Hey everyone just looking to get some information from anyone who has been stationed at one of these stations. I would like to spend at least one tour in one of these two places but don't know a whole lot about either place.

One of the main questions I have is regarding housing in each place? I have heard its all Govt. Housing, I have also heard you can live on the economy possibly? Pros or Cons to either? Anyone buy down there? Borinquen's govt housing seemed pretty straight forward, I got somewhat confused on barbers point housing based on the multiple locations of housing on the island and the housing at Sector Honolulu.

Anyways any information for either of these two area would be appreciated. Oh, and one last question, when you ship your HHG overseas, I have read you can only ship one POV, however can you ship ATV's/motorcycles(street or dirt) with your HHG if you drain all the liquids? I have heard different answers on this and would like to know if anyone has done this or attempted to do this and been told no.


PS: I hear the weather is great! ;-D

You can ship motorcycles with your HHG as long as you drain the fluids. I shipped 4 bikes when I left Hawaii last year, 1 street and 3 and dirt bikes in my HHG with no problem. You have a choice in Hawaii about whether or not you want to live in Govt housing. Some is very nice and some isn't quite as nice but overall, they are building alot of new stuff. The CG has their own housing area but you can also live in Army or Navy housing. We loved Hawaii and really miss it, I wish I had gone there earlier in my career.

I am wondering if there are photos anywhere for the housing options. We would come as an o-3 at Barber's point airstation. If you live in housing is there DoD schools the kids go to? Please email me at coastiewifern@yahoo.com

The only thing Hawaii and PR have in common is they are both islands and the weax is great. Good chance you wont be bringing your car back from PR. It will probably get stolen!

Looking for housing layouts or photos, go to the respected stations web sites, they have both pictures and floor plans for Borinquen.

Houseing in Barbers is standard Navy housing, actual small. Borinquens are Senior Officer Air Force, three bedroom and up have maids quarters.

I personaly liked Borinquen better and managed to do two tours there. Living on any island is different, but its what you make of it.

I would stick with Borinquen. I was in Hawaii a couple of weeks back and some things are a little (actually alot) too spendy for my tastes. Way too much traffic also. The missions in BQN are pretty good too. It seems like there is always something going on.

quote:

Good chance you wont be bringing your car back from PR. It will probably get stolen!

That's some pretty bad info!

To answer the original question about housing in BQN and BP, I have been stationed at both. I lived in both housing and in town (rented) in Borinquen, and I owned a house in Hawaii. Most people live on base in BQN, while a majority rent in Hawaii. Most of the housing in Hawaii is new PPV (DOD) housing and is pretty nice, but like you reasearched, it is scattered around the island.

As for which one is better, that's a tough question. They are both very different , but I loved both and would have no problem doing a second tour at either! Good luck!

I've been to Hawaii and I liked it very much. I also have been to Borinquen. If my wife and I had a choice we would return to Borinquen we loved it there. Now to 2504204 with the whole stolen car thing...... I had two new cars sent to the island one a much desired Wrangler Rubicon, took them back to the states when my tour was complete. I can say that you do have to be careful with the vehicle shipping. At the VPC things can go missing. We had our VW Golf stripped, however all was replaced by use of the VPC and insurance. Just be mindful that you are on an island and like anywhere else you don't belong there so be careful where you go. Learn the good areas from the bad as soon as you report, that goes for PR as much as Hawaii. Hope this helps.

Hi, I guess this is really late. We're in Borinquen now and were in Hawaii for four years in the Army, living on Wheeler Army Air Field. The two have a lot of similarities, even environmentally. Impossibly beautiful beaches, mountains, friendly locals. I would say that there are ways that Hawaii is so much more convenient. You have each military branch represented there, and all the various exchanges and commissaries all over the island, which defrays a lot of expenses. You have health food stores everywhere (love those Down to Earth salads and Jamba Juice!). Here in PR, Ft. Buchanan is two hours away, so people pack coolers and ice and plan to make an entire day of it. Traffic is terrible to and from Honolulu during rush hours, but easy if you time it right. Traffic here isn't like that, but there is plenty of traffic here, thanks to smaller roads, and the driving is quite the experience in itself. The language figures in, too. If you're fluent in Spanish, you'll get to use it, alot! I would say Puerto Rico is like Hawaii was maybe a long time ago, sort of more rustic and untouched in ways. You can hit a beach with your family and be the only ones there, and they're just gorgeous beaches, though of course there might be some "treebums," too (locals sleeping off their drunkenness in the trees), so I guess it depends on your style. Me, I enjoy and appreciate Puerto Rico, and we have little kids who are in a really good private school here learning Spanish. But. I loved Hawaii, it had Bellows and KoOlina, we went camping and surfing, loved Kailua (and would live there for sure if we got restationed to Barbers). But there's great Navy Housing, Housing on Ford Island, Wheeler's homes and Borinquen's homes are pretty much the same (time period, Air Force built, etc.). I guess it's just your style and what you can swing! We don't find we save a lot of money here in Puerto Rico, because we pay a lot more for some food, and we don't have easy access to an exchange like we did in HI, but theose things are somewhat less expensive on the economy here than they were there. Good luck!