth without any racism (although there was less there than most folks think).
I have been very impressed by the amount of culture on the island. I don't know of anyplace else you can go to a beach bar and listen to flute & classical guitar duets. The variety of music here is phenomenal. There is, of course, Carribean (steel pan), Salsa, rock, classical. The only type I have not yet heard here is country :>) There is a lovely botanical garden here. There are museums. There are several art galleries.
If you're into gaming, there is both a casino and a horse track. I have not been to either, so I cannot comment on their quality. St Croix has the only casino in the USVI.
The water here is beautiful. I know there are those who would argue with me, but I would put the water, snorkeling and diving up there with any in the Carribean. I think it's as good as St John, just a little harder to get to.
The climate here is interesting. The east end of the island reminds me of the high desert of the American southwest. The western part of the island is rainforest. That radical a difference on an island only 26 miles long.
My wife and I love our new home. I hope this helps. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to email me directly or post them here. This is the best board for getting questions answered.

Ric...You've said it very well. After spending time on St Thomas and St John. and Tortola and Virgin Gorda..and Anguilla and St Martin and Jamaica ... and anagada and jost van dyke.
and "others".

I have decided that St Croix is the best island for me.

I really don't want more people to discover this... but I do want people to know the truth.
Whether or not you are attracted to stx or not is not important. I do get I bit tired of the negative image some people talk about. But St Thomas has this same image problem. The cruise ship companies try to cover up any negative reports on st thomas.
However they have chosen to not defend st croix (for what ever reason).(maybe that is the usvi government at work???) The fact is, it is all about money{greed}. I have very mixed feelings that the cruise ships are currently not calling on St Croix. I like the lack of ugly tourists...but I am sorry for the lack of the ugly tourist money.

How lucky we are to have what St Croix has to offer....who could ask for more...

Mr. Buffet,

I have heard others say St. Croix is the least "American" and most "Caribbean" of the USVI islands. I think it depends on your defination of the terms or your stereotypes of what the two mean or conjure up in your own mind ... when I think "really Caribbean" I think small brightly colored wooden houses with bright hibiscus growing in the yard, locals with unique accents with their own unique character and look, eating a jonny cake and listening to town elders play music on a gourd, chickens and goats running around, I think small community and more friendly, I think less developed and sometimes even "poor" in terms of money and luxary items; and more American I think tommy jeans, polo shirts, maui jim sunglasses, nike sneakers, listening to britany spears and eating mcdonalds, I think development, museums, concerts, technology, fast pace... stereotypes are funny things. (I of course know that both areas are about much more then what I mentioned.) To answer your question I think St. Croix offers a little of both atmospheres, while negociating a middle area unique to St. Croix, like Ric said classical music at a beach bar.

St. Croix is different from St. Thomas/St. John; for example your question about being arid - half the island, the east side, has beautiful rolling hills with short fields of grass and windswept bushes and scrubs. Then the west and north side are completely completely different - we call it "the rain forest" there is a even a dam built in a valley there (albeit the few times I have been to the dam there wasn't a whole lot of water there)... but in any case the forest on this side of the island are lush, huge green tamarind trees, kaypok trees, strangler figs, mango trees, kenip trees, actually the roads are through canopies of trees. When you drive along Butler Bay area you can picture the stately great houses that were once there. You also pass neat little beach bars. There are areas with Wendys and K-mart and stores and lots of cars and the highway and housing parks and you can't miss the oil refinery.. and these things might make you think development... there are just vastly different areas.

Diving is excellent, the famous "wall" is there. An area about 2 miles from shore where the ocean floor slopes and then drops to some 5,000+ feet. There are a few wreck dives also. And I have heard that diving around the Frederiksted Pier (although its a man-made structure) is good particularly at night.

You might visit

http://www.anchordivestcroix.com/dive_sites.htm

http://www.canebayscuba.com/sites.html

they both describe some popular sites.

Teaching jobs, you might look at: (Teachers are always in high demand)

http://www.fedeles.com/schools.htm
there is a list of schools on that page with tel. #'s perhaps call the private schools and inquire about applying. The public schools you have to go through the dept. of education.

Country Day at http://www.stxcountryday.com/ has an employment page with downloadable application and a letter from the headmaster.

--Islander

Hello again folks,
Having never been to The USVI ( but I plan to visit before I move). St. Croix sounds most appealing to me, a nice "in between" of St. John and St Thomas. I just read the post which stated that the cruise ship companys don't stop there any longer. So I am wondering what the buisiness climate is on the island. Thank you in advance for your answers.
Sean

Sean,

Yes the ships are not going there right now. A lot of businesses in Frederiksted that sold souvenirs ect. closed up because that is where the ships used to come in. Christiansted is still fairly active. I beleive there are several agencies at work trying to revitalize Frederiksted. There are still on land visitors so there are shops in resorts and in Christiansted and businesses that market to residents.

--Islander