From US considering moving to PR. no big cities. best area?

Yes, the southern side of PR is less hectic than the northern side. It is less congested and less developed. It is also, generally speaking, quieter. It is dryer on the southern side than the northern side. There are occasional floods that can be devastating but I would not worry about that too much.

Hi and welcome to Expat.com!

Since you don't speak a lot of Spanish you may want to check out f.i Rincon (west coast). There are quite some Americans living there and you'd get along just fine with English.
A little further south is Cabo Rojo which you may like as well. 
Another place you may want to visit is Culebra, one of the small islands off the east coast of PR. You should do OK there with English and you'd have one of the best beaches in the area, Flamenco Beach.

Yes, I recommend you visit the west coast, and definitely visit Rincon for a bit; I maintain an an apartment there and love it as an expat. Very close to beaches, laid back and friendly environment, great surfing if you are into that, 20 minutes from Western Shopping Mall (Home Depot, Sams Club, and more), 40 minutes from Mayaguez Mall, 30 minutes from Aquadilla (I fly from Newark directly to Aguadilla, 4 hours), lots of stuff going on locally, nice town center. If you want specific info give me a shout.

If you are thinking about Ponce in the South of the Island I would reconsider. Ponce is very hot and dry they even have cactus and sand dumes. My favorite locatin is Luquillo which is about an hour from San juan on Rte 66 (toll road) and then rt 26 past the airport. We like Luquillo because the place we stay at is called Playa Azul and it is right on the ocean with a good beach. There are three high rise buildings (22 stories each) and you have a grocery store etc just across rt 3. Plenty of good restaurants close by and a good mix of expats and locals. We love it there so stop by and take a look. I hope that helps and no I am not a real estate agent just someone who lover PR.

Thank you all for your input.  I'm very grateful. 

What about Culebra?  How do I get there from mainland PR?

The major drawback about Culebra is the ferry service. It's an unmitigated disaster. It leaves from Fajardo and you're extremely lucky if you can get your vehicle aboard. The maintenance and management of the ferry service is a disgrace.

I've been in third world countries with better, more reliable and safer ferry service than that of PR. I'm shocked no one has been killed lately.

Culebra is wonderful island to visit especially Flaminco Beach. As to the ferry service from the main island, leaving from Fajardo is another issue. For the past couple of months the ferry service has been wonderful because of new boats that use to provide service from Ft. Myers FL to Key West has been providing the service. That service is probably not running any more because of budget problems in Puerto Rico. If that is so then all the comments about the terrible service from the ferry boats are true. I have never been stranded on Culebra but I have had to wate 1-2 hours for another ferry to come pick us up because the one scheduled is not working. Being stranded on Culebra is not a bad thing because there and many nice places to stay so why not plan to spend a couple days there. You can find some wonderful bargains for lodging on Gustazos.com san juan. This site will offer 3 days and 2 nights for some unbelievable low prices. The same problem exists with Vieques visits. Enjoy Puerto Rico we do.

Any place quiet is most difficult to find anymore. I agree with Gary, Rincon or Cabo Rojo are your best bets. San German isn't too bad either. Or maybe Aguadilla or Isabela in the northwest coast.

Go take a serious visit so you can get a general feeling for the island. I speak almost no Spanish but I managed to get along without too much trouble when I lived there. Fortunately my wife is Puerto Rican. Wherever you go, try to find a place where water and electricity are reasonably reliable. I've heard lately they have been having some problems with water service in Rincon. Some restaurants aren't able to open because they have no water. Something like this could last a couple of hours or a week. The infrastructure all over the island is held together by band-aids and chewing gum. Live near a hospital if you can. You will lose utilities much less often.

If you want to be close enough to San Juan but far enough to feel like you are in a different Island, check out Dorado.

We are here!  Staying in Condado.  We have visited Farjardo (didnt care for it at all), Aguadilla, Aguado and Rincon.  My wife likes Aguadilla and Aguado the best.  Looked at an apartment there and liked it a lot.  Still planning to look at Arecibo and Dorado as well.   

Is there anyone on this forum who lives in the Aguadilla, Aguado, Rincon, Cabo Rojo area who would be willing to contact me via phone to answer some questions?  Perhaps enjoy a free lunch with my wife and myself in the next two days and talk a bit? 

Although we will arrive with enough money to last 6 or 9 months or so, unfortunately I will need some type of work initially if we locate on the West Coast of the Island.  I've had a long career in automotive retail but I don't see much use for my skills if I don't speak the language unless there is a franchise dealer who wants to cultivate expat business or something like that.  In short, is there any job market on the west coast?  Bar tending, hotels, whatever?  Any leads I can talk to while I'm here?

Thannks in advance.  That's a lot to ask so thanks for your patience. 

Please reply to post and I will send you my phone number privately or email me at [email protected].

Thanks everybody!

Art & Lori

I am moving shortly and need to find employment,I am a Med Rep but I am curious if anyone has some tips...I would really enjoy  bartending again. I need to relearn spanish so is it possible to work while I learn Spanish?
JJ

Have you decided which area of PR or is this mainly based on where you can find work.

Here we go again.

Finding a job on the island is difficult, even for locals. Many locals are moving to the mainland because they can't find a job here.

If you don't speak Spanish it's even more difficult because Spanish is the language we speak over here. Even if you speak Spanish many employers will prefer locals over you.

Now, if you possess special qualities (as in the right education and/or experience) that are required for a job you may get lucky.

Moving here without having a job is not smart unless you have a lot of money.

Basic advice if you are not financially independent (and even then..):
1. do your research
2. come over for at least one extended visit to check out the place
3. make a plan and a budget
4. if you are still convinced you want to and can afford to move, pack your stuff and come to the island

Hey Gary-  You and I ought to get together and put a standardized form letter together for all those people who want to move to PR on a whim, can't speak the language, have no job to come to and little or no money to back them up. People obviously aren't reading past posts on this forum.

Gary is right. Jobs are extremely scarce on the island. If you are competing for a job here, chances are that somebody's cousin will get the job before you, even if he's a moron. If you are lucky enough to find any kind of a job be prepared to make considerably less money than you would for that same job in the states. The last thing you ever want to do is to come to PR, run out of money, not be able to find a job and end up on the streets and not be able to get back to the states. It can be paradise here or it can be pure hell. This is not the kind of place you just show up at and think that just because you are a go getter and work hard you'll eventually do OK.

Now, conversely there are people on this forum who will be glad to help you relocate to a wonderful gated community in an exclusive neighborhood away from the dirt and crime and noise. But those people would prefer not to have to deal with you unless you have money to begin with and have a nice paying job waiting for you when you get here. This is not the kind of place to come to with nothing and try to make something of yourself  after you arrive. Maybe 10 years ago you could attempt to do that, but you would still need to know the language or be with somebody that does. As the man once told me in Rincon when we got into a heated dispute, "We do things differently here!" And man was he right.

PR is a black hole for jobs. That said, you may get a job bartending in the tourist areas. I'd start with Old San Juan. But don't expect to have an actual career because it probably won't happen.

Gregg, maybe writing a guide for this site is a plan. We could then point people to that guide..

Or we could write a short book and title it, "So You Want to Move To Puerto Rico? (boy have I got some stuff to tell you)" We could self publish it and maybe Barnes and Noble or Books A Million would pick it up. I can see it now, 20 maybe 30 weeks on the NY Times best seller list. Hell you might even make enough in royalties to put AC in your house and actually be able to pay the electric bill.

Instead of writing an entire book perhaps a chapter in the book by The Very Very Lonely Planet on Puerto Rico.

All joking aside, LA-to-SJ, you ask for tips so here you go. My experience is with the Rincon area. People like it here so much that they get whatever jobs they can find to hang in. It has a significant tourist trade, even in the Summer. Is it tough? Yes. What types of jobs are there?

1.Food service like bartender, cook, wait person.
2. Banana Dang occasional hires and that would be an opportunity to be trained as a barista.
3. Rapid Ding Repair is a one man operation that is growing; would be an opportunity to learn about working with surf boards.
4. Stores may need help. Check the business directory for them.
5. Families need teachers to home tutor their children.

Best thing is to go to Rincon snd check it out and look for possibilities. Talk to people. Do your homework.

Good luck!

People keep saying the the Electric is really expensive.   What could I expect to pay running 1 unit most of the time to keep the temps down?  (ie in the bedroom during the night and my "office" during the day)?   I figured $500 or $600   

Asking about the Rincon area.

Depends on the size of the rooms of course. The amount you mentions sounds high. I myself do not have an air conditioner since I like the tropical climate. I'll ask around and try to get you some numbers. By the way what type of work do you do in your office?

I spoke with people living in Rincon. A decent sized apartment running the air in the bedroom at night four nites a week $100. A big apartment running air in the entire apartment all the time $400. But businesses get slammed. I was told one restaurant pays $8,000 a month. One person who used to run air in the bedroom stopped because it was cool enough with a ceiling fan. So, depending on how you feel, you might end up not running the air much.

Also just heard that the Puntas barrio in Rincon has not had water for 3 or 4 weeks. That's right, I haven't made a mistake not 3 or 4 days, it's 3 or 4 weeks. Unbelievable. And the water company's explanation for this is lame. Now most homes have water cisterns for events like this but they have run dry. The water company can send out water trucks but they haven't been coming.

I've also heard that the economic situation in Rincon is worse that usual this Summer, although normally there are jobs to had.

So one has to put up with a lot to live there, but I still prefer to live in Rincon that NJ.

Yeah water outages and the like are not all that foreign to me.   They had major flooding in Panama a few years ago and we lost water for weeks at a time as well because the flooding overran some of the pumping systems or something.   

I am a remote worker for an internet company.  So basically I sit at a computer on and off all day.  It can get boring but it does allow me to work anywhere as long as I can maintain my internet connection.   Hence my asking about the reliability and mobile internet in the other forum.   It sounds like the electric is actually cheaper than I am accustomed to in some other countries I have lived in.   

I am actually quite comfortable in about 80 degree weather but I have found that cement houses tend to act like ovens during the day and even if I am comfortable outside I am not so comfortable inside the house.   Maybe the houses are insulated a bit better in Puerto Rico, but in Panama, Ecuador and Colombia they didn't even know what insulation was.

I am not really as concerned about the economy there as my income is stable and coming from the mainland.  My only concern would be the petty crime that usually accompanies a bad economy.

How safe is it living in a house versus a condo building?  Would I need a security system or something?

Also what kind of place could I expect to be able to rent for around $1500 a month or so?(If any)  I would be bringing my dog (eventually) so a condo isn't really an option. 

EDIT -- I would be looking in the Rincon Area.

Sorry to the original poster for hijacking your thread

Ouch! Tough time to be moving to PR for anybody. I would still rather be here than anywhere in the US but I have shifted my job search to Central and South America.  The Government here has driven this Island to the brink of collapse.

This response is for Dalphus. And, yes, this thread has been "hijacked" so to speak.

I find Rincon safe although there is a break in once in a while (Puntas has break in problems, not so much in the other Barios). I've witnessed two incidents recently that made me feel uncomfortable. Once at the public beach where a bunch of drunks started beating up another drunk (a note: even though more beer is consumed per capita in PR than any US state, I don't find drunkeness to be a problem). Down at Maria's beach I saw a local surfer assaulted (no injuries) because he'd just given a surfing lesson and "wasn't suppose to" at that beach. Why this was so is another story.

For $1,500 a month you can get a nice condo on the beach in Corcega. If I had that bread I would consider Pelican Reef. I have a friend who negotiated a beautiful one bedroom down to below a $1,000. Fabulous view of the ocean and sunset, completely secure, takes pets, air conditioned, nice area, great beach, a hop kip and jump from tennis courts (I play).

Thanks for the response. 

We'll have to play some tennis when I get there

Hello guys -> Maybe we can come back to the initial topic now.

Thank you,
Aurélie

Check out Luquillo we love it there. 1hr east of San Juan