British Virgin Island Employment

The British Virgin Island's work opportunities are primarily limited to the main Island of Tortola.  There are about 50 smaller Islands in this group, fifteen of which are inhabited.  The next most populous Islands, after Tortola, are Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke; these three smaller Islands comprise the main tourism base, however, besides the occasional lone lucky foreign worker, all the jobs are staffed by locals.   Other Islands in the group offer little in terms of work but do have some interesting Island names; Beef, Ginger, Guana, Mosquito, Necker, Norman, Peter, Salt, et cetera.  You can reach the BVI by ferry from St. Thomas or flying into the airport located on Beef Island.      

Jobs are mainly wait staff, scuba diving, hotel and spa, and day cruise boat staff, however, the recession has hit the tourism sector fairly hard, so currently there are less jobs than normal...on a good note, the annual holiday season (and great time to find a job) is from late September/ October all the way into March.  I would suggest trying to move down to the Caribbean right before peak tourism starts and then only plan on staying there for about 6 months the first time.   Obviously, when the approximately 350,000 annual tourists stop coming during high season, there are still jobs but just not as many.  Plus, I'm not saying you would do this, but you can imagine how much diversion there is in the Islands, so invariably, there are quite a few people that move to the Virgin Islands, get a job, then have trouble making it into work on time or don't work that hard and end up getting fired; that's good for job seekers because positions open up throughout the tourist season but obviously can put the fired people in a difficult financial position...most pack up and move back to their home country (in this case, most foreign workers are from the United Kingdom).  Also, don't move there and immediately buy a car or boat.  Once you live in the Islands for a few months you will start seeing some great deals (usually from the stuff the people bought that ended up getting fired or decide they've had enough of island living and are ready to move back home (impossible to believe but it happens alot!).

You might be able to get a job bartending on the famous Willie T's, a party boat parked in a small bay off of Peter Island, but they don't advertise for the position which only opens up every once in awhile (staff stay on board in a small room). 

Your best bet is to seek out a job in Road Town, the capital with a population of about 9,000, which has the most hotels and shops in the Island chain and where the cruise ships anchor or the other harbor which contains all the charter sailboats (Bareboats BVI) in the marina with bars, a hotel, and shopping.

You could indirectly work in the British Virgin Islands by getting a job on a day cruiser out of St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands).   These boats typically bring about 40 to 60 tourists over to Jost Van Dyke to party for the day in its absolutely beautiful White Bay or at the famous Foxy's beach bar in Great Harbour. 

 

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