hey guys, i was in HB last summer and we got a 3 month lease with huntington villas. you have to show them recent bank statements to prove you have enough monthly income to cover rent. a bit pointless when you arrive jobless but its only what you earned in the last 3 months that counts. we printed off online statements of friends from home who had fulltime jobs cos no names or anything appear on the online versions. there was 7 of us in a 2 bed/2 bath apt but we said there was only 4. $10 airbeds from walmart and happy days! rent worked out just over $200 p/mon each. to get a job there you have to be prepared to fill out about a gazillion application forms. they're a pain in the ass. some places let you do it online so you could do it before you go but a lot of them need a social security number so make sure you apply for that as soon as you arrive cos it takes a few weeks to get it. the day you apply for it though you get a letter saying its on its way and just show this to employers. at the end of the day its all part of the experience :) by the way i'm hoping to go back again this year so if anyone needs someone for accomm sharing i'm yer woman! i'm on bebo: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MID=367137231&MemberId=20633567
no they're unfurnished, so is basically everywhere else. you gotta do it the J1 way and get yourself a $10 airbed from walmart!! much more comfortable than you'd think!! if you want some furniture try craigslist.com we got a coffee table from it to put our beer on :) i met one crowd that got a furnished apartment down by the beach but they paid really high rent
Yea was thinking that alrite. Ah we've no problem sleepin on the floor, 6 or 7 of us plannin on gettin a two bedroom anyway! Did any of ye manage to get jobs before ye went? Ive heard its not too bad for gettin jobs...fingers crossed!
yeah if you keep looking you'll find a job alright. no we didn't have jobs before we went. most places want you to come in and fill out an application form. some places are a bit wary of people who don't have a social security number so make sure you apply for that as soon as you arrive. the SSN office will give you a letter to show employers you've applied for it cos it takes a good while to actually get it
Hey .. i was in HB last summer..with helenflynn above...we stayed in a place called huntington villas... there and ocean breeze villas were where all the irish stayed !!...we walked in on our first week there ...nowhere else did 3 month leases...
I wouldnt worry about how far or how close the beach is to you because there are regular buses that bring u straight onto the SAVAGE beach (nicest in the whole of west coast by far trust me!!!)..and u will also make friends with amercians who have big fancy jeeps and sporty cars!!!
The best craic is in the apartments...plenty of american neighbours and plenty of beer pong !!.. i would recommend an apartment over a house because with the heat you will be glad of the swimming pool !!!...we also had a gym and jacuzzi !..
If u head down-town at night they are pretty strict with ID's ..but what we did was we got someone to pass back passports ...the bouncers are stupid when it comes to the photo..a bit of irish charm and ur sorted !! ...TUNATOWN was rocking at weekends... probably the only proper club-like atmosphere in HB ..the rest are all late bars but dey all have dancefloors :-) ..Sharkees and the blackbull are great spots too!!!They all close at 2am but you will always find some party to go back to afterwards..and find yourselves in some rich mansion or condo in a randomers jacuzzi LOL...
Go to the dmv office and order a californian ID.. it may take a while to come but it comes in so handy !!!!..and apply for ur SSN straight away !!!!!!!!!!!
Jobs personally were a first come first serve basis...they are limited so get in there fast..dont be lazy and wait 2 weeks do it asap!!!.. i went over with 7 other people,2 worked in the regency cinema part time,they got that job easily enough..1 worked in a department store called Kohl's..she was screwd around a bit..had to work 4th of july and cudnt get the day off to go to 6 flags (which was 1 of the best days ever !!!!) ... HB wasnt too familiar with J1-ers !!..i applied online to billions of shops,restaurants etc but i had no luck ..no one rang me or emailed back ..not even McDonalds ...i had enough money thankfully to last me the summer..Dianes swimwear seemed to be a great place for Irish girls to get work
..hope this info has helped !!! :-)
Oh and check out my bebo for all my HB J1 08' pics ..iv like 8 albums :-)..enjoy www.thepurespecialbus.bebo.com
i was also in HB last summer with helenflynn & dauntla... best summer ever...had a rockin time & am extremely jealous of ye all....especially helen,not fair ur going back!!!!!!
Seen you guys went to vegas when you were in huntington. Is it cheap staying in Vegas or should we just stay awake solidly for the few days and not sleep anywhere? :P
ya its pretty cheap to stay der we had a class hotel for 50dollars each a nite&der was 4 to a room...our hotel south point casino was a little from the strip but der loadsa hotels der... we also flew from long beach was aobut $250 return aswell...bargain...
HI We are looking at a huge house on sunset beach if anyone is interested in accommodation sharing. It sleeps up to 20 people!! works out around $400 each a month! So close to the beach and has loadsa amenities!
We probably already have accomodation but could you send me some info on that house just in case. Some of my friends were looking for accomodation in huntington anyway.
myself and 5 friends, all lads from dublin, are heading over to HB too and looking to sort out accomadation. any chance u could post some info on the house u found?? my email is bmcgov86@yahoo.com
for anyone who is interested in the 20 person penthouse/condo that michelle o has mentioned email me at clairedjambopper@hotmail.com. i have all details, we are getting a great deal on the condo and it is seriously right on the beach. we need numbers asap and its on a first come frist serve basis :)
me an 3of the girls are headin over to HB mid June and we dont have anywer to stay yet :( kinda want to get it sorted soon cos i dont plan on workin (just livin the high life) and want to no how much to save!
if ders any hot fellas goin wed LUV to hear from u hahaha
We've got some room left in our penthouse. We were only lookin for 2 more people but it's a huge place so we might have room for 4. I'll ask the owner if 4 more would be alright. The place has a swimming pool,sauna,jacuzzi,steam room,gym,spa and some other stuff and it's in between huntington and long beach(only 5 mins from each) if you're interested.
2 girls from Galway lukin 4 accomodation in HB, just wondering is there still room in the house and could you send some information on the house to me please. my email is tooneycooney@yahoo.ie
We've got 5 places left in our huntington beach accomodation. It's not the penthouse I posted about above,we decided not to stay there. It's 1100 euro from the start of june till mid august but there's room for 7 more people max so if we get 7 instead of 5 the price would go down a bit.
Anyway,if you're interested my email is j12009@live.ie
Cheers, Toby.
And phil123,
thanks I got your email. I sent a reply yesterday :)
Ah i really wanna go to HB, was in santa barbara last year best summer ever. Havnt applied for a j1 visa, wonder if i could apply for jobs anyway as i have my social security number from last year! whats all the past J1ers doing?? Also considering going on my own! wise?
you have to apply for j1 in order to work ther legally!!! does it say on your social security card (on the top) ''valid only with dhs authorization'' ??It means your SSN is activated by department of homeland security, means that if you dont have a work visa, your ssn is not valid and you cannot work legally.
It would be to easy to go there and work like a regular american citizen. cheers...
Hi guys, I was in HB summer with 8 others from galway & cork. Unreal time! But we were really naive headin out. Gonna jot down a few things to hopefully make ye're summer even more enjoyable!!!
ACCOMADATION! Do your best to have accomadation sorted before you head out---it took us a week or that before we got it sorted & hostel bills soon start piling up! We lived in Florida Street Apts, florida st. Pretty close to everything-you'll find when you get over there that all the main department stores etc are actually a fair bit outta town so that place worked out well for us. It was a 3bed apt, good rent-we had plenty of room for 9girls sharing & bathrooms-not furninshed tho (walmart keiited out the house for about $300 with plates, cooking stuff, everythin!), and living beside all americans-has its good points-there very easy going and will do anythin for ya! It was right on the 29 bus route---if u dont plan on gettin a car over there-get used to that bus---cali may be the richest state but you WILL meet every weirdo, bum and psycho (& all the other Irsh) on that bus!!!!
JOBS Unless your minted, your obviously gonna need a job. Some of our group we're pretty lucky and got jobs on the beach-flying kites, the rest of us werent so lucky-HB has had its fair share of j1ers and know the craic! Me & one of my housemates got jobs hostessing in Freds, its a mexican restaurant on main st. Savage spot to work in-everyone is so sound. Only thing is we didnt get the job til the end of june-season doesnt really start til the end/middle of june so even if you get a job be prepared to wait to actually start! Dont be too worried about being out there too ealry, i was in cali from the 25th of may and didnt start work til a month later!
Others took a fair while to get sorted too, one of the girls got a job in baskin robbins on main street too-its an ice cream parlour-took on a few irish so try them early!
Be prepared to have your confidence destroyed---you'll fill out a million application forms!!! they dont really work off cvs. Also beware of clothes stores like hollister (in fashion island, newport (20mins on the bus!), took on loads of my friends who lived in newport initially but kept puttin them off & then only gave them 4hours a week!
ID If your under 21 sort a proper id now-they are pretty strict!some of my friends had done there drivers licenses before headin over-learn how to master photoshop! Where theres a will theres a way! if your cheeky enough tippex wil come in handy-but be really really careful-messin with your passport is against the law, etc etc! (im not in jail tho, so if your good, youll get away with it!) Sharkies, tunatown at the weekends and blackbull are prob the best---but you will need ID! Like someone else already said apply for a california drivers license as soon as you can---if your u-21 bring your fake irsih one to get it!
Other places to go: make an serious effort to go to san fran-unreal spot! LA is only an hours drive-find some poor yank to drive you there---theres always savage gigs going on! Vegas-----my housemates went after i left and its my one big regrett--they rented 2cars & drove through the night to get there-the girls who drove said it was unbelievable!
Guys hope i dont sound too condescending or like im tryin to spoil it for ye-i ended up coming home early cause i wasnt clued up enough before i went out and ran outta cash and am in debt cause of it-i just dont want anyone else to end up in the same boat!!!!
HB is an unreal spot and its summer il never forget. I lived with 8 other girls-i only knew 2 of them before hand-we're all best friends since!!! Some of my other friends are going this year so if ya meet a few blonde yokes from NUIG say hi!!!
You will have such an unreal time,im so jealous---wish i was going again. Hope this has been of some help to ye!
Two girls heading to huntington beach in june, 21 & 22 from tipp and waterford!Looking for a place to stay??Any room in any1's house or any reccomendations on places to stay??
Anyone know any hostels either?for the first few days.. Thanks!
hey, i went to HB last summer with 6 others. before we went we booked 3 nights in the Best Western Regency Inn on Beach Blvd. We had 2 rooms and between us it worked out at about $25 or so a night.
it was close to all the places we wanted to try to get apartments and was on the no.29 bus route to Main Street as well. theres free internet in the lobby too. while a hostel would probably be cheaper it was nice to have comfortable clean rooms and breakfast ready for you every morning while the jetlag slowly wore off! Plus it was the last time we slept on actual proper beds all summer!! they have a decent enough pool too so once we were done house-hunting for the day we would run across the road (nearly killing ourselves in traffic) to the liquor store and balm out in the sun for the day to get a start on the tans :)
Lovely rooms, nice staff and unlimited food for breakfast including amazing donuts you'd sell your granny for!!
heres a link to it anyway if anyone is interested: http://www.bestwesterncalifornia.com/hotels/best-western-regency-inn/
Being completely REAL here.... If you dont have accomodation before you go over to HB your in trouble... Loads from last year who hadn acc. sorted either...
1) sorted out accomodation (shit acc. miles away from beach, and miles away from all the life and soul of the real huntington beach in non-furnished dive appartments) after a few weeks of looking, spending loads of money in the process, on temporary accomodation and eating out. AND then had to leave USA early cos they blew so much money at the start. or 2) gave up looking all together (cos its hard people) and left for more builts up places SanFran SantaB etc.
HB is a wealthy place and we were lucky to have a sweet place for the summer, practically NOWHERE gives out temp leases its all 1year leases.
also kinda important..
if you plan on going over with only a bit of money and wanna survive by getting a little job to get by.....YOUR HAVING A LAUGH. theres no jobs (practically) and your gonna be straight on the fone to the parents which is cool if theyre alright with that...
dont get me wrong HB is PARADISE... wouldn go anywhere else for a holiday.. but if you dont have a place to stay or generous folks take your ass to dingle for the summer :D
hey donna did florida street apartments do 3 month leases no problem or what? thinkin of ringing them to organise it before we head out as location is perfect and it seems pretty cheap too!
All the places people stayed in before aren't doing 3 month leases anymore, tried ocean breeze, florida st apartments, all said they only do 6 month or longer. Anyone know what happens if ya just leave after 3 months?!
Dauntla and Donna - just wondering if you need any other i.d for when applying for a drivers licence/california i.d - as in if i head up with my fake drivers licence will they ask me for my passport for verification or something like that - cheers,
having serious hassle trying to get a place to live atm - huntington breakers will only give us a place if we have jobs! - luckily 2 of us do but its still a nightmare! any tips?
Also whats the story with buses around the place? they a good option? Cheers, Chris
just want to know the same thing as christaval, ---Cali driving license do we need further id than the fake driving licence such as passport? cos im not gonna mess around with my passport!
group of 8 goin to hb the end of may and cant wait!! anyone ever heard of the sea environment apartments?there only a mile from the beach and offering a monthly lease but asking us to put down $1000 deposit so I jus wanna make sure its not a scam or anything! anyone else having luck finding accomodation or wanting to share with 8 others be great to hear from ye!!
There is two of us( 2 girls) heading over to HB for the summer and havn't found accomodation yet. We were hoping to find people to live with when we got there. We might be interested. Have u heard anything about sea environment apartments? I just looked them up there, they seem to be good, proper website. We are heading over on 3rd June. Can't wait!
@kkgirl: i was in HB last year but i've never heard of the sea environment apartments. anyway all i wanted to say to you was don't be surprised by big deposits, we paid $800 deposit on a 2-bed apt for a 3-month lease and that was one of the cheapest deposits i'd heard of. but do make sure everything's legit before you hand over your cash!!
Hi everyone! Me and my friends are going to huntington beach this summer and wonder does anyone know if you can stay in college accommodation around the area? Is there any frat houses? I have no luck finding accommodation and wonder if other people do? please help!:( Thanks
The nearest college is in Long Beach and I'm not sure if they even have frat houses. UCLA definately has them but that's a fair trek from Huntington Beach.
Hi we have found a 2 bedroomed apartment in Sea Environment Apartments. We are looking for 2/3 girls to occupy the other room as the 3 of us (all girls) are sharing the other room. Rent would be about $360 a month and the rooms are unfurnished. The complex is gated and has a pool. It is 5 mins from the beach :D if you are interested please email us asap at claireconvery1987@hotmail.co.uk
Looking for place to stay in Huntington. Think it's between Huntington Villas, Huntington Vista and Breakers. Any1 have any advice on these or suggestions for any other place??
hey, im going over to HB for a month, from the 26th of june, just wondering if any1 can give advice, im struggling to find place to stay. i was supposed to be living with my ex gf in newport beach, but thats gone up in smoke and now i need somewhere for me and 2 other friends.
7 of us tried booking into huntington villas, thought we had it sorted but the woma we were booking with never told us stuff at the start bout insurance etc so we cudnt get it.... lost our deposit over it so i say wait till ye go out to sort accom!!
Hey, I'm headin to hb on my own at the end of the month, just wonderin would anyone be interested in sharing in Florida Street Apartments? my email is philip.doyle123@gmail.com Thanks
Accomadtation sharing in Huntington Beach 2009