summer or fall?

June would be better for job and apartment hunting, as all of the people that only come for season have left and their apartments and obs are available...September is good due to hurricane season, but you'll find more availability in June....

thank ya mr Marty

I think this is a STT and STX difference. We do not have much in the way of seasonal type workers. Really the only large influx of workers that come here and are temporary is Hovensa and the Contract companies that work with hovensa "lay off" people here in December. To be rehired (if they choose too) in Jan or Feb. We don't have the tourism that STT does so we don't have anywhere near the seasonal workers. My guess is 90 to 95 percent are permenant as far as any transplant is permenant.

If you come in Sept, rent will most likely be at its cheapest unless Hovensa is having a big push for a job, which is unlikely at that time of the year(it would be more likely in May....Remember when they were talking about puting a Cruise Ship up at the Hovensa port for the big job they had to get done?). During Hurricane season hotels become cheaper and quite often rent does as well do to lack of new people coming to the island or just people being smart enough not to want to move in the rain. 😉

If you come in May the tourist season is already over, like it will be in Sept, so I would suggest save the money (money goes much more quickly here the more you have the better) and come when you have a better chance of cheap rent. Give yourself a months worth of housing to find your rental if you can. If you take your time you can usually find someing you'll be happy in long term. Moving to a different rental can be very expenseive here as most landlords want first, last and deposit to move in.

thanks a lot Betty. very good information.

got a couple of questions for ya. how's the population down there? i don't have a clue, but it seems from talking on here that yall get a lot of new people moving in each year. is that any kind of problem... such as places becoming crowded or maybe lack of available jobs? i guess i'm thinking this way becuse it is an island. in my imagination i just see all these people moving down there and the place getting filled up.

and when does the season start on STX. i've tried to schedule my timing to get there two or three months in advance. from what i have heard it begins around november/december. is this correct?

thanks again for the last post.

Dec 15 to April 15 is STX season but its usually all over by March.

In the islands we actually have a negative pop, so its not really that crowded. A large percentage of property owners here are part time islanders or just use it as investment property. Majority of transplants stay for 6 months to a couple of years and then leave or we really would be over run. A portion of locals go stateside for education or jobs and never come back. And when you get to the age were you need to consider your medical health many also move off island, because the health care is very far from the best here.

Island living is much harder then many expect, so just keep that in mind when you are here. Don't touch your nest egg or buy a home until you've been for a year or two and the honeymoon phase has definitely warn off. That being said many love it here and never leave.

I was ready this board and the health care kinda scared me when you implied not so good are there hospitals there? I found many doctors and some really nice looking health care factually on ST Croix website please advise. Thanks Ronna

It is my belief that what the hospital/doctors do here they do professionally and ably. The greater problem is what is NOT available. For example, there is no rheumatologist on STX. For a time, on STT, epidurals for vaginal deliveries were not available. And for major trauma, you would certainly want to be airlifted to either Puerto Rico or Miami. Heart surgery, joint replacement, high risk preganancy? All would certainly require a trip off-island.

Everyone who moves here must realistically evaluate their health needs vs. availability of care.

I don't think that either May of Sept for STX is better than the other, really. Both have pluses/negatives, neither is a time when its particularly easy to find a job, but theyre out there, and apts are available at both times. The up side to coming down in Sept is that you missed August. I was NOT a happy camper the last two weeks of August this year, as it was too hot for my taste.

Let

thanks Leta.
what about what Betty said? is it pretty consistent that the rent drops for places around September? and about the jobs... i was thinking maybe around Sept. places such as resorts and restaurants would be more anxious to hire new staff to get ready for the upcoming season? is this not the case?

On St Thomas, you can have joint replacement with Dr Chase. Also we have a new orthopedic surgeon on staff. We have no rheumatologist, pulmonologist, endocrinologist... People in the states are accustomed to having a choice among specialists. Here, we are lucky if we have a specialist. If you want stateside medicine, the states is the place to be. The VI is never going to be Miami, Atlanta, Washington D.C, New York or any number of other large cities. I believe we do a fairly good job given the innumerable issues.