South of St. Maarten, Saba is one of the more adventurous and exciting Caribbean destinations, both on land and in the sea.... Pinnacle diving begins at 70 feet, with good fish life and occasionally sharks and bigger fish.... All accommodations are in quaint villages at 1000 feet and above.... Although there are no beaches or night life, Saba has delightful people, a few good restaurants, and a cool, pleasant climate at altitude. It's also in the hurricane belt.... Some divers claim that, after several days of diving, they get muscle pains if they climb 3000-ft. Mt. Scenery.... Be sure to close your eyes when your plane lands....

Saba Deep, December 1997, Sue Steinmann, Arena, WI. Mike Myers is still active in the dive operation, but dividing his time between Saba and Vermont. He was in Saba for the 10 days of our trip. Most accommodating dive shop; he called me at home to ensure our travel plans were correct; on Saba, they arranged all transportation for us, let us decide day by day when we wanted to dive (10 dive pkg. for 10 day vacation but ended with 13 dives), added 3:00 dive to accommodate our hiking, added night dive for the 3 of us, and didn't charge for a dive aborted by one of us after feeling uncomfortable on descent-and we didn't ask for credit! Staff friendly and knowledgeable. Minimal night life, but Swinging Door bar is fun. No crime, no bugs, no beaches, no huge resorts, basically no snorkeling. Water: 76 degrees, vis: 40 to 130 ft, depending upon weather. Breathtaking views everywhere you look. Wonderful hiking in rainforest. (Teva's are fine, leave the hiking boots at home). One of our best dive vacations ever-the total experience was great. Juliana's highly recommended! (Ph: 011-599-463347, Fax: 011-599-463397)

Saba Deep/Captains Quarters, January, no name. Friendly people make you feel; the island offers interesting walking and serious hiking. Mike Myers not only did offered meaningful, safe dive sites in the 79-80 degree water, with 100+ visibility, but provided knowledgeable advice for other activities. Peaks and pinnacles at depths of 70-130 feet rise from the ocean floor. In the distance pelagics come in for a closer look; large fish circle the peaks. Short boat rides to the sites in Saba's Marine Park. Between dives you're back in Fort Bay where the breaks, above the dive shop, in the restaurant and the food is very good. They wash and drying things before your trip home. Richard Holm at Captain's Quarters is transforming it into unique units and surroundings. Richard a caring and knowledgeable host and makes the best Piña Coladas. He coordinates the diving, suggesting great eating experiences (even in his restaurant), and directing you to other meaningful activities on the island. Breakfast (included in the room rates). Reasonably priced.

Saba Deep, June 1998, A. Ron Carmichael, Lago Vista, TX. 12-year-old daughter uses crutches and a wheelchair. 70-minute boat ride (one-way) or 10-minute flight from St. Maarten. Got the only taxi van driven by Vincent. Exhilarating drive over the back of the mountain, a volcanic cone rising straight out of the ocean. No beaches. Waters are a protected park, Vincent's van gets a new set of brakes every 3 months, an indication to the steepness of the roads. Met by Steve at Saba Deep. Saba Deep put the three of us on a boat with a dive guide, primarily because we had asked for shallow dives! We went over our goals-to stay above 60 feet and have good dives. Every site has a permanent buoy. Tent: started the dive with no current, at least 80 feet vis, and a wondrous view down on an amazing city of blue-hued features. Large/huge coral-covered boulders. Wide variety of sponges, fans, critters, and corals. Dive was fantastic; had to work a little to get back to the boat in current. Babylon: clarity astonishing, Returned to dive shop restaurant for lunch; third dive was with Tammi to Torrens Point; the most shallow and the best. Swam up to the cliffs of the island, from 25' deep to only 5 feet deep Tammi, Steve, and Jim were great. Boats in good repair, their gear was clean and functional, they were conscientious and professional.

Saba Deep/Juliana's, July 1998, Jim & Caroline Tubb, Metairie, LA. Most divers come over on the ferry from St. Martin for a day diving; wished we had booked 3-4 days rather than a week. Juliana's is well maintained though their Tropics Cafe provides very basic meals (no cereal or fresh fruit for breakfast). Juliana is very helpful and knowledgeable, booked dinner and taxis for us. Recommend Queens Gardens and Gatehouse. Our room overlooking street was noisy. Hard to sleep after 6 a.m.! Warm nights even with ceiling fan. Climb up 3,000 ft. Mt. Scenery was quite strenuous and slippery! Taxi rides and plane landing hair raising! Dive operation excellent, friendly, efficient, helpful, good pre-dive descriptions, careful supervision, impressive deep pinnacle dives. No large shark, turtles, rays. Some pretty jellyfish, masses of fish, coral undamaged, marine park with permanent moorings. 5 min. trip to sites, return to land between the daily 9, 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. dives on well maintained boats. We were often the only divers at 9 a.m.! Vis:40-60 ft. Water 80-83 degrees. Dive restrictions enforced were depths and time on all dives.

Saba Deep/Julianna's, August 1998, Nancy Teff, Phoenix, AZ. Hospitality at Julianna's was wonderful and Saba Deep was equally friendly. They did everything. Saw plenty of fish life and healthy reefs. Good visibility and warm water. Taxi cabs can get expensive. Stores etc. don't necessarily keep regular hours. Don't wait until the last minute to make dinner reservations.

Saba Reef Divers/Cottage Club, March 1998, Kyle Peterson, San Diego, CA. Safe diving operation. Boat outstanding. Easy entrances, ample room, they store your stuff aboard. No sandy beaches. Dives are loosely guided and grouped by ability. Go where you want as long as you stay about the divemaster and keep to no-D limits on your computer or tables. Strong attention to keeping people off coral and on a safe profile. Vis: 80-200+ feet, water: 78-88 degrees. Cottage Club is awesome, great view, no bugs, very clean. Grab breakfast at Scout's for a few bucks and still make the taxi for the harbor. No pelagics at 3rd encounter, but impressive dive. Climb Mt. Scenery! (Ph: 011-5994-62541, Fax: 011-5994-62653, e-mail: sabareef@aol.com)

Saba Reef Divers/Queen's Gardens, April 1998, Robert Czapski, Northville, MI. Queen's Gardens head and tails above every other place we toured (didn't see Willards). Closest to the harbor (at 1200'). Saba Reef-very professional, yet casual and friendly. Divemasters Rob, Vinnie, Brad very helpful. Guided dives did not force arbitrary limits on computer divers. You can do 1, 2, or 3 dives on most days. Vis: 60-100 ft., water: 80-82 degrees. Curtis and Kathy, the owners are great people, with enthusiasm. They rate at the top in comparison to other operations.

Saba Reef Divers/Julianas, September 1998, Danny & Judi Laws, Bowie, TX. Water 82-86, vis: 50-100 ft. Advised to return home early as Hurricane George was closing in fast. Had no trouble changing our flight with Winair or American. Island is wonderful. Lush, green and clean. Met at the airport by Uncle Joe who taxied us up the mountain to Juliana's. Franklin Johnson, the owner, showed us our rooms and offered us a chance to look at others to change if we did not like where he had put us. We did. Juliana's is quiet and well kept. You are downtown and can walk anywhere in the town of Windwardside. Diving day started at our convenience on the days the ferry doesn't come in from St. Maartin. We usually left at 9 a.m. and the four of ushad the boat to ourselves. Three dives a day. First 90 to 130 ft. around beautiful pinnacles. Reef sharks, always one and sometimes 2-3. The shallower dives: abundance of tropicals, beautiful coral, turtles, eels, sea slugs. Many really good restaurants on the island. Pumpkin soup delicious! Lack of air conditioning in the bedrooms, but an overhead fan and open windows helped.

Sea Saba/Scouts Place, February 1998, Herb Booth, Carlisle, KY. Scout's Place: comfortable rooms, excellent meals, friendly people. No locks on rooms. Lynn at Sea Saba kept our group of 10 happy; professional dive crew escorted us to some of the best diving in the Caribbean. Vis: 80-100 ft, water: 78-80 degrees. Diamond Rock: southern rays everywhere. Several reef sharks and one hammerhead. A bit difficult getting on boat from pier.

Sea Saba/The Gatehouse, February 1998, Ray & Mary Tahnk-Johnson, Mtka, MN. The Gatehouse in lower Hell's Gate, Saba, is out of the way, but worth the trip. Very good food, friendly service and quiet. Saba is friendly, quirky and small townish. It's Mayberry RFD meets the Caribbean. Everyone knows all the gossip from one end of the island to the other by day's end. Everyone driving the road from Hell's Gate to windward side to the Bottom is happy to pick up hitchhiking tourists and exchange the latest gossip. . . . Sea Saba is run by a very professional, friendly, outgoing woman (Lynn) but suffered due to recent high turnover of dive staff. Divemasters though polite and helpful were not adept at finding good diving conditions. Some strange weather during our ten-day stay, but other shops were able to avoid the worst conditions (including one dive in 10 ft. vis). Most of our diving was acceptable, but we were expecting world class diving. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. . . . Visited the art gallery, museum, and climber 2900 ft. Mt. Scenery for breathtaking views. Outstanding island! (Ph: 011-599-462246, Fax: 011-599-462362)

Sea Saba, April 1998, Mike and Linda Suter-Gibson, Denver, CO. Beautiful place. People are very friendly. Captain's Quarters has nice rooms, great views. Excellent service. Sea Saba a great operation. Good boats and attentive service. They do everything for you. Two divemasters or go on your own. Some of the best diving we've experienced. Water: 80-81 degrees, vis: 50-100 ft.

Sea Saba/Captain's Quarters, May 1998, Kevin F. Kelsey, The Woodlands, TX. CQ had new management. Although a problem with our shower water pressure and hot water, it was only in our building (4 rooms) and was scheduled for plumbing revamp. Management offered to move us to another room, but we decided to stay where we were because we loved the view and room. CQ friendly and accommodating. Sea Saba dive shop had excellent service and friendly staff. Never touched our equipment from the day we arrived until the day we left. Vis: 60-80 feet, water: 81-83 degrees. Island and people friendly and beautiful.

Sea Saba, Juliana's, February 1998, Coy Correll, Louisville CO. Water 78-80, vis 80-100. Sea Saba takes care of your equipment during your stay. Pinnacles are the stars of the diving, but I was impressed with several shallower dives as well. Diamond Rock and Tent reef ice dives. Beautiful island and charming people. Julianna's will pack a lunch for your dives. Sandwich and fruit.