Port Of Spain - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the relative size of the expatriate community? How would you describe overall morale among expatriates?
Expat community is relatively small, but Trini people tend to be friendly and social. Morale depends on the person's ability to find "their tribe" here. Many people I know are happy. They tend to try anything (at least once), take up new hobbies, and embrace unusual experiences and the hazards that come with them. With luck, they find a few new good friends. It's a pretty quiet place, so those who enjoy a good book at home or a quiet hike through the Bamboo Cathedral are happy, too. A few people have made local friends and taken up sailing. It is, however, a small island without many museums or other cultural offerings. It is possible to run out of new and interesting things to do ... The only truly white beach is on the island of Tobago, reachable by air or ferry. Tickets to other countries (Panama, Barbados, etc.) are expensive, so this is not a good base for exploring the region inexpensively. You can do some scuba diving in Tobago. - Aug 2026
Small and quite low due to Covid. I can see the expat community here thriving under normal circumstances, but all of the closures have taken their toll. Many expats have left. - Aug 2021
No idea on size, it's shrinking as economy downsizes and oil and gas sector changes. Morale is overall ok but the crime issue is starting to weigh on people, but this is can be very/very decent place to live - Mar 2019
For such a small country, the expat community is sizeable. Morale is mixed, largely because customer service is nonexistent and Trinidad isn’t the island paradise that most people are expecting. Based on my interactions and anecdotal information, it seems that the oil company folks have a better experience than do members of the diplomatic corps. - Apr 2017
The expat community is very large due to the oil companies that also reside here. The embassy community is small and everyone kind of does their own thing. - Aug 2016
small expat size, poor morale. - May 2016
There is a rather large expat community here for such a small island. People associated with the oil industry and the diplomatic corps make up the majority of the expat community. Overall I would say morale is positive. It is all what you make of it here. - Jun 2015
The size is small but morale is good. - May 2015
Small expat community. Morale varies from very poor to moderate, depending on one's ability to keep occupied. - Aug 2014
Small community with very low morale, most U.S. expats want to leave and most Canadians are not far behind. - Dec 2013
Pretty large, due to the booming oil industry. - Oct 2012
Pretty big considering it's a small island - more oil company families than diplomats. - Feb 2011
Large, mostly US/British/Canadian but very diverse due to the construction and oil industry. - Jan 2011
There is a large expat community. Lots of oil and gas expats. - May 2010
Difficult to say. Not all embassies are represented here. There is also a large oil community. Spouses meet each other through classes and events. - Nov 2009
Sizable, but a lot of them are oil workers. There are a dozen women's clubs for expats of all types, and a huge hurricane-season yacht community that rides out the season down here for insurance reasons. - Mar 2008