USVI = "crime ridden"?

[Harley1962]

Hello,

I need some "sage" advice from someone (or more) who has experience with the USVI, and the differences / distinctions between them....? Heard (and read) a LOT (some on SB) with some of it being quite negative, but have no "first-hand" experience.

Aside from actual diving, I would appreciate knowing about living standards, infrastructure, and other basic living expenses (rent, food, fuel, transport).

Considering employment on St. John, so any specifics about that island are even better!

TIA,
HB

 

[Boat Diver]

This should pretty well sum it up. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/08/07/btsc.kaye.rovou/index.html

 

[del_mo]

That's pretty unfair. Bad stuff happens everywhere. Anywhere where there is lots of extreme poverty, conditions are ripe for problems. Add booze into the mix and who knows what might happen.

 

[CheddarChick]

But you have to admit the police on all the islands just seem to not worry about the visitors as much as the gangs that give them the bribes. I'm not just talking about St John. But the carribean seems ripe for crime....everywhere

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Be aware. Leave your expensive toys at home (do you really need that laptop?). USVI tends to be more like the mainland US so IMHO it tends to have more crime than some of the other islands. I personally felt more "threatened" on St. Thomas and St. Croix in the urban centers than I have anywhere else in the Caribbean.

 

[Boat Diver]

That's pretty unfair. Bad stuff happens everywhere. Anywhere where there is lots of extreme poverty, conditions are ripe for problems. Add booze into the mix and who knows what might happen.

Lots of extreme poverty? Besides St. Barts and Mustique, St. John is the only island in the Eastern Caribbean that has zero poverty. Poverty lives on St. Thomas not St. John.

 

[mike_s]

Hello,

I need some "sage" advice from someone (or more) who has experience with the USVI, and the differences / distinctions between them....? Heard (and read) a LOT (some on SB) with some of it being quite negative, but have no "first-hand" experience.

Aside from actual diving, I would appreciate knowing about living standards, infrastructure, and other basic living expenses (rent, food, fuel, transport).

Considering employment on St. John, so any specifics about that island are even better!

TIA,
HB

St John is much nicer than St Thomas, but the above CNN story is more what you see in St. Thomas.

Stories like the above CNN story are not uncommon in the USVI. There have been several murders of tourist there in past years.

Ironically they don't seem to make the news like the Natalie Holloway murder did in Aruba.

 

[Mayor]

I have spent some time on all three islands and have had some great times above and below the water. Of the three St John is the best top side and St Croix is the best underwater. My wife and I have never had any problems but with any island you should keep an eye were your going. I do feel St Croix gets a raw deal as far as crime. Let's put it this way I would build a house on St John if I had the cash.

 

[swampmonkey]

This is slightly disturbing, I'm going there in Jan. And will be staying in a house that is pretty isolated.

 

[Scuba Laura]

Hello! Been living on St. Thomas for 3 years and we love it. Email me at: admiralty@viaccess.net and I'd love to give you more insight.