For those going to SABA-this is where you'll land

[detroit diver]

Margaret,

When are you going to be there?

 

[sactomags]

We'll arrive via St. Maarten, where we'll spend the first two days (we get in pretty late on the 27th) just R & R and perhaps one dive with our friends at Aquamania. Then, we'll take the ferry over on Oct. 30th (met some friends who crew on it this past trip, so we'll get a chance to catch up with them too), and hop right on the boat (Saba Divers' "Big Blue") for two dives before we'll go up to Scout's Place to check in. We'll be there until our trip back over to St. Maarten on the 8th of November, then we've got an early flight out on the 9th.

Perhaps you'll be around then, too?

Have some special friends who live out in your area -- Troy, to be specific. I happened to be out visiting last year the time the Big Ships went up the shipping channel ... awesome sight! We were on a boat, I think somewhere off Lake St. Claire.

Regards,
Margaret

 

[scubagibbon]

I went to Saba for the first time back in February this year and spent 2 weeks fantastic weeks there at Scout's Place (SABA Divers) owned by Wolfgang and Barbara.
Dive guides were Klaus, Thomas and Marianna and were all wonderful guides. We had the boat to ourselves for the majority of the holiday and were treated like royalty.
Saba's not really very well known in the UK (and it would be nice if it stayed that way - Selfish I know!) because in my opinion it is the best all round diving I have ever done anywhere in the world (and we were practically the only people there so we had it all to ourselves!!).
Diving consisted of dramatic pinnacles dropping away into the ocean, to beautiful wall dives (wonderful corals and an abundance of fish life) to shallower dives like hot springs where if you plunge your hand into the sand you can still feel the warmth from the islands former life as a volcano.
The island itself is like a step back in time, very, very peaceful, frightening roads, worrying runway, lovely people.
We're in the process of sorting out the next dive holiday and short of spending a small fortune and travelling for 2 days to get to somewhere, I can't find anywhere that even comes close.
Can't wait to go back

 

[SCUBAKristey]

What route did you take to get there? It looks fabulous, and sounds even better. I'd love to hang out with mainly locals. Few people and great diving- I'm there!

Kristey

 

[Beachman]

Here is a short excerpt from a trip report I posted on another board several years ago after visiting this region for a couple weeks. I too have since been diving all over the Caribbean and have found nothing to equal the experiences of Saba.


"But now for the best part ..... SABA. This is diving of the highest order. I'm sure it can compete with any diving on the world. Saba is a small volcanically formed island (about 5 miles in diameter) with 1,000' walls dropping straight into the ocean. Peaks on the island reach 3,000' with rain forest everywhere. I am describing this to assist in visualizing that this same terrain exists underwater around the island. A typical dive site has a mooring buoy located on a pinnacle at 85' to 100' beneath the surface. Visibility is usually over 100', so the pinnacle is immediately visible when you enter the water. From there, the dive may be over the pinnacle top, if broad enough, and becomes a reef dive. Or, it may be swimming through blue water to another pinnacle top or wall several hundred feet away.

One site called 3rd Encounter has three mooring buoys within about 500' of each other. I truly believe one could spend a week diving this site and never repeat the same dive! By way of example, the Eye Of The Needle is a dive which begins by dropping to a pinnacle at 95', then swimming due west through blue water with 200' below and 100' above for about 100 yards.
Suddenly you realize a structure is appearing in the distance out of the blue haze. It looks sort of like a pillar. As you approach, the brilliant colors of the coral start appearing and you realize this is a formation about 40' in diameter which begins about 100' below (you can see the bottom) and extends about 40' above you to within 60' of the surface. You drop to 130' or so, and begin a wall dive slowly ascending as you circle the formation like a barber pole. Small fish surround the coral everywhere, caterpillar-like creatures crawl the surface, all the coral is totally alive and brilliantly colored, several black-tip sharks cruise in the distance, and larger fish like jacks and yellow tails are suspended like ornaments everywhere. I just wished I could hang in one spot forever and watch the show before me. If this ain't diving, I don't know what is! "

 

[Jersey]

Loved the pic, down there last Sept, took the ferry over from Simpson Bay (SMX) for a couple days. Bad trip - steering controls broke on the way back, one engine down, all the locals sick...

Heading back in Sept/Oct. can't wait to dive there again. After seeing this not sure I want to fly over! May put up with the broken ferry.

Went with Big Mike & Little Mike at Saba Deep. Couple of characters.