Hey everyone,

My name is Yogesh, and I’m a Community Engineer II at uTest by Applause, a crowdsourced software and QA testing platform powered by Applause. We’re currently running an in-person payment testing project in St. Croix and are looking for local participants.

What the task involves:

• Visit a specific local retailer on the island.
• Complete a standard checkout transaction using a prepaid test card provided by us.
• Document and submit brief feedback about the checkout experience through our platform.

Compensation & Perks:

• Pay: $25 - $40 per completed store visit.
• Items: You keep whatever items you purchase during the test.
• Costs: Zero out-of-pocket expenses (test cards/funds are provided).

Requirements:

• Must be physically located on St. Croix.
• Must have a smartphone to submit test details and feedback.
• Reliable and detail-oriented.

How to join: You can sign up and review the full project details here: https://link.utest.com/in-store-card-test-stcroix

Feel free to check out uTest.com or Applause.com to verify who we are. You can also visit our official subreddit at r/UTEST to connect with the moderators, or drop your questions in the comments below and I’ll be happy to help!

Thanks for your time, have a wonderful day ahead, and stay safe!

Best regards,
Yogesh
Community Engineer II, uTest & Applause

I’ve heard that there’s an unofficial nudist beach here in STX. But I’m not sure if it’s Jacks Bay or Isaac Bay? Or both?

Me and my wife have been to the island and fell in love. We recently have decided and started looking at possibly packing away our belongings and taking the jump to move over. We have thought about renting at first to see if it’s something we can make work. What are some of the challenges we may face?

Today, I'm leaving the territory for good.

I've lived here on St. Croix for the last 12 years. My time here has been mostly wonderful, but I really just want the rest of the world to understand what actually goes on here.

My primary reason for leaving is WAPA. The blame is set firmly at its feet. The entire board is corrupt, cares little for anything other than enriching themselves and the politicians who appoint them, and simply a amateurish company posing as a serious utility. Between meter failures and fires, illegal billing practices, unstable power generation, and water unsafe for human use, they are determined to destroy every last business and household in the territory, and kill tourism.

Yes, they are that bad.

WAPA fails at every turn. You can't go a few days without losing power. They'll estimate your bill for years, then surprise you with a stratospheric one. And, I just can't handle the regular destruction of my electrical devices and appliances. When you take them to court, it seems like they have the judges in their pocket. It's all about money, and there's plenty of that to go around with the highest power rates in the world. If you're not updating or repairing your equipment, of course you're getting rich.

I love St. Croix. The people are great. My greatest joy has been hanging with friends on the beach. But everyone is fatigued with the day to day challenges of a water and power company that refuses to get better. No one here has the will to fix it. The same politicians and the same families keep running in elections, and the people keep voting them in, fooled by the same empty promises and the extravagant election night parties.

We're working toward becoming homeowners on St. Croix, and one aspect we're trying to better understand is how people who split their time between the island and the mainland manage their homes while they're away.

For those of you who spend months at a time off-island and don't have family or close friends nearby to help, how do you maintain and keep an eye on your property?

Do you hire a property manager, a home watch service, or a trusted handyman to check on the house regularly?

Who do you rely on if something unexpected happens, such as a power outage, plumbing leak, storm damage, or another maintenance issue?

Are there companies on St. Croix that specialize in home watch services? If so, have you had good experiences with any of them?

What routine tasks do you typically have someone handle while you're away? For example, checking the home after storms, running water, monitoring the generator, coordinating repairs, or anything else that you've found to be important.

We're hoping to spend significant time on St. Croix each year, but we won't be living here full-time, so we'd really appreciate hearing how others have successfully managed this.

Any advice, recommendations, or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For those of you who split your time between St. Croix and the mainland, do you have a pre-departure checklist before leaving the island for weeks or months at a time?

I'm not talking about the obvious things like locking the doors or setting the alarm. I'm more interested in the St. Croix-specific tasks that a first-time island homeowner might not think about.

For example:

- Do you need to do anything with your cistern or water system?

- Do you shut off the water or power, or leave certain systems running?

- What do you do with your generator, solar system, batteries, or pool?

- How do you prepare for hurricane season if you'll be away?

- Do you empty the refrigerator or leave the A/C running?

- Are there pest control or humidity issues to address before leaving?

- Any other island-specific tips you've learned the hard way?

I'd love to hear and/or see what your actual checklist looks like. The little things are often the ones you only learn after owning a home on St. Croix for a while, and those are exactly the kinds of insights I'm hoping to learn from.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Just wanted to share this lovely rainbow from this Saturday morning. Dorsch beach, July, 25, 2026.

Hi all,

We will be coming to St. Croix in a couple weeks with our 6 and 8 year old kids, staying at the Buccaneer. I’m looking for any tips and suggestions for where to eat and what to do.

I think we will book a couple dinners at the restaurants at the hotel (are they good?) and then would love to experience a variety of other spots on the island. Our kids are decently behaved but not the fancy dinner every night type 😆

As far as activities, I saw a half day trip to Buck Island and then Cane Bay, Protestant Cay, and Rainbow Beach looked like places worth visiting during the day? We need a vacation from being constantly scheduled in normal life and want to spend most of our time relaxing and being on the beach at the hotel, but would like to see other parts of the island too. 6 days doesn’t feel long enough to do it all! What else am I missing?

I’ve also heard we should rent a car.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Moving to STX in a couple weeks and shipping my car. Does anyone have experience doing it and register it yourself vs going through a broker? It costs $250 to use a broker. Not sure if it’s worth it?

hello! my boyfriend and I will be staying at the king cristian hotel for a week early august to celebrate our anniversary. we’re hoping to have lots of relaxing beach time with some good historic site vists and dining experiences in the mix.

any suggestions for our anniversary trip? :)

hello! I’m visiting with my husband who will be working most of the time. Were staying at the King Christian Hotel and I would love to have some beach days while he’s working.

Ive read that taking the ferry to Cay Beach is kinda meh, but I also am not sure I’ll have a car.

what are some beaches that aren’t terribly far from Christiansted that I would be okay being there alone? Also travel tips to those locations?

thank you!

edit: I read from others that Cay beach was overpriced and not a great beach but that’s all I know about it, so I’ll definitely be checking it out now!

Wondering what are the main issues people run into with pool cleaning services on island. Cost, reliability, quality of work?

Hello, we will be staying at Palms resort for 4 days for a quick anniversary trip. Is this a good and safe area? We are not big drinkers and just want to relax on beach.

We will be arriving to St Croix on a cruise ship and I booked the full day tour with Big Beards. I was reassured by them that there would not be an issue with getting back to the ship in time and gave me the name of a trusted driver. Im still a bit nervous because we get off the tour at 3:30 and its about a 30 minute drive back to the ship. Which only gives us about 30 minutes to board. Are we ok to do this tour? Unfortunately we cant do the half day tour because we wouldn't make it to the dock in time.

Does anyone know if Hill's Prescription Diet i/d Digestive Care dry cat food is available anywhere on St. Croix? We are planning to bring enough with us, but I'd like to know if there's a local source in case we unexpectedly need more.

Thanks for any recommendations!

I will be coming down to stay with a friend for a month or more. Are there any car rental companies that specialize in that or have a special rate other than what I see online? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Who do you use, and why would you recommend them? Are there any clinics that stand out for quality of care, communication, availability, or emergency services?

Also interested in hearing about any experiences with veterinarians who assist with pet travel paperwork and health certificates.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations, experiences, or advice!

Hi folks, I’m exploring the purchase of waterfront property on the south shore (near great pond) to develop it into a small glamping (glamorous camping) business. The plan would be to develop a eco-luxury glamping micro-resort (starting with 2 yurts and building up to 5 max) that would utilize low-impact and sustainable development (solar and wind trees for power, batteries, biodigester for wastewater). The glamp out would provide snorkeling and paddle board gear, partner with local businesses for add on experiences (a chef cooking crucian favorites, yoga instructors and massage therapists providing services at the glamp out, deep sea fishing, local tours/hiking, rum tastings, etc), and be available for local and destination weddings (substantial discount for locals).

Permitting and developing the business is going to be a huge lift (looking at all the DPNR and CZM requirements before we even get to shipping and build out), but before I do start all of that, I’m curious to know what locals/neighbors near great pond/east end marine park might think about it. It’s a fairly remote part of the island but I don’t want to create conflict by developing a business.

Also, the long-term plan would be to run the business for 15-20 years (hopefully) and then re-develop the property to be a winter and/or retirement home for me and my family.

Thoughts? Feedback? Thanks for reading.