Canada to Barbados
 

I'm a Canadian looking to relocate to Barbados in April 2011.

Semi-retired with considerable residual income made from the Internet I'm far less concerned about costs and more concerned about ease of setup.

I would like to hire someone to act as a liaison to help get myself established.

Please PM your interests.

In the mean time some questions that I desire answers for... any help would be appreciated.

1. Internet access - any idea what is the best transfer rates are and the average time for hookup.

2. I would prefer a house instead of an apartment. Much of what I can research online suggests only short-term rentals available for houses (e.g. vacation lengths). If not, any idea who I might contact in advance to secure long-term premises.

3. Air-conditioning - I generally can't sleep in the heat. Do most homes come with AC, can you purchase AC on the island or do I need to think about shipping one in?

4. Electricity - I generally need up-time 24/7/365 - is there much of a problem with power failures on the island. Can backup generators be purchased there or should I think about shipping one in?

Those are my first thoughts.

Re: Canada to Barbados
 

I'll help here with some of your questions.

1. internet access - LIME (Cable & Wireless) and TeleBarbados are about your only options at this point. I have understood that Telebarbados is better, but I've had Lime from the start.. and it's not too terrible (not the best). I have an adsl line, so that does help, but..if you want blazing speeds you just don't get that here in general. nor will get blazing speeds on getting it set up, but it all depends on where you live.. (cabling to some areas isn't the best).

2. I'm guessing you assume that all Bajans own their homes.. but some do not.. so do not assume all rentals are short term. All real estate agents deal with rentals (or at least most,I would say). Try Elaine Storey at Altman on the south coast (I only know this cause she is a friend of mine, and I get nothing from offering her services). Realtors, on the west coast is who we rented through the first 5 years I lived on the island. http://www.cariblist.com/barbados/re...tal_search.asp might be a good place to start.

3. most homes are NOT going to be air-conditioned, but more and more these days you will find AC in the bedrooms. expect to pay more (possibly) and definitely on electric.

4. The Barbados Light and Power Company is, in my mind, very very reliable.. having said that.. there have been several major power cuts (maybe once or twice a year at that..) and some more localized (car hits a pole, power goes out for a few hours). But again.. the BLP is pretty on target with getting things up and running quickly. Generators are certainly available, but I'm sorry, I can't advised the cost.

hope this has helped.

Re: Canada to Barbados
 

I don't live there yet, but can shed some light on a few points:

1. Looking at Lime, don't expect much in terms of downstream speed - and don't expect it to be cheap!
http://www.time4lime.com/bb/personal/internet/plans.jsp

2. I'd look at cariblist.com - they have loads of long-term rentals (mostly unfurnished though from my experience). Just don't expect any prompt responses, so get organising soon!

3.

4. Not sure about power uptime as have never spent long periods of time in one go - HOWEVER, I'm also internet-based and the internet goes down quite frequently from what I could tell. If you listen to the radio you often hear apologies being broadcast for areas of the island that have lost connection for days on end. I'm personally going to investigate a wireless dongle (or iPhone tethering) for a backup.

Simon

Re: Canada to Barbados
 

I have'nt had a problem with Telebarbados to date.Wireless installation package (modem/router/antenna) cost around 300bds,basic unlimited time at 69bds/month,with various packages on offer.