PMV - Coming Soon!

Hello there. I saw that your posting had not yet been addressed. My name is Dan, and I will try to pass on what has been passed on to me.

In terms of the islands, instead of looking for which has more jobs, it might be important to look at how you want to live. St. Thomas is lovely, quite mountainous, and in season very hectic. It is a smaller island, so things are more condensed and from what I hear, the cost of living is generally higher (especially in the renting/buying department).

St. Croix has a great deal of nearly year round tourist industry, though not as many cruise ship type of visitors to St. Thomas. I can speak a bit more in detail about St. Croix as that is where I live. For bartending, it seems that the peak hiring time is in September or October, as right after October, we hit a 'shoulder month' to the high-season. Historically, this was not a particularly busy time, but over the course of the past decade of so, the month before and the month after high season are very busy indeed. As such, many retaurants, bars, hotels etc. want their waitstaff in place by November at the latest.

I physically cannot be a bartender, though when I moved here last September, I was offered a couple of jobs! As such, I would suggest doing a PMV no later than October, and in the event you decide to move,I would have all of my 'chips in order' back home. Bartending can be quite lucrative here, or on St. Thomas, so I guess the differentiating part would be how you would choose to live.

I personally chose St. Croix as even though it is hilly, I did not have to contend with mountains. They were tough on my spine even in a car, and in terms of housing, it was relatively higher. What a lot of people might think is fun, I also found to be congested. I was looking to get away from traffic problems, and therefore chose a larger island with fewer cars per mile during the day.

You never mentioned what your wife does, but if you post, I will try to find some information for you.

If you do a PMV and want to check both islands, I do rent out a private mini-efficiency apartment for that purpose. It will save you money, and is located extremely close to where the ferry comes in to St. T., which would allow you easily to visit both islands.

I hope this is of help, and if you have any other questions, please contact me at [email protected].

Best wishes, read this board a lot, and hope that your willingness after deliberation will set you up well for a positive experience that may lead to a move.

Warm regards,

Dan