STT or STX

Hi Josefhodge

You ask a question that will bring a bunch of opinions. I have long been an advocate of do your own thing. Where you will be happy.. says more about you than the island that you pick.

Until you have spent time on all the islands you really will not know. Before we decided on St Croix we spent time on Tortola, Virgin Gorda, St Thomas, St John and even St Martin , Jamaica and Anguilla.

We decided on St Croix, but that said more about us than it did about St Croix. There is not "better" place, just a place that suits you better.

St Croix in my opinion is very different from STT/sju. You see I put those two islands together, but they too are very different from each other.
There is no simple answer. However, I will say that if you like a busier life style with access to other islands and more impact from tourists, you will like St Thomas. If you like a slower lifestyle with little tourist impact, you will like Sty Croix.

Unless you spend time in both places you will never know.

Thanks stxer,

That's probably the best answer I'll get. I don't think there's much of a way to find out if I like STX better, by message board! I suppose, since I've been to STT quite a bit, and that's where I'm doing my PMV, I will stick to that.

I do however, somewhat like the idea of less bars, more quiet, so maybe I'll consider STX in the future, after living on STT for a while.

Thanks for the response!

Joe

It's funny you mention C/A as a plus. My dad proudly stated that he went 6 solid years with out venturing downtown. (aside from dring thru waterfont) He thought STX was filled with "hillbillies". STJ was similar to manhattan. SXTer is correct people's opinions say more about them than the actual island.

How bout this? on your PMV take the seaplane over for a day (sometimes they have conbos with hotels). See for your self. Worst case is you have on fun day and decide STX anit for you.

blu4u,

That's a great suggestion, to take the seaplane over for the day. I'll check into that, and perhaps rent a car for the day.

Thank you!

Joe

Check out hotel/seaplane packages. I've scored some sweet deals in August. For sure get a car. See both towns. If you visit the hospital and set some meet and greetswith lhealthcare providers, your trip may qualify as a tax deuction!I seem to rember a home school group looking for a partime science instructor.

Thanks blu4u,

Some more great suggestions. I will take those into consideration. Have a great week!

Joe

Even though I have never lived on either STT or STJ, I have visited them many times. I lived on STX in the 90's and we had to return to the states to take care of my elderly parents and are planning on moving back to STX in the late fall of this year. The reason I like STX is, I like small town living. To me, STT is like NYC...think 4-8 cruise ships porting daily and all those passengers decending on downtown STT. We find plenty to do on STX and when we want to leave the island, we hop the seaplane and head over to STT/STJ and parts beyond. There is always fun to be had on STX and more sense of being a local when living there. My suggestion for you would be to just visit STX and get a feel of it. Also, when one gets "island fever" and the need to move around some, just head out to the "Interstate", the four-lane highway that runs through STX and speed up to 55 miles per hour. Don't think you can do that on either STT or STJ, but, I could be wrong.

40mph on most parts of STT, especially the north side, feels like 140mph. As far as cruise ships go, 4-8 daily is overshooting it. For at least half the year during low season (now) it's more like 1-2 and only on Monday through Wednesday typically. For instance, this week we had 0 Sunday, 1 Monday, 2 on Tuesday and Today, and 0 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I haven't spent a whole lot of time on STX, but from the time I spent there working it seemed like it is much flatter, much more spread out, and less "youthful" if that makes any sense. I like the contrast between the soaring green peaks rising out of the blue water of STT and STJ compared to the almost Florida-esque landscapes of STX. The social scene on STT/STJ seems to be much more geared to 20-30somethings and the Island-hopping can't be beat - a day trip to Jost is one of the great cheap draws here. You can find a nice, isolated, quiet place on the north side that will give you that perfect island-life vibe but in 20 minutes you can be in Yacht Haven Grande or Red Hook and have a vibrant, upscale downtown feel with a heavy nightlife. Then there's always the fact that it's very easy to travel to and from here and the tourism means if it comes down to it, you can always find a job.

Most of the south side, on the other hand, I just straight up don't like. It's crowded, hot, and loud and many areas basically feel like giant public trash bins. I feel like a lot of the negative opinions of STT come from people that really have spent most of their time in the major traffic areas. Not that the north is totally devoid of this, just look at the Coki Beach area and a lot of Smith Bay. For the most part though, no matter what kind of life you want you can find it on STT, and to be honest, I love the fact that I can't drive 55. It's more of an "island-feel" type deal. I drive half the drive to work in low gear every day, and I could probably get away with going the whole way if I wanted to.

I really like STJ and always look forward to taking the car barge over and just driving around, hitting up Cinnamon Bay, Woodies, Skinny Legs, and Beach Bar but I always come away feeling like I couldn't really live there. Seems like you have to be a total beach bum or bar fly to not get bored after a year or so and it's even more expensive than STT.

This all being said, I really need to probably spend more time on STX to give it a fairer shake, but I'm positive someone that lives there is going to chime in (and disagree with everything I said 🙂 ) in 3... 2.... 1.....

Agree, consider what you like/love to do on a regular basis and decide from there!

We love St Croix and have for many years for the "more spread out feel" and we always have something to do here, and we love STT and STJ for the options they offer us, we love boating and visiting the other islands (BVi's) and STT STJ is so awesome for that. But from STX it is just a sea plane ride away or a boat trip across. Some of our friends moved to STT over the years we stayed here and we all make tripss back and forth and love the islands for what they each offer.

Agree with the above comments, spend a day or 2 on island while you are here, we flew seaplane from STT after we visited STJ on one of our visits. And the plus side is the seaplane trip is pretty cool if you haven't done it before 🙂

Good luck and enjoy your adventure!

stt
city, traffic, taxis that stop to chat and block traffic all the time, lots of hills and steps, pretty vistas, easy to stj, more amenities, more tourists, employees hate their customers, did I say hilly? I don't know where you can go 40mph for more than 2 minutes safely.

stx
rural, wide open, flat but also has rainforest, casino, more close knit community, few taxis and tourists, a real highway, and employees don't hate their customers, bigger home depot than stt for what that is worth and better supply chain mgmt.

both have lots of beaches and beautiful weather so you really can't lose. but if you want city life, its stt for you.

STT hotter more expensive more touristic crowded cot of living higher more fun things for singles more restaurants, Honolulu
Stx Maui

...St Croix in my opinion is very different from STT/sju...

I think you meant STJ. 🙂

But josefhodge I read one of your posts about being an RN. If your eventual goal is to work as an RN in the hospital on STT or the hospital on STX you are going to be A LOT happier on STT. I don't know if you are aware of this but several months ago the hospital on STX let go of ALL the LPNs and CNAs. Everyone I know that works as an RN is completely miserable and most of them have left.

STT has both LPNs and CNAs.

Thanks ChanelCing,

Yes, you're right about me looking for a RN job. That's very interesting about the hospital on STX. It would be difficult to work without CNA's and LPN's. Thanks for the info!!!

Joe

Chanel, I've lost track, did you ever move to the USVI, or are you still on PR?

Chanel, I've lost track, did you ever move to the USVI, or are you still on PR?

My stuff is in a storage unit in Puerto Rico right now and I am currently in CA. I am taking some time off and then will study for the NCLEX (the state board exam for nursing) and then I'll be moving to STT.

So the short answer is neither. 🙂

C5: Good Luck on the exam and with your evetnual move to STT. Please be sure to post back with all the details. Posts from recent relocates are particularly realavant. Take care.

C5: Good Luck on the exam and with your evetnual move to STT. Please be sure to post back with all the details. Posts from recent relocates are particularly realavant. Take care.

I will post back. It may be a while though. I have a friend from school that was hired at the hospital on STT and I love it because I am getting ALL the details and more from him. I was the one who told him about it after my interview and he was hired right away because he already had taken NCLEX. I love getting all this info from him. I will barely have to do any research! 🙂