J1 SAN DIEGO!!!!

storimc5

Well hows things! Me and a few friends have booked the J1 and were thinking of going to San Diego! Anyone else thinking about heading here? Have ye heard anything about the possibilities of jobs or accomadation? Im nt bothered where I stay or what job I get cause its gona be a class summer anyway!ha

brownesauce

whats the craic?!

Few of us are thinking of heading to San Diego aswell.

But i was talking to one of my mates there the other night and she said its hard getting jobs in that area. She was in San Fran and only got 4 days work in the zoo over there.
she had a mate who went to San Diego and supposedly it was the same. Feck all work.

she was saying definitely sort ur accommodation before you leave, because it took them over 2 weeks to find a gaff. and a hostel cost 10 dollars a night.

Supposedly sea world are always hiring in San Diego, well that's what it says on the usit site.

Anyways im like you, would love a bitta heads up for getting a job. as long as i can afford the craic i will be happy out. any old job will do.

elenaoc92

hey me and my 6 friends are going to san diego with usit too, we are all from cork...got our flights yesterday...any ideas on accomodation would help, we wer on to a hostel already over there but its one small room that sleeps 7 and its 75$ a week....a house would be better id say...avalon apartments always attract j1ers...

dilapidating

Yea, there's a few of us thinking about San Diego too.
If anybody who has previously been can let us know about work etc that'd be great.

ProudDUB

There are several threads on here already about people asking about how San Diego is for a J-1. If you do a search you should be able to find them.

c_gallen

Hey! Yeah 4 of us lads heading over there this summer from Donegal!
We reckon if anyone's interested, that it'd be a good idea getting a big group together to share a house..?
It'd be way cheaper and we'd probably get a way nicer place because of it!
Message me if anyone's interested..

LuSay

Hi!
Me and my friend (I'm 24, he's 25) are looking for people to share accommodation with in San Diego for June and July. We have jobs on Mission Beach so anywhere around there or Pacific beach would be perfect! We are poor though so not too fancy We are also going to try travel to Seattle on the greyhound through August hitting LA, San Fran and Portland. Message me if you are interested in sharing accommodation or have advice!

eniko

Hi. Did u spend the summer there?Im planning to go there too. do u have any information who is hiring j1ers?

eniko

hi. could u gove me some information about who is hiring j1ers in san diego?

thekerrywoman

Hi,

I am also planning on going over but I have no real information about San Diego for J1ers. Anyone have any advice on whether it is a good place, where to work/live?

ironclaw

thekerrywoman wrote: »

Hi,

I am also planning on going over but I have no real information about San Diego for J1ers. Anyone have any advice on whether it is a good place, where to work/live?

Plenty of places to stay but be prepared to pay if you arn't willing to share. City is pretty cheap and getting around is dead handy. I didn't think work was all that common to be honest, my advice is to get out early and walk the streets from early handing out CVs. Try talk to the owner if you can and make an impression. Be prepared for much rejection (We as Irish have a terrible name out there) If you can, stay near the beaches (Pacific and Mission Beach) as its well worth it. Don't work in the city or the malls. Definitely try get a job at the beaches or in La Jolla (The very posh part of town in the North)

If you don't find work and your rent is low, you could easily live there for the summer if you keep a check on the finances. Many of my friends did.

thekerrywoman

perfect thank you so much.

Is there many pubs and restaurants on the pacific beach/ mission beach? Are these two mostly aimed for students?

ironclaw

thekerrywoman wrote: »

perfect thank you so much.

Is there many pubs and restaurants on the pacific beach/ mission beach? Are these two mostly aimed for students?

Loads. Its basically a holiday resort from one end to the other. I think something like 250k people come into the city for the summer especially around the 4th of July. It is an America holiday destination. However, rents are hard to come by out that region so be prepared to commute. Forget beach front unless you are really lucky, really early and have plenty of people to shoulder the cost with you.

If you can't get rent in Pacific / Mission beach, you can always go north towards Bird Rock / La Jolla. If you have enough people, you can get really nice houses for not too bad a rent. Really depends what you are after. I paid $900 a month but I had my own room and a decent bed. That would be VERY high mind you, you can get that much lower (Less than $200 easy) if you are prepared to share (10 in a house type of thing)

The best place to search is slightly inland from Mission / Pacific Beach. You can get houses there and just rent a bike for the summer.

My top tip for San Diego though is rent a car for a week when you are house hunting. You can get places very quickly and it makes life much easier. Won't cost all that much either, less than €30 each between 4 or 5.

thekerrywoman

Is Bird Rock/ La Jolla far from the beach ? I would love to stay really close to the beach but I guess that is too high of an expectation. I will hopefully be heading by the end of the may the latest. I don't mind paying around 500-900 once it is a nice place and close to most amienties.

I have a full license here but is driving around San Diego complicated? I do hope to rent a car for a week to drive on the Pacific coast highway and San Diego Freeway

Do most people fly straight to the San Diego airport or do you go to LAX first ?

Thanks again ironclaw

ironclaw

Is Bird Rock/ La Jolla far from the beach ? I would love to stay really close to the beach but I guess that is too high of an expectation. I will hopefully be heading by the end of the may the latest. I don't mind paying around 500-900 once it is a nice place and close to most amienties.

Bird Rock is between Mission / Pacific Beach and La Jolla. I recommend cracking out Google maps and having a good look around. It makes it so handy when looking for places to stay because you can know where places are. For instance, avoid Downtown / Chuala Vista etc.

I have a full license here but is driving around San Diego complicated? I do hope to rent a car for a week to drive on the Pacific coast highway and San Diego Freeway

If you have any experience on the 'other' side of the road, its not too complicated. But have a quick read of the rules of the road for the State. They are different for example 'Free right' at traffic lights etc. Also, lanes are important on freeways as there are no junctions really, its just about being in the right lane and flowing with the traffic. And whatever you do, take out as much insurance as you can. Americans drive fairly quick and fairly defensively. So unless that is your standard, you better be prepared for the worst.

To be honest, there isn't that much to see around San Diego by car. Its fairly normal. We did a good bit of mileage but that was looking at houses, there isn't anywhere I'd say 'You must drive here' Perhaps to the see the Mexican border or the massive bridge in Coronado. Beyond that, its fairly standard driving.

Do most people fly straight to the San Diego airport or do you go to LAX first ?

Fly direct to San Diego. LA is very over-rated. You will spend AT MOST a day to two days there. Its very seedy and very unsafe in places. If I was to give a top tip, go really early one morning, see everything and head home that night. You could easily do it in a day by car. Alternatively, fly home from LA and spend the last few days there. I was quite lucky and I saw most of the West Coast, and I'd recommend San Francisco over any of the other cities. Its a cheap quick plane ride away if you have some extra cash and very worthwhile.

eniko

Hi, me and a friend of mine are going to SD as j1ers as well. Did anyone get any housing? we would be happy to join someone.