Ultimate Guide to Moving to St Augustine, Florida

Are you considering moving to St. Augustine? I am here to tell you to do it, but consider a few things first. This post is meant to be a real-life view into our move, and provide insight you may not hear from a realtor. I am not an expert, but I have the real life, recent experience. And those hours of research shouldn’t go to waste, so hopefully this helps make it a smooth transition for you! 

In 2023, my family and I packed up two vehicles and a giant U-Hal van and drove from Maryland to Florida to start our new adventure in North Florida. A lot of prayer, thought, and time went into making the decision to move, and even more into determining where to move. This post is not meant to give you every reason to move to Saint Augustine, but give you guidance into the logistics of moving, the areas within our county and some of the reasons you should consider moving to this area of Florida. 

I’m happy to chat about our decision and what we’re loving so far, what was most difficult, etc. so don’t hesitate to reach out directly! 

Why the move? 

I mentioned we are from Maryland, which is a beautiful state…a few months out of the year. Our entire families live in Maryland though, so we never really considered moving. Until 2020 hit, we started working from home, and then during the winter when everything around us was shut down, we spent far too much time inside. We quickly realized that a cold weather state, even for only half the year, wasn’t where we were most happy. 

We prayed, considered options across the entire East Coast and landed on North Florida. There are amazing areas in the region, so we narrowed it down in the Jacksonville metro area. We considered areas like Nassau (including Yulee and Amelia Island), Baker and Clay Counties, and even further out into Lake City and Gainesville, but those areas took us a longer distance to the beach. We felt a pull towards St Johns County / St Augustine and I’m so glad we did! 

A few other reasons we landed on Florida- no state income tax, miles of beaches, great state parks and a few national parks, easy driving access being near to 95, and beautiful weather for most of the year. 

Why St Augustine, Florida? 

We knew we wanted to be in close proximity to the beach, live in a master planned, family-friendly community until our daughter graduates, have great school options and be close to things to do. St. Augustine is all of that and far more! 

Starting at the top of our list, the beautiful beaches. There is no shortage of wonderful beaches within 30 minutes of our house, and many of the communities in the area. The closest beach is less than 20 minutes from our front door, and our favorite beach is exactly 30 minutes from us. 

• Ponte Vedra area – Mickler’s Landing, Guana Reserve, Vilano Beach
• Anastasia Island –  St Augustine Beach, Butler Beach, Crescent Beach, Matanzas Inlet 

The rich history of the area. Did you know that St Augustine is the oldest continually inhabited city in America? The downtown St Augustine area is beautiful town and has so much to offer. 

The St Johns County School district is known for its top ranked public schools system and as one of the best school districts in the state. We have had a great experience so far, but keep in mind, schooling in a very personal opinion and can be a vastly different experience for every family. 

Something I didn’t understand until moving here is the Academy style schools where elementary and middle school students are in the same building, and only High Schools are separate. There are a few standalone Elementary and Middle Schools, but not as many.  

Communities to Consider

If you are looking for a great community to call home, there are plenty in this county! Here are a few we considered: 

• Julington Creek Plantation
• Palencia 
• Beachwalk
• Beacon Lake
• Durbin
• Nocatee 
• Rivertown
• Sherwater
• Silverleaf
• The World Golf Village neighborhoods
• Bannon Lakes  

Many neighborhoods have new homes, but there are a few with well established communities, some are a gated community option, others have vibrant community events, and all of them are within the St Johns County area. 

If you are considering the surrounding areas, we looked into these: 

• E-Town
• Wildlight
• Crane Island

Process of Moving to St Augustine

We decided to rent for our first year in order to find the best places for our family to stay long term. We have been very happy with this decision and now know exactly where we want to buy a house. 

Personally, we rented a moving truck and moved everything ourselves rather than hiring a moving company. Moving companies are very expensive and we would have been without our things for several days, so this worked best for us. Prior to our move we arranged for our car insurance to switch over to Florida, and registered for all utilities through our rental. 

Within a week of arriving we made an appointment at the Dept of Motor Vehicles, which was a lovely experience compared to the systems in Maryland, got our new drivers licenses (which you must do within 30 days of moving) and registered our vehicles. The initial cost of vehicle registration is a bit high depending on what you are used to, so make sure to budget for it. The initial fee is $225 for your Florida plate but is significantly cheaper to renew each 1-2 years. You can read more about everything you need to register your vehicle through Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. 

Once our licenses were changed we enrolled our daughter into school and changed our voter registration, found new primary car doctors, signed up for library cards and set-up the internet. If you are into library visits, we love both the Ponte Vedra location (it’s a little smaller) and the Bartram Trail Branch. 

We also changed our address everywhere, including but not limited to USPS, our bank accounts, car loans, investment accounts, credit cards, and loyalty accounts (Southwest, Hilton, Delta, etc.). 

Things To Do in St Augustine 

St Augustine is a larger area than many people may know. You have access to the St Johns River, direct access to the Atlantic Ocean, amazing dog parks, a historic city, incredible and well-known golf courses live music all summer, incredible recreational facilities, incredible farmers markets, and you have easy access to Jacksonville if you want more of a city vibe. If you are looking for more things to do in the oldest city, this post includes free and low cost options for the entire family. 

If you are looking for more options of things to do as a local and not in the tourist areas, I highly suggest looking into extracurricular activities in your neighborhood like checking out the tennis courts, going horseback riding at a nearby farm, taking a walk at one of the St Johns county parks, visiting one of the local barrier islands like Amelia Island, taking one of the historic walking tours through one of the nearby small towns, and looking into the local events in the area. There is so much to do and see in the county, I think you will love it! 

We have loved finding new places to eat, coffee shops (Foxtail, Pour Mike’s), all the ice cream bars (Mayday and Hyppo), playgrounds and happy hour locations since moving here. It’s been a great way to get familiar with the area! We’re also very thankful for the countless Kids Eat Free restaurants (Island Wing Co, Cantina Louie, and many more) all over the county! 

Benefits of Being A St Johns County Resident 

There are amazing benefits to living in this county! 

• Register your license plates for automatic discounted parking in the historic downtown area
• Locals discount at many local attractions like the St Augustine Lighthouse, Florida Water Tours, St Augustine Alligator Farm, and more. Check out this list to see the elevated discounts for the month of September, and check individual locations for the year round discount opportunity.  
• Amazing views, I can’t get over it. We drive to the grocery store under palm trees, eat dinner on the beach, explore parks alongside the river, etc. It’s a beautiful area and we’re thankful to be here. 

Overall, if you are interested in living in a beautiful city, with the charm of a small town, and access to everyday amenities, St Augustine may be the perfect place for you! We are extremely thankful to be here and love that it’s a great place to live while we have a young family and are excited to call Florida our new home. 

If you are considering moving to St Augustine, please don’t hesitate to reach out! I joined all the Facebook groups, connected with potential neighbors, and toured the area a few times before landing on a place to call home. Sometimes it’s nice to chat with someone who recently lived the big life change in the same area.