General Info
by Female Abroad
Heading to the USVI I was wondering what I could expect upon arriving and what is the culture like? I found this information very helpful and hope that you do as well.
General
- English is the main language
-
Time zone is Atlantic Time and daylight-savings is not observed
- they do run on Caribbean time so things are a bit slower, more relaxed
- they do run on Caribbean time so things are a bit slower, more relaxed
-
Drink bottled water
-
Country Code is 1
-
Electricity is the same as the US (110 volts)
-
Cell phone reception is not reliable nor island wide
Climate
- June to November is hurricane season, peaking in September & October
-
November to February are the coldest months with Sept to Oct being the hottest
-
July to January are the rainy months
Culture
- Be pleasant before asking questions or buying things (ex. Morning! How are you?)
-
Wear swimwear only at the beach or the pool
-
T-shirt, dresses, shorts, and sandals are preferred away from these locations
-
Tips of 15 - 20% are expected but some restaurants will add a service charge to the bill so check first
-
Festivals:
-
January: New Years Day, Three Kings Day, Martin Luther Kind's Birthday
-
February: President's Day
-
March: Transfer Day
-
April: Virgin Islands Carnival, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Easter Monday
-
May: Children's Parade, Adult Parade, Memorial day
-
June - July: St. John's month long celebration of the island
-
June: Organic Act Day
-
July: VI Emancipation Day, Independence Day, Hurricane Supplication Day
September: Labor Day
-
October: Columbus Day, Puerto Rico Friendship day, Hurricane Thanksgiving Day
-
November: Liberty Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day
-
December: Christmas Day, Boxing Day / Christmas Second Day
-
January: New Years Day, Three Kings Day, Martin Luther Kind's Birthday
Shopping
- US visitors are allowed $1,200 of duty free items within a 30 day period
-
if you are mailing things out of the country the gift cannot be worth more than $100/day to the same address
-
you are allowed 5 cartons of cigarettes, 100 cigars, and 5L of liquor
-
In Canada, you can follow the same duty allowances as if you were traveling home from the US which is a lot less than what the US are allowed to bring back. With the new NAFTA agreement coming into place Dec. 1 I am not going to list those levels here as they will change but check out the Canadian Government's website here for up to date information.