What is Living In Florida Like vs Living in St. Croix?

My husband and I grew up in St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands as kids in the 80s. Our kids are now 11 and 15 years old and growing up in Florida.

We have noticed so many things that are drastically different between each location. However, there are so many things that are also very similar.

Here’s a great list to show what living in Florida is like versus living in St. Croix.

Beach

Both Florida and St. Croix has beaches surrounding their territories. Going to the beach on the weekends with your families or going for a quick swim after work are options when living in Florida or St. Croix.

Check out one of our family’s favorite beach vacation spot in Florida!

Growing up in these places meant that you were taught how to swim, became great at it and maybe even learned how to fish. Going to the beach as a kid has always been a great activity for our family.

Theme Parks

Florida is probably the capital of theme parks in the world. My kids have the wonderful privilege of attending so many different kinds of theme parks.

Florida is home to Disney’s theme parks, Universal Studios, Sea World, numerous water parks and so many more! Our kids LOVE theme parks.

Our family’s favorite water park is Aquatica Orlando. Learn more about this amazing family water park in Orlando, Florida.

In St. Croix, we weren’t so lucky. There are no theme parks on St. Croix.

We needed to be creative and hang outdoors with our neighbor friends, go to the beach or play with whatever little toys we had (we had no video games either)– and that’s if your parents allowed. Some kids had to do chores every weekend, so there was no playtime for them.

Weather

The weather in Florida and St. Croix is almost the same. Living in these areas, the weather is usually warm for most of the year.

It doesn’t snow in any of these locations, so growing up in either location means you probably got excited at the chance of seeing snow.

In addition, Florida and St. Croix residents may be confused about why heated car seats were invented, and also what are “snow days”? Who needs those?

It also means that we HATE the cold. If it is below 72 degrees, we will pull out our boots and hoodies in Florida and if we are in St. Croix, we will declare an “Island of Emergency”.

Manners

I’m not sure what happened to manners when I moved to Florida. I think it became optional.

In St. Croix, when you walked into a room, it was mandatory to use manners and say “Good Morning”, or “Good Afternoon” to others.

If not, you would have to accept your embarrassment card for a lifetime, because you were about to get scolded in a severe way for not using your manners.

Having good manners in St. Croix is a must! Especially with your elders!

In Florida, I’ve noticed manners are optional. If someone says “Good Morning” to you, it was simply reciprocated.

If you did not use your manners and did not say “Good Morning” as you walked in, that was also simply reciprocated. No harm done. You just go about your day.

Creatures

Residing in St. Croix you will see different types of creatures. There are mongooses, iguanas, cockroaches, gongolos, and even gorgeous peacocks.

St. Croix is also home to beautiful birds and colorful fish like parrotfish.

My most hated creature is the gecko. Kill me now.

Florida has an entire world of wildlife it seems. Our kids are growing up with armadillos destroying our landscape, raccoons stealing garbage at night, bears charging through neighborhoods, alligators swimming in pools, sandhill cranes shouting at you, garden snakes waiting to scare you when you least expect it and don’t even get me started on the Lovebug season.

On the bright side, the kids have learned alot about manatees and Loggerhead turtles. It’s always a good day when you see deers frolicking in the forests and the rabbits coming out to say hello during your morning walk to school.

I do love seeing the dolphins at the beach. That makes up for those pesky Lovebugs.

Foods

St. Croix has many local delicious dishes. Local chefs love to cook fried, stew or curry chicken or fish.

They have popular favorites like pate, johnny cakes and kallaloo. Read all about St. Croix’s best foods here.

There is no one restaurant that is better than the rest. It all depends on your taste and what you are in the mood for.

In Florida, the most popular food is by far the sub sandwich from Publix supermarket. This is an all-time favorite with people from Florida.

When we first moved to Florida we’ve never heard of Publix, much less about their subs, but when we tried it, we fell in love. Our son devours the roast beef sub each and every time.

Clothing

Living in warm climate temperatures, you would think that we all would dress the same. Not even close.

In St. Croix, we dressed to impress! I remember girls going to the horse race tracks dressed in heels. Yes, heels– high heels!

When it’s time to go to church, we find our finest dresses or dress pants, make sure it’s ironed and get our hair done nicely.

My husband and I both went to public schools and we made sure we were dressed decent there too. Even though we wore uniforms, our uniforms were wrinkle-free and stylish.

Since living in Florida, I don’t think our kids even know what an iron is. Florida is much more relaxed when it comes to outfits.

No one cares what you are wearing or how many times you’ve worn it.

Gas stations and grocery stores in Florida can be known for pajama-wearing customers. No one cares what you have on in those places.

The outfit that seems to be the general one in Florida is shorts and flip flops.

If you are going to the mall, you wear shorts and flip flops. If you are going to dinner, you wear shorts and flip flops.

Shorts and flip flops usually fit in for all occasions.

Local Treasures

There are some local treasures to be found in both Florida and St. Croix.

In Florida, when you go to certain beaches, you will find beautiful seashells. These seashells can be all kinds of sizes and colors. They can be fascinating to look at and in most cases, you can collect them and take them home.

Seashells are very common along the beach shores of Florida and they are sold in many souvenir shops in neighboring states.

Find out what beach in Florida has beautiful seashells here.

However, local Florida residents laugh at this because why would we spend $1 on a seashell when we can get them in dozens for free at the beach?

In St. Croix there is a similar situation with coconuts. There are a massive amount of coconuts in St. Croix throughout the island, and Crucians enjoy eating the coconut jelly or drinking coconut water.

Just like seashells and Floridians, when we go to other Caribbean islands that sell coconuts, it is a serious offense to ask us (from another island) to buy it. Sorry, it’s not happening.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes, unfortunately, are a part of mother nature that both Florida and St. Croix experience.

My entire family has experienced severe hurricanes in both Florida and St. Croix. When it comes down to it, being prepared for potential hurricanes in the area is very important for your family’s safety.

One difference is that when you are preparing, you do have a choice to leave your home before the storm arrives. It is a little tricky to do that in St. Croix as it is an island and you will need to make that decision way in advance before the storm comes.

In Florida, it is possible to drive to the next city or state that may not be in the direct path of the hurricane, as early as a day before. This helps to ease your mind a bit knowing you can escape the storm.

Learn helpful tips for preparation on hurricanes in this article.

Swimming Pools

By far, swimming pools is one of Florida’s home feature that distinguishes it from other homes in the country. Just about every other home, apartment complex, or resort has a swimming pool.

Many St. Croix homeowners don’t have swimming pools. There are optional, but homes are so close to beaches, it’s almost not needed to get a swimming pool.

Living in Florida truly does give you the opportunity to enjoy either the beach or swimming pool year-round.

Many St. Croix locals learn how to swim at the beach and not many have even been in swimming pools until they have visited the states.

Our kids love both the swimming pools and the beach. Depending on the weather, decides where the fun will be.

St. Croix is located in the Caribbean, and not that far away from Florida. There are many things about them that are the same and there are some that are very different.

If you’ve never visited either place, get your family together and visit both. I’ve given you a little taste on how living in either place is like, and if you ever wanted to relocate, I hope you consider either one.

Made up your mind? Ready to move to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands? Read this article first!

Where did you grow up? Did you grow up in Florida or St. Croix? Do you live in Florida or St. Croix? Have you noticed any differences between the two, any similarities?

Tell us about two places you’ve lived and how they compare to each other in the comments. We would love to hear from you.