wrybosome
Contributor
My wife and I really had a great trip last week to St Martin and Saba, so I wanted to write up some of the things we liked best. We spent our time diving one day each at St Martin and in Saba, and most of the rest at Orient Beach. We're new divers so this was a vacation with diving more than a diving vacation, however I'm sure there are lots of other noobs out there who might have similar concerns and reactions.
Octopus Diving
Octopus is a small dive operator in Grand Case, located at the north end of Grand Case Boulevard. They run the Arvor, a 25’ six pack boat to local dive sites on all sides of St Martin. The boat is very fast and if our dive sites that day had been farther out we’d have been there quickly.
Chris and Sally run a very friendly, personal but professional shop that provides PADI certification as well as charters. The rental gear is in excellent shape and obviously well maintained. The divemasters, Jean-Pierre and Christian (bilingual French and English), were laid back and fun to dive with. We dived with Christian both times and really warmed up to him, he was very knowledgeable and took a lot of time to help us noobs and show us things. Also had a wicked sense of humor.
As it was the day we were scheduled to dive was during the tail end of a tropical wave and conditions were fairly rough (by local standards) so we stayed at two sites on the edges of the bay of Grand Case. The first site was Creole Rock, a large rock that juts out of the water at the north end of the bay and drops down to a sandy bottom in the 35 fsw range. There is abundant coral and sealife, although the coral is somewhat damaged from storms. We stayed on the lee side of the rock on this dive due to a strong surge on the windward side.
The second dive was to Turtle Reef (Sec de Grand Case), a very pretty shallow reef in about 30 fsw at the south end of the bay. I got to see a turtle for the first time, which was a thrill as well as some small rays and schools of colorful fish I haven’t yet learned to identify. Visibility on bothdives was about 25-30’.
Due to the weather and the boat size my wife was pretty seasick by the end. JP and Christian helped her back into the boat and with her gear. Chris and Sally were great when we got back, lots of advice about Triptone vs Dramamine vs Ginger. When we’d recovered they hooked us up with some free drink tickets for the Lolo, and stored our gear while we spent the afternoon walking around Grand Case.
Definitely a first rate operation with attentive, personal service. We had bad luck with the weather but would definitely dive with them again. I'd like to dive the windward side of the island if the weather cooperates.
Saba and Saba Deep
I can’t say enough good things about either the Island of Saba or Saba Deep. Our only mistake here was doing Saba as a day trip, it should have been at least overnight. From start to finish everything was spectacular here. The flight in and landing on the short field, the way the steep-sided volcano rises straight up out of the sea, the friendliness of everyone, the great diving. If you’re in St Martin and want to do a side trip this is the place to go.
We’re new divers and were a bit intimidated by Saba’s reputation for deep recreational diving, but Tony and Cheri at Saba Deep took time to talk to us and figure out what we needed. They run 3 dives a day, the first to one of the deep pinnacle sites (Twilight Zone on the day we were there, 120’
then two shallower ones after a two hour interval. After talking with them we decided to go for a hike during the first dive and come back for the second and third.
Cheri arranged our transportation via George’s taxi to the trailhead up Mt Scenery in Windwardside, as well as our ride back and forth to the airport, as well as expediting our lunch so we could get back to our flight out on time. We’re usually pretty self reliant travelers, but it was great the way she took care to make our trip to Saba easy and memorable.
The hiking was great fun, straight up the mountainside into cloud forest with lianas, elephant ear plants, bananas, ruins of old cabins. We didn’t have time to go to the top, but we will when we go back.
The dive and boat briefing was lengthy and thorough as given by the voluble Mike, with an emphasis on how not to damage anything or piss off the DMs (Mike and Bob). I liked the emphasis on conservation – they were serious and not just paying lip service.
The second dive of the day (led by Mike) was to ‘Hot Spring’, an area of patch reef on sandy bottom in 70fsw of water. Perfect, colorful, intact corals and sponges everywhere. Overwhelming numbers of fish we’re still talking about. The dive finished at a geothermal spring in about 40fsw that let you warm up any parts you cared to stick into the sand. Watching Mike underwater was educational, he has some real skills. And not having to listen to him down there was cool too. Getting out of the boat I thought that was the best dive I’d ever been on.
Then we did the third dive, Man O’ War shoals near Diamond Rock. Two large circular reefs next to one another on sandy bottom in 65fsw that rise to about 20’ depth. This was even better. Bob led this one, and we went to the bottom then did ascending figure eights around both reefs. I could see why Bob said he wanted to have his ashes scattered there. More color, sponges big enough to climb into, lobsters, fish, big fish. Everything very pristine when compared to other sites I've seen. I felt like I was in an overstocked marine aquarium. This was even better than the second dive.
Between the short SIT and 60-70' depths on both dives we found that our computers gave us obligatory deco for an extra 2 minutes at 15' on the last dive. That's a first for both of us. Wasn't happy about not having seen that coming, I should have paid some attention to the NDL reading on the comp. Had plenty of air left for it though, and my wife had more, so no harm done and a lesson learned.
We were somewhat concerned about our experience level going to Saba, but the dives we did were very doable.
Visibility both dives was 70’+.
I think Bob summed up Saba well, “St Martin calls itself the friendly island. But when you come here you see what an island that really is friendly is like.”
Lodging - Belair Beach Hotel
We enjoyed our stay here and although we spent most of our time elsewhere on the island it was always a friendly and safe place to come back to. The Belair is located in Little Bay, convenient to the Grand Marche , shops in Phillipsburg, and all the attractions around Simpson Bay. It is not the most convenient place if you’re spending significant time on the French side.
The hotel is well named, it’s right on the beach and every room faces out to Little Bay. First floor rooms have their entrances directly on the beach. Each guest gets an assigned beach lounge chair and fresh daily beach towels. The small store (Jody’s Place) sold nearly all of the incidentals we needed during our stay. There is a small pool and a bar/restaurant with fairly good food. There are nightly activities and specials, although we didn’t go to these and can’t comment.
Security at the hotel is good. The road entrance is barricaded before sunset and guards patrol regularly. The vendors (sculpture and clothing) allowed on the property are obviously vetted by the management and the prices were reasonable without haggling.
The staff is friendly and very helpful across the board, particularly at the café and the store.
Our suite (a typical one) was 2BR, 2 baths, full kitchen and living room and dining room. We particularly appreciated how fully equipped the kitchen was and were able to cook some very good meals on the nights we didn’t go out. The interior was bright with daylight, clean, and attractive. The tv received about 12 channels but we weren’t there to watch tv so all we missed was the weather channel.
The feeling around the place was very American, which can be nice to come home to at night.
Best Other Stuff on St Martin
-Nude sunbathing and snorkeling at Orient Beach (snorkeling was surprisingly good)
-Lunch at the Lolo’s
-Dinner at Le Tastevin in Grand Case
-Great patisseries on the French Side
-Perch Bar at Orient Beach
-Watching the kiteboarders. We’re learning that next time!
Worst Stuff about St Martin
-Car break-ins. This is for real; don’t leave anything in your car. Nothing. Not for ten minutes, including during daylight.
-That’s it. Enjoy!
Octopus Diving
Octopus is a small dive operator in Grand Case, located at the north end of Grand Case Boulevard. They run the Arvor, a 25’ six pack boat to local dive sites on all sides of St Martin. The boat is very fast and if our dive sites that day had been farther out we’d have been there quickly.
Chris and Sally run a very friendly, personal but professional shop that provides PADI certification as well as charters. The rental gear is in excellent shape and obviously well maintained. The divemasters, Jean-Pierre and Christian (bilingual French and English), were laid back and fun to dive with. We dived with Christian both times and really warmed up to him, he was very knowledgeable and took a lot of time to help us noobs and show us things. Also had a wicked sense of humor.
As it was the day we were scheduled to dive was during the tail end of a tropical wave and conditions were fairly rough (by local standards) so we stayed at two sites on the edges of the bay of Grand Case. The first site was Creole Rock, a large rock that juts out of the water at the north end of the bay and drops down to a sandy bottom in the 35 fsw range. There is abundant coral and sealife, although the coral is somewhat damaged from storms. We stayed on the lee side of the rock on this dive due to a strong surge on the windward side.
The second dive was to Turtle Reef (Sec de Grand Case), a very pretty shallow reef in about 30 fsw at the south end of the bay. I got to see a turtle for the first time, which was a thrill as well as some small rays and schools of colorful fish I haven’t yet learned to identify. Visibility on bothdives was about 25-30’.
Due to the weather and the boat size my wife was pretty seasick by the end. JP and Christian helped her back into the boat and with her gear. Chris and Sally were great when we got back, lots of advice about Triptone vs Dramamine vs Ginger. When we’d recovered they hooked us up with some free drink tickets for the Lolo, and stored our gear while we spent the afternoon walking around Grand Case.
Definitely a first rate operation with attentive, personal service. We had bad luck with the weather but would definitely dive with them again. I'd like to dive the windward side of the island if the weather cooperates.
Saba and Saba Deep
I can’t say enough good things about either the Island of Saba or Saba Deep. Our only mistake here was doing Saba as a day trip, it should have been at least overnight. From start to finish everything was spectacular here. The flight in and landing on the short field, the way the steep-sided volcano rises straight up out of the sea, the friendliness of everyone, the great diving. If you’re in St Martin and want to do a side trip this is the place to go.
We’re new divers and were a bit intimidated by Saba’s reputation for deep recreational diving, but Tony and Cheri at Saba Deep took time to talk to us and figure out what we needed. They run 3 dives a day, the first to one of the deep pinnacle sites (Twilight Zone on the day we were there, 120’
then two shallower ones after a two hour interval. After talking with them we decided to go for a hike during the first dive and come back for the second and third. Cheri arranged our transportation via George’s taxi to the trailhead up Mt Scenery in Windwardside, as well as our ride back and forth to the airport, as well as expediting our lunch so we could get back to our flight out on time. We’re usually pretty self reliant travelers, but it was great the way she took care to make our trip to Saba easy and memorable.
The hiking was great fun, straight up the mountainside into cloud forest with lianas, elephant ear plants, bananas, ruins of old cabins. We didn’t have time to go to the top, but we will when we go back.
The dive and boat briefing was lengthy and thorough as given by the voluble Mike, with an emphasis on how not to damage anything or piss off the DMs (Mike and Bob). I liked the emphasis on conservation – they were serious and not just paying lip service.
The second dive of the day (led by Mike) was to ‘Hot Spring’, an area of patch reef on sandy bottom in 70fsw of water. Perfect, colorful, intact corals and sponges everywhere. Overwhelming numbers of fish we’re still talking about. The dive finished at a geothermal spring in about 40fsw that let you warm up any parts you cared to stick into the sand. Watching Mike underwater was educational, he has some real skills. And not having to listen to him down there was cool too. Getting out of the boat I thought that was the best dive I’d ever been on.
Then we did the third dive, Man O’ War shoals near Diamond Rock. Two large circular reefs next to one another on sandy bottom in 65fsw that rise to about 20’ depth. This was even better. Bob led this one, and we went to the bottom then did ascending figure eights around both reefs. I could see why Bob said he wanted to have his ashes scattered there. More color, sponges big enough to climb into, lobsters, fish, big fish. Everything very pristine when compared to other sites I've seen. I felt like I was in an overstocked marine aquarium. This was even better than the second dive.
Between the short SIT and 60-70' depths on both dives we found that our computers gave us obligatory deco for an extra 2 minutes at 15' on the last dive. That's a first for both of us. Wasn't happy about not having seen that coming, I should have paid some attention to the NDL reading on the comp. Had plenty of air left for it though, and my wife had more, so no harm done and a lesson learned.
We were somewhat concerned about our experience level going to Saba, but the dives we did were very doable.
Visibility both dives was 70’+.
I think Bob summed up Saba well, “St Martin calls itself the friendly island. But when you come here you see what an island that really is friendly is like.”
Lodging - Belair Beach Hotel
We enjoyed our stay here and although we spent most of our time elsewhere on the island it was always a friendly and safe place to come back to. The Belair is located in Little Bay, convenient to the Grand Marche , shops in Phillipsburg, and all the attractions around Simpson Bay. It is not the most convenient place if you’re spending significant time on the French side.
The hotel is well named, it’s right on the beach and every room faces out to Little Bay. First floor rooms have their entrances directly on the beach. Each guest gets an assigned beach lounge chair and fresh daily beach towels. The small store (Jody’s Place) sold nearly all of the incidentals we needed during our stay. There is a small pool and a bar/restaurant with fairly good food. There are nightly activities and specials, although we didn’t go to these and can’t comment.
Security at the hotel is good. The road entrance is barricaded before sunset and guards patrol regularly. The vendors (sculpture and clothing) allowed on the property are obviously vetted by the management and the prices were reasonable without haggling.
The staff is friendly and very helpful across the board, particularly at the café and the store.
Our suite (a typical one) was 2BR, 2 baths, full kitchen and living room and dining room. We particularly appreciated how fully equipped the kitchen was and were able to cook some very good meals on the nights we didn’t go out. The interior was bright with daylight, clean, and attractive. The tv received about 12 channels but we weren’t there to watch tv so all we missed was the weather channel.
The feeling around the place was very American, which can be nice to come home to at night.
Best Other Stuff on St Martin
-Nude sunbathing and snorkeling at Orient Beach (snorkeling was surprisingly good)
-Lunch at the Lolo’s
-Dinner at Le Tastevin in Grand Case
-Great patisseries on the French Side
-Perch Bar at Orient Beach
-Watching the kiteboarders. We’re learning that next time!
Worst Stuff about St Martin
-Car break-ins. This is for real; don’t leave anything in your car. Nothing. Not for ten minutes, including during daylight.
-That’s it. Enjoy!
