Saba Deep/Captain's Quarters, April 1995, Eric Gothberg, Storington, CT. "Mike and his staff professional and friendly. Most dives 100­135' to appreciate pinnacles, incredible beauty of sheer walls, infinite variety of fish, including turtles and rays. . . . Vis excellent. . . . Hiked pristine rain forests and enjoyed spectacular views. Friendly people opened their hearts. Not a cheap place to visit. Rooms $40 and up. Meals usually start around $15."

Saba Deep/Cottage Club, May 1995, L. M. and S. A. Newman, Naperville, IL. "People are great. Low key island. Guido's has great pizza. Saba Deep very professional and diving was among the best. Cottage Club is quiet and clean."

Saba Deep/Captain's Quarters/Juliana's, August 1995, Tim Row, Jupiter, FL. "Captain's Quarters understaffed and under motivated. We made our own beds and cleaned our room from the previous guests. Bartender said the maids had gone home and offered no assistance. Kitchen was closed for two days. Had to sneak in to make our own breakfast. Our dive plans for the week were never registered with the dive shop so we had to scramble to get on a dive boat for the week. Moved next door to Juliana's - great place, friendly and service was excellent! Sea Saba was as accommodating as Captain's Quarters, so we dived with Saba Deep and were spoiled rotten! Dive intervals spent at the shop's restaurant, Inn Too Deep. Vis 150'+. Most dives 100'­130' not uncommon. Every dive was different. Divemasters were great."

Saba Deep/Effie's Cottage, November 1995, Mark Magers & Linda Yoshino, Stamford, CT. "Incredible variety of life, uncrowded diving, pleasant and relaxing. Effie's is clean and comfortable, excellent value, cooking can save money. Everyone friendly. Hiking varied and interesting, views incredible. Saba Deep a great operation, attentive to safety. Keeping gear at the shop was convenient. Everyone was honest, we paid at the end of the trip for everything, no surprises, no hassles. It ain't Jamaica!"

Saba Deep, November 1995, Stewart Greenfield, Grayslake, IL. "Incredible service. Took 4 divers, 2 dive-masters. Spectacular pinnacles, turtles everywhere; numerous sharks, and untouched coral forests. vis. 80­110 ft. water: 80°­82°."

Saba Deep, March 1996, Robert Padgat, San Francisco, CA. "Wonderful dive site and dive operation with beautiful new boat; 1, 2 or 3 dives/day. Boat to shore after each dive. 1st dive 110­130' . Beginners can skip the 1st . vis: 150+ ft. water: 78°­83°. Dive operators clean and store gear overnight. Staff helpful and accommodating with camera equipment."

Saba Deep/Willards, April 1996, Ann Marie Rost, A Jeffrey Weiss, St. Thomas, USVI. "Been to Saba several times and Saba Deep is excellent, the best of the dive operations. . . . Willards is a new hotel, written up glowingly in Travel and Leisure - their report is way off. Service is poor, staff and manager rude, overcharged on bill and a real hassle to straighten it out. Asked manager to make dinner reservations for us one night and she did at the wrong restaurant. Next morning she chewed us out for going to the wrong place, and wanted us to pay the cost of the meal at the other restaurant (owned apparently by a friend). We expressed our regret, but would not pay for a meal we didn t order (or eat). She then refused to serve us breakfast! The staff would not wait on us. . . . Literature indicated package included 6 dives/person. The bill was handwritten and not ready until right before taxi arrived to take us to airport. It included full charges for all dives (i.e. none included) plus more dives than we actually did, plus full package rate. Manager huffy when questioned - would only deduct cost of 6 dives, instead of 6/person for two of us. Choice was to argue and miss plane- or pay. . . . We are pretty easy going people and we ve never been treated like that before."

Saba Deep/The Lookout, June 1996, Carol Black, Mosinee, WI. "Beautiful island. Saba Deep took care of accommodations, transportation and diving. Lookout: private and comfortable cottage. Wayne, the taxi driver, prompt and professional. Stormy: vis: 40­60 ft. water: 82°­84°. Diving interesting, but not as many tropicals as Bonaire. Saba Deep well run; Rob knowledgeable, skillful and fun to dive with. Other divemasters adequate. WinAir rude and unreliable. I would come from St. Maarteen by boat."

Sea Saba/Juliana's, April 1995, Anja Burns, N. Palm Beach, FL. "Marine Park a wonderful example of protecting and preserving the underwater environment. Pinnacles for experienced divers; Beginners have smaller 'pillars' close to shore or easy wall diving along the shoreline. After excellent briefings we could choose to dive with a staff member or by ourselves - 130 feet max; computers were accepted. Set up our gear and never had to touch it again. Rinse tanks on the boat for cameras and to change film. Staff helpful. Did not return to the hotel until the afternoon, so a bag lunch was waiting for us before we left the hotel."

Sea Saba/Captain's Quarters, May 1995, Scott and Jann Taylor, Cave Junction, OR. "Personnel at shop helpful. Picked up by taxi each day for scenic ride down to pier. Boats were fine and dive sites were close. Calm seas. While pinnacles were strikingly beautiful, their depth made for short dives. Second dives were on shallower reefs. Lots of tropicals and good coral, strong possibility of seeing sharks on the pinnacles. Occasional light currents. . . . Charming, picturesque and safe island with friendly people. The day we arrived we went to a small cafe for lunch. A taxi driver greeted us with 'Hello, you must be the Taylors."

Sea Saba/Captain's Quarters, May 1995, John & Valerie Lochner, W. Simsbury, CT. "Quaint island - every building painted white with green trim and red roofs. Landscaping gorgeous and well maintained. Half way through the week we knew people everywhere - island is so small it's one family. Food pretty good and enough restaurants to have variety. . . . Diving excellent. Seas rough at outer sites so Triptone was taken. Currents, but the sites (especially the pinnacles) were spectacular enough to make it worthwhile! Not a place to begin diving. . . . Sea Saba very good - knowledgeable and safety conscious. Two boats; could have done a better job putting advanced divers together and beginners together. Frustrating to waste air and time waiting and waiting for beginners to get to the 15 ft. descent line! Trip was fantastic."

Sea Saba/Captain's Quarters, May 1995, Michael Shufelt, Brea, CA. "Hotel poor. Toilet leaked for 5 days. Poor treatment. . . . Dive boat docked at a commercial pier with a 9 foot drop to the railing on the dive boat. Guys can do it, but it is rough on the ladies. Lady D/M's were OK but the two guy have ego problems. Pinnacles just burn air and little time to take pictures: 18 minutes to get it done."

Sea Saba, August 1995, G.W. Howaroff, Mt. Vernon, IL. "Very experienced, safety conscious and friendly staff. Determined to get you good diving and accommodate your needs."

Sea Saba, August 1995, Jim Alberta and Kristin Seith, Annandale, VA. "Diving from boats on pinnacles; some shallow reefs and walls. Some dives had current; crew careful not to overtax mixed levels. First dives 100­130'. Computers and Sea Sausages should be mandatory! Diamond Rock and Tent Reef (more shallow, prolific fish, pristine coral, lots of bottom time. Not many large fish."

Sea Saba/Juliana's, October 1995, John Maesaka, Goshen, IN. "Juliana's clean, ceiling fans all that was needed. Pier is 20 min taxi ride. Dive shop provides taxi. Equipment stored on the boat so don't have to lug it. Great setup for cameras. Three rinse tanks. Staff friendly and knowledgeable. Max of 12 divers - we were only 4 for several days. Good diving for beginners. Pinnacles advanced; start 90'­100'. Rays, nurse sharks, turtles on every dive. Fish life small but abundant. Lots of garden eels. Computers welcome."

Sea Saba, Julianas, January 1996, Micky Fivenson, Traverse City, MI. "Other than two world-class dives, Eye of the Needle and Diamond Rock, the remainder were ordinary. Current kept us off some sites. 40' vis: the result of hurricane Marilyn or the recently opened quarry adjacent to the harbor? a few sharks. . . . Sea Saba is efficient and safe, helpful to rookies, but allow experienced divers latitude. Gordon offered a terrific video. . . . Julianas spotless; Johnson's are terrific hosts. Setting is dreamlike, overlooking the sea, volcanic peaks, and the mountain. Island a stable live volcano, five square miles, steep winding roads, primitive jungle hiking trails. Picture postcard red roofed cottages are the stuff of travelogues. People are friendly; we didn't lock our room. . . . Ask your guide to show you where to push your hand into the sand. You'll feel the heat of a sulfur fissure from the active volcano. . . . Overweight luggage fee charged by Winair; Go Diving did not they tell me about the charges and bringing this to their attention generated minimal responses."

Sea Saba, January 1996, Elmer Watts, Wakerfield, VA. "Cab driver was on the radio to the dive shop before we even got out of the airport; dived within hour of touching down from St. Maarten. Each dive for the week was unique and beautiful. Big spotted eel swimming freely; dove under a rock and came out with a large fish in his jaws, then tied himself in a knot and swallowed it. Shark Shoals; at 110 ft. a 6 ft. black tip; nurse sharks almost every day, but no more reef sharks. Four of us had the boat to ourselves a few times. Karin, an Aussie, spotted eels, crabs, octopi in places no one else thought to look (We had dinner together a couple of times). Pinnacles: clouds of fish. Water: 70­72 Degrees, Vis: 100­200 feet. . . . Chatted with half the people in town as if we had known them all our lives; you can hardly walk down "The Road" without being offered a ride. No high rises, no buildings at odds with the island theme of white cottages with red roofs and green shutters. Hiked up the mountain on twice, a magic place with irregular steps. Stands of beautiful Mahogany trees near the top, huge elephant ear plants and ferns with a stem something like a pain tree. You climb right into the cloud which usually covers the top of Mount Scenery."

Wilson's Saba/Willard's of Saba, May 1995, Jan & Garth Rhodes, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. "Most hotels 1500+ ft; Wilson's advocates diving at 100+ ft. despite the tourism sheet that lists 7 of the top 10 dives at below 70 ft. Wilson's does not properly inform divers of the dangers relating to elevation changes. . . . Resort 18 mo old; beautiful - spectacular views. Operators are rude to guests and treat local staff with disrespect. A beautiful island with exceptionally nice people."

Copyright 1997 by DSDL, Inc.Publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.