Santa Barbara California J1 travel

VinylJunkie

Hi

Heading to santa barbara for the summer id be greatfull if anyone had any advise on getting a job and accomadation!

Also what is the place like i hear its beautifull but a bit on the expensive side also where is the nearest surf beach!

Cheers
Sean

Alessandra

Tbh the locals don't want Irish J1ers down there anymore. The antics are giving the place a bad reputation with holidaymakers and the town council wants to end this. There have been numerous arrests and fines for drunken behaviour. If you are under 21 yrs good luck as you will not get to purchase alcohol. Many people caught intoxicated on the streets had to attend AA meetings!!! Deposits demanded will be very high and people are reluctant to let to Irish students anymore because of the damage which is left. I was in california last summer. I'd recommend it but stay away from Santa Barbara and San diego, it;s not worth it.

VinylJunkie

Thanks for the advice i heard stories about san diego like that alrite but sure we see what happens if things dont go are way i suppose we could move around a bit!

Fizzy86

I did the j1 in Santa Barbara the summer before last and had a great time.
All the jobs are in Santa Barbara itself but theres a town called isla vista which is about 20 mins outside Santa barbara where the college is and is where all students live. Thats where most Irish people would stay. we stayed in Santa Barbara tho and liked it. It was handy for jobs (which are very easy to find) and was nice not having to rely on buses all the time.

I suppose it was expensive compared to other areas but compared to Ireland it didnt seem that way! Its a really nice place to be and all the locals are really friendly.

i was there again for a few weeks this summer and stayed in Isla Vista. If you stay there you will meet a lot of people and it will be all house parties but apart from that there isnt a lot to do in that area. The beaches around there tho are good for surfing. Both times I was there I never heard of the locals being sick of the Irish. Obviously if you drink on the street and you're caught you'll be in trouble, but apart from that i found all the locals loved the Irish!

VinylJunkie

Thanks alot really does sound like a nice place im really looking forward to it now!

Faith

I only passed through Santa Barbara for a few days, but it's absolutely gorgeous. I loved it so, so much!