Quality of St. Maarten diving

[Arsalan Ahmed]

Hi

I was supposed to travel to roatan in 2014 for a 8-10 dive trip but a friend of mine just got back from there and didn't want to head out there again. The only other viable option we were finding was to travel to St. Maarten and Saba and I wanted to know what people here thought of the quality of diving there (life, coral, wrecks, visibility). I thought it was great till a couple of people on tripadvisor mentioned it wouldn't be there first choice for a big dive trip.

Also, would you recommend going there during August or should I be worried about hurricane season.

THanks

 

[packrat12]

I would highly recommend going to Saba. There is plenty to do for a weeks worth of diving. You are typically diving on pinnacles ~100' deep which have lots of life on them. The fish life is great, the diving is great, the island life is also great. There are several musts on Saba which include diving the pinnacles, climbing Mt. Scenery and landing at Juancho E. Yrausquin airport - It is awesome. My family is looking forward to going back.

The visibility when we were there was good, 80'+. There are no wrecks on the island to dive. The quality of the fish life is great. The best diving for us was on one of the many pinnacles where you circle them exploring the nooks and crannies. We wish we had made Third Encounter but maybe next time .

We used Sea Saba for our dive store. They are great. You are picked up at your cottage, down 'The Road' to the dive boat. The crew on the boat take really good care of you and make sure your diving experience is top notch. They even help with making dinner reservations that evening. They work with the divers to try to make sure all dives are unique for them. They work very hard to try to not repeat a site, even when they do, most of the sites have plenty to look at. Make sure to schedule a night dive.

One common problem mentioned is that there are no beaches nor shopping. Saba is not a tourist trap like other locations. You are welcomed by all of the people, you feel more like you are a part of the island. The main activities for us 'tourists' is either diving or eco hiking. When you are not diving there are great hikes and as I stated earlier, Mt. Scenery.

It is the first overseas location I have dove that I truly am planning on going back to. My family was talking about it today as we watched a story on Extreme Airports, which Saba often ranks high in. The landing is great!!

Oh and for the hurricane season, it is far out in the east Caribbean. From what I have heard and seen since, they rarely are affected badly by hurricanes. When they do get hit, it goes by very quickly and is almost unnoticeable. There is typically a 30mph wind on the Island anyway. This does not present much of a problem as the diving is so close to shore, you can almost throw stones at it . If the winds are coming from the east, which is normal, they go to the west side of the island, if the wind is out of the west, they go to the east..... Because of the trade winds, it is mostly out of the east.

 

[Arsalan Ahmed]

Thanks. Would you recommend mixing Saba and St. Maarten considering their proximity to each other? I was thinking 4 dives in St. Maarten, 5 in Saba, climb the mountain and check out the beaches in St. Maarten.

Also, are all dives around 100 feet in Saba? Nothing less? I may have one person with me who does not have advanced certification so I am a little worried about him.

Thanks

 

[packrat12]

There are shallower dives and they will work with divers to make sure to match their skill set. I know that Lynn of Sea Saba works with very young divers so they should be able to easily accommodate your other person. Check out this link Saba's Diving - 30+ Dive Sites - Saba's Dive Sites which has all of the dive sites on Saba. There are many dives in the 50' range. When you look at the map, you primarily want to look at the west side of the island from Fort Bay to Torrens Point. If you have any question contact a Sea Saba and talk to them. I took my 13 year old daughter on trip. She was Advanced w/Nitrox and easily handled all of the dives that we did. They are all guided, by Saba requirements, and very straight forward. They are very careful to keep track of your stats without being intrusive. I tend to be a very independent type of diver but found that the boat crew was excellent and did not feel shepherded. As you can see, my family had a great time on the Island and cannot say enough about Saba and Sea Saba.

With St. Maarten, I have not dove there. From what I have heard, the diving is not as good as the rest of the Caribbean. It is a tourist trap and you will notice the change from Saba to St. Maarten. We had fun during a layover with the end of the runway .

 

[Darnold9999]

I just did three weeks in St Maarten. While we were there we did two nights on Saba.

The diving on Saba was very good Caribbean diving. I did Third Encounter and while I was told that it was a must do dive I was underwelmed in comparison to other sites like Diamond Rock and Man of War which were as good as any Caribbean diving I have done. Which includes Bloody Bay Wall in the Caymans. Third Encounter is very deep, I maxed out at 117 feet and there is not much to see less than 100 feet so it was a short dive.

I used Saba Deep and was impressed. They handled everything from leaving St Maartens to returning three days later. Be aware it is not inexpensive on this rock. I would echo packrat12 re the people on the island - welcoming and always have time to talk. Also the shopping - none to speak of. A few hours wandering Windwardside and you will have seen pretty much every shop on the island. Food was very good. No beaches at all, hiking is pretty much the only other thing to do after diving.

St Maartens is the complete opposite. The diving ranges from really boring to mediocre Caribbean diving. If you go I suggest that you stay as far away from the cruise ships as possible. We watched boatload after boatload of divers being let around our little bay to see a sunken helicopter, a small sunken sailboat, a cannon (all surrounded by a concrete walkway for the snuba clients). I snorkled out and watched the divers a couple of times - wouldn't pay anything for that particular dive.

Did go to the more northern coast and did a couple of dives off Tintamarre with Octopus Divers. Much better, but nowhere near Saba.

St Maartens gets more than a dozen cruise ships a week - so almost the entire island is geared to serve these tourists. In Phillipsburg where most dock the entire town is almost totally geared to them and the day trips most do. As you get further away there are more options.


On the plus side there are beaches - of all kinds. From deserted to crowded from no surf to more than I was comfortable with when the wind came up. Food is excellent with lots of options - better than any other Caribbean destination I have been. Think French food at its best, overlooking the ocean.

My bottom line - St Maartens for the "tourist" in you, shopping, laying on the beach, romantic dinners out. Saba for the diving.

 

[Damselfish]

I don't rely on dive related info from TripAdvisor, but in this case it seems about right. I haven't been to St Maarten, but a friend who dove there was thoroughly unimpressed. (That was many years ago, but rarely does the diving get better...) And I've not heard positive things about it in general.

Saba, on the other hand, is on my todo list.

When you say "only other viable option we were finding was to travel to St. Maarten and Saba" what factor is making that viable? Since of course there are lots of other places in the Caribbean you might go with good diving.

 

[Arsalan Ahmed]

SOrry i should have explained more.

I've dived Grenada and Dominican Republic and Belize (Central). My friend dived Roatan.
My budget is about 2K while my 2 friends, 1 in Ireland and 1 in Berlin have 2.5K. So i'm trying to keep the trips under budget and flight times sane for everyone as well. So far, its been a compromise between insane lay overs, price and such. As we are 3, I was able to find apts to rent to keep the price low.

I'm considering Cozumel as well however the easiest way for my friends to get there is through Cancun

 

[CodFishHead]

Great info. Thank you.
I’m also going to St Maarten’s. Looking at flights to Saba now per everything I read while searching up St Maarten’s diving info. Would like to go to Saba, dive, and come back same day. Any suggestions who to go with for both flights and boats?
I need to take 2 freshly certified teens that have only dived a half dozen times in no more than 40 foot. Waters were little to no visibility when they dove. Just being in blue waters and being able to see each other is going to be a treat. We’re staying on the Dutch side close to The Dive Shop.
Recommendations needed for who to go to and where to dive on St Maartens with 2 beginner teens?
Any and all info appreciated.
Thx

 

[tajkd]

As others have said, skip St. Maarten and spend the time on Saba. Way better diving options.

 

[packrat12]

The idea of flying to Saba, diving, and then flying back out is not the best option for me. As a pilot, I am concerned about the DCS risks associated with flying and diving. The dive/flight profile is done but you should evaluate the risks personally and make your decision from that. DAN has done research on Saba involving altitude and diving due to the location and island terrain. Windward side is at 800’, Mt Scenery is at 3000’. Going to/from the airport crosses Windward side. You would be flying in/out on WinAir in a DHC-6 Twin Otter. They are really nice aircraft with WinAir, the only airline/aircraft authorized to land at Saba, and have an excellent safety record. They are a real enjoyment to fly in for me. They will stay very low and it is a short flight ~15 minutes. There are no real reasons they would go to a high altitude that I could think of but the risk is there. The landing in Saba is spectacular and should not be missed. Keep in mind that the runway is the shortest commercial landing strip in the world (~1300’), all flights must have a special wavier to land there and the pilots must be specially trained to do so.

I have not used the ferry but the Dawn II makes regular trips. They take about 1.5 hrs and definitely stay low (read sea level ). They cost less and can accommodate more gear. They are very modern and dock at Fort Bay.

I have seen the dive boats wait for passengers to get there from the flight and also come back in to pick-up a later arrival. There are normally 3 dives available during the day. Diving is normally complete by 1-2 PM.

As stated earlier by me, I highly recommend Sea Saba for diving. I believe they are the largest shop on the Island and have been excellent to my family. I would also recommend trying to stay a night or two or more. I think the dive shop can help with reservations. There are many places to stay, Juliana’s Hotel is very popular and I stayed at The Cottage Club which we loved. You must be shuttled from the airport to anywhere else, and from Windward side to anywhere else. Once in Windward side, everything is in easy walking distance. If you arrive by ferry, the dive boats are right there.