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We've been offered positions as estate managers for a luxury estate on St. Thomas. The owner is providing us with a beach front cottage on the property and is paying for our relocation expenses. We lived in the Cayman Islands for 20 years so have Caribbean experience but.......
Can anyone tell us the following:
Are we taxed the same on wages in St. Thomas as in the US?
We are relocating dogs, are there special relocation rules and is there a government link?
Is there any duty imposed on bringing in personal posessions?
Are the road rules the same?
Are vehicles relatively easy to find (not sure yet if employer will be providing one or will pay to relocate ours or what)
The employer is giving us a 3 year contract, but I might want to do some side work in massage therapy is there any regulations regarding working as one in St. Thomas?
We are avid snorkelers is shore snorkeling fairly easy? How about shore diving?
What is the average temperatures throughout the year?
How are the grocery stores?
Okay a million and one questions. If you have specific answers or links can you email them to me at ahealingwisdom@hotmail.com
Thanks so much for the help?
Posted : November 15, 2005 4:06 pm
If you Do a... SEARCH... of this web site about 90% of your answers will be found. These topics have been discussed many many times. It will be to your benifit to read as many of the responses as you can. It will give you many different viewpoints to your questions.
You should also look at the basic information on this website (top of the page) to get a better feel for your new "home".
Your Cayman experience will be invaluable in preparing you for island living.
Posted : November 15, 2005 11:26 pm
Topic starter
Guy
Thanks for the info, I have been doing searches but there is a heck of a lot of information to filter through! We figured 20 years in the Cayman Islands would make a transition to St. Thomas pretty easy, at least it's bigger and not flat and has things like a K-Mart in Cayman you have to fly to Miami to do anything and even though it's a tax haven the duty kills you on everything you bring in.
Do people tend to get Island Fever in the VI??? In Cayman it's very common because it's so small and no nearby islands, we never tended to get it because we got off island several times a year but with this new position we won't be able to do that and we are comitting to a 3 to 5 year contract. Any thoughts from anybody?
Thanks for the input
Posted : November 16, 2005 11:30 pm
Cindy,
I think "island fever" is very subjective and probably as many people get it as don't. A lot depends on how important "things" are to you; if you are content with what you find on island in terms of goods, services, culture etc. then you will have less of a problem with the "smallness" of the place than those who find themselves frustrated by the on island lack of variety usually found in mainland shopping malls. To evaluate your situation you need to consider how important those off island trips were for you when you worked in the Caymans. If you found yourself anticipating the next trip shortly after you returned from the previous one, you will likely feel the same way here. If you only began looking forward to a trip off island after you'd been on island for a while the same will probably be true here. I think one's attitude determines one's level of contentment in life, wherever one lives.
Posted : November 16, 2005 11:49 pm
Topic starter
Thanks for the input. "Things" are not my priority. I went off island for work purposes when in the Caymans or to visit family in England and the US once a year, other than that I didn't like leaving the island. I'm not a "shopper" by nature as long as I can find a good book now and again. You don't live on a 7 mile by 30 mile island for 20 years if your goal is to get off of it as often as possible! And back when we first went to Cayman there wasn't even a real "super market" you never knew if the ship was going to bring in fresh milk, meat or produce, it was rather hit or miss in that regard, it's changed alot in 20 years! And as far as restuarants and what not, I prefer local to anything like a chain that I would find in the US. The worse thing that ever happened to Cayman in my opinion was when a Burger King and a Hard Rock cafe went in!
Again, thanks for the input.
Posted : November 17, 2005 11:14 am
Hello Cindy,
Yes we pay the same Income Tax, Medicare & Soc. Security like on the US mainland. We do however file income taxes with our local IRB.
There is a section of moving with dogs and also lots of prior discussions on personal experiences with moving dogs. Click on Home at the top, left of this page and then select Shipping Pets from the options.
There is a personal tax on items shipped. This tax is equivalent to the Value of the Items minus $1000 times 4%.
Road Rules... We have speed limits and they are posted on signs. There are stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights etc. Slower driving speeds for school zones. Seatbelt required, so is car insurance. No passing a school bus etc.
Yes you can buy used or new cars on island, pretty easy.
For license info. on massage therapy visit the Dept. of Licensing and Consumer Affairs. http://www.dlca.gov.vi/index.htm
There is pretty good beach accessible snorkeling. You can find a beach guide at http://www.vinow.com/stthomas/beaches_stt/.
You can find weather information at this link http://www.vinow.com/usvi/weather.php (the link looks the same as the one about beaches but its different, just on the same site as the beach one).
The grocery stores are good, how good depends on what you are used to. 😉
--Islander
Posted : November 22, 2005 2:51 am
Oh islander you are so nice....
Posted : November 22, 2005 3:22 am
