Tim Ingersoll
Contributor
Just returned from a week on Saba.
Getting there. We booked the trip through Beth at Saba Statia travel. http://www.divesaba.com/. I highly recommend her. We flew US Air through Charlotte. Watch the connection in St. Maarten. We missed the connection and frankly don't think anybody made it. The last flight to Saba was booked solid and yet arrived in Saba with four people on it. We ended up having to grab a hotel in St. Maarten at $250.00 a nite. The hotel was five minutes from the airport and a little pricey but you do what you have to do. http://www.sonesta.com/stmaarten/. You might consider laying over for the first nite if the connection seems tight. The flight over to Saba was as advertised. Smallest commercial airport in the world. Short takeoff and landing plane. You do the math.
The island. Saba is a dormant volcano. No beaches. Arid at sea level and tropical rain forest at its highest point, Mt. Scenery. There is one road on the island. It is narrow and twisty as one would expect. The people are by far the friendliest I have ever experienced in the Caribbean. The setting is story book. Everyone lives in cottages cut into the hillsides. Red tile roofs and white walls are set against the green of the jungle. Its really other worldly. Never really experienced anything like it in all my Caribbean travels. On a scale of one to ten the topside rates a solid nine.
The accomodations. We rented a cottage in Windwardside. You can see it at: http://www.irishousesaba.com/. The house was reputed to be one of the best in town and you can see why. I can't say enough about the house. It was perfect for our needs and within walking distance of the dive shop, grocery store and four or five restaurants. It also has its own pool. You might want to keep the doors closed though. We had a visit from a three foot adult iguana who got trapped in my buddy's bedroom while we were out diving. It was perched on his pillow when we returned. That was a trip trying to shoe it out the door with a broom! Overall the house is highly recommended and a nine out of ten.
The food. We ate at Saba Treasure (great pizza), Brigadoon (awesome upscale), Scouts Place (good bar and grill). We also ate in one night. All of the restaurants were excellent and the prices were reasonable. I don't think I spent more than $3.00 for a beer all week. US dollar or Dutch guilders were accepted everywhere. No complaints on the food or restaurants.
The dive shop. We dove with Sea Saba. First class operation all around. I can't think of one complaint. Good boats, excellent staff, always ready to go the extra mile. They made dinner reservations, got us taxis, confirmed our outgoing flights, recommended activities, loaned us walking sticks for the hiking, etc. On a scale of one to ten I would rate them a solid nine.
The diving. Keep in mind that the last trip I took was to Palau. I am now officially spoiled. I found the diving in Saba to be above average Caribbean diving. On a scale of one to ten with the Bahamas being a five and Little Cayman being in the eight to nine range I would put Saba in the six to seven range. Good but not excellent. On every dive we saw turtles, nurse sharks, an occasional reef shark. . .the usual suspects. The pinnacles were very deep and very interesting. I have never seen such color so deep. We dove EAN 32 all week. The diving is deep on the walls and pinnacles. Keep and eye on your computer. It was easy to incur a deco load if you were not vigilant.
Activities. There are no beaches and the major activities consist of diving and hiking. The 1,064 steps up to the top of Mt. Scenery start right outside Sea Saba dive shop. Strenuous but a must do. It is literally other worldly. You hike up into the clouds and the rain forest. One of the most incredible experiences of my life. Do not miss this. Just make sure you don't do it on a dive day due to the 3,000 foot climb in elevation. About half way up the mountain lies the Ecolodge. This is an environmentally friendly resort. We stopped in for a water break on the way up and a beer break on the way down. The staff were friendly and helpful and the hotel is unique to my knowledge. Definitely worth a look.
Overall impression. Go. Don't miss this Caribbean gem. It is lovely and unique. The diving may not be world class but the island is not to be missed. By the way the island is gay and lesbian travel friendly. My buddy and I spent the first two days making an effort to explain to each and everyone we met that we were not gay. This was a pain in the butt and after that we didn't bother. Didn't make a difference as there is no prejudice or crime on the island.
Getting there. We booked the trip through Beth at Saba Statia travel. http://www.divesaba.com/. I highly recommend her. We flew US Air through Charlotte. Watch the connection in St. Maarten. We missed the connection and frankly don't think anybody made it. The last flight to Saba was booked solid and yet arrived in Saba with four people on it. We ended up having to grab a hotel in St. Maarten at $250.00 a nite. The hotel was five minutes from the airport and a little pricey but you do what you have to do. http://www.sonesta.com/stmaarten/. You might consider laying over for the first nite if the connection seems tight. The flight over to Saba was as advertised. Smallest commercial airport in the world. Short takeoff and landing plane. You do the math.
The island. Saba is a dormant volcano. No beaches. Arid at sea level and tropical rain forest at its highest point, Mt. Scenery. There is one road on the island. It is narrow and twisty as one would expect. The people are by far the friendliest I have ever experienced in the Caribbean. The setting is story book. Everyone lives in cottages cut into the hillsides. Red tile roofs and white walls are set against the green of the jungle. Its really other worldly. Never really experienced anything like it in all my Caribbean travels. On a scale of one to ten the topside rates a solid nine.
The accomodations. We rented a cottage in Windwardside. You can see it at: http://www.irishousesaba.com/. The house was reputed to be one of the best in town and you can see why. I can't say enough about the house. It was perfect for our needs and within walking distance of the dive shop, grocery store and four or five restaurants. It also has its own pool. You might want to keep the doors closed though. We had a visit from a three foot adult iguana who got trapped in my buddy's bedroom while we were out diving. It was perched on his pillow when we returned. That was a trip trying to shoe it out the door with a broom! Overall the house is highly recommended and a nine out of ten.
The food. We ate at Saba Treasure (great pizza), Brigadoon (awesome upscale), Scouts Place (good bar and grill). We also ate in one night. All of the restaurants were excellent and the prices were reasonable. I don't think I spent more than $3.00 for a beer all week. US dollar or Dutch guilders were accepted everywhere. No complaints on the food or restaurants.
The dive shop. We dove with Sea Saba. First class operation all around. I can't think of one complaint. Good boats, excellent staff, always ready to go the extra mile. They made dinner reservations, got us taxis, confirmed our outgoing flights, recommended activities, loaned us walking sticks for the hiking, etc. On a scale of one to ten I would rate them a solid nine.
The diving. Keep in mind that the last trip I took was to Palau. I am now officially spoiled. I found the diving in Saba to be above average Caribbean diving. On a scale of one to ten with the Bahamas being a five and Little Cayman being in the eight to nine range I would put Saba in the six to seven range. Good but not excellent. On every dive we saw turtles, nurse sharks, an occasional reef shark. . .the usual suspects. The pinnacles were very deep and very interesting. I have never seen such color so deep. We dove EAN 32 all week. The diving is deep on the walls and pinnacles. Keep and eye on your computer. It was easy to incur a deco load if you were not vigilant.
Activities. There are no beaches and the major activities consist of diving and hiking. The 1,064 steps up to the top of Mt. Scenery start right outside Sea Saba dive shop. Strenuous but a must do. It is literally other worldly. You hike up into the clouds and the rain forest. One of the most incredible experiences of my life. Do not miss this. Just make sure you don't do it on a dive day due to the 3,000 foot climb in elevation. About half way up the mountain lies the Ecolodge. This is an environmentally friendly resort. We stopped in for a water break on the way up and a beer break on the way down. The staff were friendly and helpful and the hotel is unique to my knowledge. Definitely worth a look.
Overall impression. Go. Don't miss this Caribbean gem. It is lovely and unique. The diving may not be world class but the island is not to be missed. By the way the island is gay and lesbian travel friendly. My buddy and I spent the first two days making an effort to explain to each and everyone we met that we were not gay. This was a pain in the butt and after that we didn't bother. Didn't make a difference as there is no prejudice or crime on the island.