Thread: An idea of life/cost on Nevis

This post is copied from an earlier post and someone suggested I make it a new topic to help people understand our life on Nevis.

After living in the states this is really an adjustment for a family. A car is needed. There are public van(buses) you can get a ride on for a low price but you are really limited to the amount of groceries you can bring in a crowded bus on your lap. And you may have to take two buses to get to the grocery store according to which direction you live from town. We got a tercel for $5000US and we have ample space for luggage or groceries(and I do fill it up each week) but if you have many traveling with you the muffler tends to drag on these bad roads and in the swales for the water to run off. You see alot of jeeps here but they don't have cargo space.

There is a weekly beach day(on Wedenesday) for spouses & family during the day. We just hang out and let the kids play. We go to a different beach each week or to the school pool. There are tennis courts at the school and a nice pavilion beside the pool with picnic tables available for students & family use anytime.

As for schooling my kids are homeschooled online. There are primary schools all over the island and high schools in town and maybe in Gingerland. There are a few private schools in town- Charlestown Prep and one at a church for primary. The local kids walk and the ones going into town take the bus system.

Also the school has a "party" at different restaurants after some of the exams and your family is welcome to those- food provided but you have to purchase your drinks(I take my own sometimes). This is another time you need a vehicle of your own.

You are allowed to bring packaged foods with you and you should bring as much as possible because the food prices here are very high. The govt charges a duty making everything higher.

I brought my own cheap toaster oven(great for pizza, cookies & cakes to avoid turning on the oven when it is so hot and kitchens have no a/c here), a waffle iron, blender, coffee maker, skillets and other items like that. If you can pack it, bring it because it costs too much here to purchase anything. Some homes may supply good pots/pans but ours did not and you won't know until you get here. Towels/sheets/pillows may be needed also. They usually have a bad odor or may be wore out. Fans are used alot here too. A/c is usually only in bedrooms.

We pay $850US for a large 3br/2ba home in the Butlers area which is the country side but we have a large view of the Atlantic Ocean. Some homes are on the caribbean side with a view there. Even if you don't have a view you won't be far from one anywhere. And be sure to ask if the places you look at to rent has a water heater, some do not. It's hot here in the summer but you still need a little warm water for a shower.

We now have high speed cable internet island wide and we have a phone(with a number from our home state) through the internet unlimited to the US nationwide through packet8.com for $20US so we can contact family/friends. If you are interested in the packet8, pm me your email address and I can refer you to packet8 so you can get your first month($19.95) free. And you would not have to have a phone here unless you want dsl versus cable internet if you live where it is offered, we don't. And we disconnectted our local phone. If we have to call somewhere on Nevis we can use pay phones throughout the island or it is .24$US to call from our packet8 phone.

After April(they wanted $316/night in January) you can get a student rate at the Marriott on St. Kitts for $89US/night and it is really nice. Great to get away.

I did figure our expenses last summer for a semester and for groceries(for family of 4), tuition, books, utilites, rent, gas(without upkeep on car), etc. we spent about $13000US to live here for a 15 week semester. That did not include air fare and going out to eat or any extra activites. And tuition has gone up since then.

That may be way more than you asked for but I hope it helps. We do get bored here, especially the teenagers. Wal-mart & McDonald's would be greatly welcomed. (And by the way this is the Ol'Man's wife talking-the spouse.)

Originally Posted by RayMAn

And what about the Internet service .. how much is it usually?

I don't know how much it is at the dorms; I thought it would be included in the price of the room (not really a surprise that it isn't considering the management).

As far as DSL goes, it just got cheaper. The local phone company lowered the cost of DSL from 150 to $99EC/month which is around 38$US for 512K/128K. Thats more than enough to run a vonage line and for regular surfing/downloading.

All of this information was extremely helpful and much appreciated by an upcoming student.

are there any hurricanes that hit the island?? is that a problem??

Originally Posted by SARGOD

I asked claxton yesterday, and I believe he said 80 US per sem at the dorms. Forgot to ask if that was per person or per room . He said you have to bring your own ethernet cable and modem as well. Hope that helps....

Geesh $80 USD that's 20 USD more than the last time I stayed at the dorms. The internet connection is per person btw.

Originally Posted by cooldreams

are there any hurricanes that hit the island?? is that a problem??

So far no hurricanes. Thank goodness! Last time a hurricane came by I think was sometime 1998

we better get wireless router so we can share connection and share money so it gonna get cheaper

Originally Posted by shivaji

we better get wireless router so we can share connection and share money so it gonna get cheaper

its a good idea to bring a router. Problem with the dorms tho is the slow crappy connection. If you're gonna split that into two, your connection is going to slow even further not just into a crawl but even worse, a creep. so, before you decide to share your line with your room mate and split the cost, think about this first. It's easier not to get into a bind than to get yourself out of a bind. You're going to need your router when you move out of the dorms and get your own private line.

Hi,
Will probably be in Nevis Jan/07. Any kind of organized Car sharing, between maybe 2-3 families, or 1 family and a single? I have 4 total coming, and can't imagine using a car daily, except maybe to kid's school.

Anyone have a good word on public or private schools?

MAYBE THE CAR SHARING IDEA IS ABSURD? OR DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE ANY CARS FOR OCCASIONAL OR SEMI-REGULAR USE?

KICK ME, QUICK

Originally Posted by FOTL

Hi,
Will probably be in Nevis Jan/07. Any kind of organized Car sharing, between maybe 2-3 families, or 1 family and a single? I have 4 total coming, and can't imagine using a car daily, except maybe to kid's school.

Anyone have a good word on public or private schools?

MAYBE THE CAR SHARING IDEA IS ABSURD? OR DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE ANY CARS FOR OCCASIONAL OR SEMI-REGULAR USE?

KICK ME, QUICK

Did anybody reply to your questions??

I am also looking for same information.

Thanks,
MD4488

I think FOTL has a car already, and from what I remember, it wasn't shared. (Note that previous post is from 2006)

The school does NOT have cars for students to use, though there are vans that run between campus and Rawlins at certain times of the day (usually according to the first semester schedule)

As always, though, H-buses run during daylight hours, cars (sometimes cheap) are for sale, and rentals (often pricey) are available.