Saba, Dutch Antilles, Caribbean.

by Lucy Kublikowski

I had never heard of Saba until I arrived in St Maarten, another of the Dutch Islands in the Caribbean. My plans had been to dive at the Marine Park in St Bartholome, but all the local advice was to take a trip over to Saba.

You can see the island from St Maarten, it looks like the classic volcanic island shape, and when the clouds cleared over the peak you could make out the conical hole at the top which leads down into the volcano’s crater. The sides of the island form a sheer drop down into the sea with only a few small patches of grey lava and rocky beaches visible around the base. On the far side is a small port which serves as the main access point to the island and is the base for the 3 dive centers on the Saba.

Nestled around the island are 4 villages, the main village being the capital, Windwardside. You step back in time as you walk along the narrow paths, of tiny traditional cottages with their red shingled roofs, green shutters and gingerbread trimmings. There are shops selling lace and other touristy trinkets but the most popular terrestrial past time is to climb the dormant Volcano, Mt Scenery.

It is possible to dive at Saba as a day trip, either catching the morning ferry or you can fly in by small plane. If you wanted to combine diving with a tour of the island, the you would need to stay overnight or longer. The ferry crossing takes about an hour and a half, and is very comfortable in a high speed catamaran. I booked a full package from the Dive Centre in St Maarten which included the diving on Saba, so when I alighted at the port, I was met by the Dive Master and taken off to collect my kit, sign disclaimers and show my diving credentials.

My dive was booked with Sea Saba, probably the smallest of the 3 centres, but it had all the equipment I needed, and it wasn’t long before I was kitted up and ready to go. I hadn’t been warned about the $3 per person levy for the Marine Park, but I was happy to pay it, and given a small plastic BCD tag as a souvenir.

From there I was taken to the local pub/restaurant to collect my pre-ordered lunch, food is extremely expensive on the island, and I had to pay $8 for a sandwich, but it had been an early start so it was necessary to have some sustenance with you. On the boat there was free drinking water and lemonade.

The Dive Boat was large and airy, more like a large game fishing boat, with a transom on the back and easy access for diving. It was a short walk from the dive centre across to the mooring and all the kit had been loaded for me.

Saba has about 40 registered dive sites around the island, and all within about 20 minutes boat ride. From shallow patch reefs to deep water seamounts, Saba offers interesting diving at each depth for every diver's experience level. The underwater pinnacles are considered one of the most intriguing features of Saba's marine environment. They rise from the ocean floor to depths of 30m (100ft). Nourished by deep ocean currents, the pinnacles are heavily encrusted with corals, sponges, and other invertebrates and attract teeming fish life.

Our first dive was on a couple of pinnacles, rising from the sea bed at about 30m to sharp points which lay menacingly 6m under the water’s surface. The dive site was called “Man O’ War” and legend has it that a Man O’War ship, sailing too close to the island, had become impaled on the points. I can’t say I noticed any debris lying on the sea bed but I was unprepared for the beautiful marine life that I found on the walls of the pinnacles; sponges, tunicates, fans, as well as numerous reef fish and rays, the colours were absolutely stunning. The visibility was excellent, we could see the grey volcanic sea bed from the surface and with the sun shining over head the whole site was alive with vibrant colours.

The site itself was not that big, we did a slow figure of eight formation around the two pinnacles, rising gradually until the safety stop on the top. Even then there was plenty to see and I was determined to use the last available air to watch the scenery below.

The dive sites are monitored by the Saba Conservation Foundation, with regular patrols, and mooring buoys provided for dive boats. This meant our descent and ascent was always along a mooring rope.
At the first dive site the Dive Master was happy to allow myself and my buddy (both BSAC Sports Divers) to dive without real supervision, and make our own way back to the boat. With such great visibility we were never really out of his sight anyway, and the mooring rope and the boat were always visible to us too.

The plan had been to stay at sea until the second dive, but more divers were joining the boat for the afternoon dive so it was a short hop back to the port to pick them up, and just time to eat the most expensive sandwich in the world before we headed out again.

Our second dive site, “Babylon” was a totally different terrain, fingers of lava that ran out at 90 degrees from the island. Over time these structures have become encrusting with corals, sponges and turnicates. Although not as dramatic as the pinnacles either in formation or colour, it was another lovely dive with many species of fish, turtles and invertebrates, a nice reef shark or two would have made it the perfect diving day.

Another high light of the dive was the patches of hot sand that can be found there. Heat and sulpur are escaping through the sea bed in some places, which make the sand warm to touch and also gives it an orangey hue, easily distinguishable against the grey volcanic sand that covers the sea bed.
We were allowed to do the second dive unsupervised again and subsequently prolong the dive after everyone else had made their ascent. (Dive times were 60 minutes maximum or 50 Bar minimum.)

Back on board, our kit was packed away, and it wasn’t long before we were back on shore, just in time for the afternoon ferry back to St Maarten. The dives cost US$90 plus the marine park fee but it was a further US$60 for the ferry across, so quite an expensive day of diving. It was worth the effort though, and I would definitely go again if I found myself in that part of the world, only next time I would stay on the island for a few days.

I didn’t dive in St Maarten, there are a number of Dive Centres, but by all accounts there is not a great deal to see unless you want to go on the shark feeding dive, which I am personally against. It’s a great place to stay though, especially if you want to explore some of the surrounding islands, but all the ferries cater for tourists and the costs of a day trip to go diving quite high.