Saba and Sint Maarten Diving Report (warning: loooong!!)

[5615mike]

St. Maarten..........Dive Safari runs a very nice operation. Is Sydney still there? STX is not what I would call a dive mecca island......but its better than not diving........lol. Saba........now theres is world class diving.

Glad you had a good trip.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Sba is definitely on the dhort list. Where did you stay?

 

[RTRski]

Numerical Mike: I don't remember a Sydney offhand. Our boat was lead by Jefferson, and the rest of the on-boat crew was male. In the office/store we met Kim and Luciana. There was another lady with a British accent who I'd put in the high-30s + age range with shorter hair whose name I didn't get - might've been her?

Sba is definitely on the dhort list. Where did you stay?

My wife and I stayed at "El Momo" which is a collection of eco-friendly cottages (read: no air conditioning, no locks (but then no-one locks their home on Saba), room the size of your bed plus about 18 inches on all sides, minimal electrical connections for a couple of lights, no ceiling fan, solar shower in detached outhouse like building, composting toilet...) So if you're into the camping-in-the-rough type stay, this would have been charming, but by the end of 2 nights we spoiled Americans were really missing AC. The people were great, though, so please don't take this as a 'bad' review - its just not quite our cup of tea I guess, especially after diving all day and wanting to get clean/dry.

I've heard good things about all the more 'hotel-like' accomodations on the island though. The Gatehouse is a high-end stay, but way on the airport side so on the far side from Fort Bay. Still, all the dive shops either provide or coordinate taxis for you. Princess Juliana resort is in The Bottoms I think - the other couple we ended up diving with stayed there, and the taxi would pick us up first, then get them, and we were about 10 minutes from Fort Bay at that point (because the road is narrow and switchbacks, not because its 'distant'). There are other places too - the Willard's is really pricey, and I think there's another place called the Cottage Club or something. Just go to Saba's official website and they've got links to almost all the accomodations there.

 

[djanni]

Nice report. I admit I stopped reading after Saba but I wanted to see how you liked it.

My wife and I dived in Saba with Scuba Deep 2 years ago. Big Mike was our skipper and DM. Flirted with my wife too - did a little underwater dance with her, twice. Is he still wearing his old frayed mask without a strap? He was so proud of the old mask and that he didn't need a strap to keep it on.

Saba was like diving into a well stocked aquarium. I'm not sure I ever seen as many fish in 1 place.

We only got to do 3 dives during a 1 day trip but it's on our list to go back and stay on the island for a week.

 

[RTRski]

Yep, Big Mike's classic for the underwater dance routine with all the ladies. I didn't notice the mask frankly - did notice he never even plugs in his power inflator to his BC...never has to put any air into it to keep neutral....

RTR

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Glad to hear the Mike's are still at it! Big Mike grabbed me for a dance after the safety stop at one site, confused the heck out of me at first It was fun though and hubby has never been one to mind something like that besides he had the first dance at an earlier site at Mike's suggestion.

Saba was a great time, thanks for bringing back the memories!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[sandrascuba]

Glad to hear the Mike's are still in the business. They are great people and run a wonderful operation. I was wondering if you saw Sally (Little Mike's Wife) while you were there?

I've been to Saba 3 times. We've stayed at the Cottage Club 2 x and a private villa the last time. I prefer the Cottage Club but understand Julianna's is good too. What we do is transit SXM and pick up the ferry over to Saba and stay a week or 10 days. Then ferry back to SXM for 4-5 days and stay over near Orient Beach, at LaPlantation.

I did my very first night dive with Big Mike eons ago and he held my hand during the entire dive. He's a true flirt and I loved bantering with him. On the last trip, each time we would exit the boat his saying was "God Save The Queen."

Anyway. Big Mike has some stories he can't tell because he'd have to kill you if he did (smile). He is one of the funniest, genuine humans on the planet. Completely harmless. Little Mike is just as awesome. He usually will follow the group if Big Mike has a deep dive planned and there are people on the dive they haven't measured up yet. He just watches and hangs out in back.

Thanks so much for the memories. Long Live Saba Deep.

Sandra

 

[RTRski]

Of course, I should'be mentioned Sally! I did mention the restaurant's food was good, and Sally's primarily to be credited for that. She was wonderful too.

We also got to dive (our last day) with "Jobean" who has a glass art/jewelry shop near the El Momo cottages. She's a hoot as well.

Mike did the "God Save the Queen" or "Hoo-hah!" for us on each backroll. As for 'harmless' I guess that depends on your chromosome flavor. He's not 'dangerous' in the sense that he wouldn't press suit where it wasn't welcome, but I got the distinct impression diving for him was sometimes a way to meet/pick up women, so in THAT sense he'd probably bristle at being called "harmless"....

Glad I could help with the report - happy to see its still getting posts even after 2 weeks, so at least a few people read through my long-winded blather...

 

[sandrascuba]

As for 'harmless' I guess that depends on your chromosome flavor. He's not 'dangerous' in the sense that he wouldn't press suit where it wasn't welcome, but I got the distinct impression diving for him was sometimes a way to meet/pick up women, so in THAT sense he'd probably bristle at being called "harmless"....

It makes me smile just to think of him. He's a professional flirt. Always has the last word in any argument. He could break your neck with one stroke but has the heart of a pussy cat when it comes to women. He's open with his flirtations and there's nothing covert about him, so I think he's harmless. I've bristled him before and he can take it as well as dish is out. If you let it show he's getting to you, he pours it on. Too funny.

Again, thanks for the memories. It makes my day to know they're still at it as I know Little Mike would sell the business if he had a reasonable offer.

 

[RTRski]

Ouch - I'm sort of sad to hear Little Mike would sell, although I can certainly see that the 3-man shop (+the restaurant upstairs) is a LOT of work. I guess we think of them as part of our favorite experiences down there, thus hope they're just "constants" and always there, but have no idea if they're making it as far as overall financial goals, getting what breaks they need to survive as people, etc....

I've just got this fear that everywhere is going to the cattleboat type dive shop and the little mom-n-pops that treat you personally are on the decline - yet I'm just as guilty about being part of the economics that promotes that conversion; on Sint Maarten we had the opportunity to do a few dives with Ocean Explorers too which would probably qualify as a similar experience (in hindsight) to diving with the Mikes, given the history of Mr. and Mrs. French, but we didn't do it, we were too gung-ho about wanting to dive Nitrox...