2000 Chapbook

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/Gate House, May 1999, John Stevens, Detroit, MI. Johngstevens@Mworldnet.att.net. Vis: 60-8O ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. Divemaster controlled depth, location and time. Package does not include taxi to shop. Get price before going. It will be big shock ($100+ for week). Gatehouse is on the north side of the island' food and rooms and people were excellent. Saba Deep is great. Divemasters super. Three dives/day are easy. Sea Saba just as good. Trust shops for recommendations on accommodations. Diving more advanced around Saba so be prepared. All dives were OK on my computer (solution Nitrox), but off the charts by tables. Thanks to Saba Deep my skills have improved and it was easy and fun. No beaches, little shopping, not much to do if not a diver or hiker. People friendly. (Ph: 011-599-463347, Fax: 011-599-463397)

Saba Deep/Juliana's, June 1999, Larry Lachmann, New York, NY. Vis: 50-70 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Professional operators. 130 max. depth. Does not like deeper divers. Computer friendly. Good instructions. Basically cool once they saw that a diver was experienced. All dive sites close. Sharks every dive(Black Tips). Juliana's: great accommodations. Box lunch & breakfast included in package. Warm and friendly staff.

Saba Deep/Effie Cottage, June 1999, Barry Lipman (b_lipman@hotmail.com), Brookfield, CT. Vis: 40-140 ft. Water: 80-84 degrees. Sunny, windy. Water: choppy. 130 foot limit suggested, not religiously enforced, but really deep diving frowned upon. No rinse tanks on boats; bring your own and staff will help fill and carry for you. Adequate work space in Saba Deep's facility on shore. Boat goes back to dock between dives so there is time to change film, etc. Diving the best there is in the Caribbean. Healthy coral and sponge life, lots of usual tropical fishes. Sharks on most every pinnacle dive; nurse and blacktip sharks and one large tiger (12'); thirty in two weeks. Macro life prolific found Caribbean shrimp/goby pair living in the sand. (At one time I thought both they and the frogfish were hoaxes made up by Paul Humann) Deep pinnacle dives are first and deepest; they start at 95 feet and go down from there. Competent divers can dive own profiles, divemasters will lead groups. Currents 1/4 to 1 knot can be unpredictable and change direction. They encourage slow ascents and long safety stops. Beginners may want to skip the first deep dive each day. Vis 40 to 70 feet on inshore dives to 70 to 140 feet on deep pinnacle dives. Won't take boats for a night dive unless they have "at least one customer," and that was usually me. Staff qualified, pleasant, helpful, efficient. Rides short, boats small, no more than 8-12 people, usually less. Couldn't find a bad meal on the island; all restaurants very good. I ate most dinners at Brigadoon in Windwardside and most breakfasts and lunches at In Too Deep, over the dive operation near the dock. Effie Cottage was nice and private, a two minute walk from town. Lots of quaint little cottages and several guest houses and they all have their merits. Great place for a laid back diving vacation.

Saba Deep, July 1999, Debra I. Benner, Belding, MI. Vis: 100-150 ft. Water: 86 degrees. Mike has an excellent operation and staff. Saba has no beaches, so vis and reef life are huge. Can fly over from St. Marten ($90) and do three dives and fly back in time for dinner.

Sea Saba/Captain's Quarters, October 1998, Warren Sprung, Houston, TX. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. 5-10 minute boat rides. Most beautiful island in Caribbean, even 2 weeks after Hurricane George. Dive shop even checked to see if we were happy with lodging! (Ph: 011-599-462246, Fax: 011-599-462362)

Sea Saba/Captain's Quarters, November 1998, Maribeth & Richard Donley, Pittsburgh, PA. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Restrictions in force: 110-120.' 500 psi on boat. Island is one of a kind. Great trip. Dive operation was friendly, accommodating, fun. 3 dives a day. Some days we took lunch and ate on board, snorkeled, then did third dive. Other days we went to the harbor and ate at a friendly restaurant. Relating yet exciting dives. Pinnacles are great dives with sharks and beautiful coral. Followed an octopus for 20 minutes over the coral. Got great shots of grouper, eels, crab. Salty restaurant owners at Brigadoon Restaurant when we took 15 more minutes to get there after night dive to shower. They apologized the next day. Captain Quarters had been hit by the hurricane, which we only found out when we got there; only a few rooms and restaurant ran at limited times. Owner was most accommodating and put us up in one of his cottages, rustic but OK. Very friendly and made numerous dinner arrangements and took us and 2 others to a friend's look out porch for wine. The real flavor of Saben hospitality. Owner's partner and cousin died the week we were there so we saw a Saben funeral.

Sea Saba/Cottage Club, December 1998, Sea Saba, Elizabeth Weintraub, Oak Park IL. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water 80-82 degrees. Green, lush, beautiful place. Consistently good diving with great vis, spectacular, fascinating seamounts, the usual colorful tropicals, pristine corals, turtles, single large spotted eagle ray, several black tip reef sharks. Lynne and her gang at Sea Saba were professional, friendly, accommodating; arranged reservations at good local restaurants: Brigadoon in Windwardside and the new Mango Royale in The Bottom. Jim Siegel's Gatehouse in Hellsgate: great food, warm host and convivial atmosphere. Cottage Club ideal in Windwardside, clean and well maintained and offered a kitchen so that granola and Starbuck's from home could be enjoyed at breakfast. A well-stocked grocery in Windwardside provided other staples; I found a packed lunch unnecessary being able to take various fruits, crackers and the occasional PB&J from my refrigerator for during surface intervals. The people of Saba are warm and friendly, will give you a ride around the island on "The Road" (the one and only) and if you take the time to engage the locals about themselves you will be richly rewarded with tales of family histories, local lore and custom, and interesting gossip since nearly everyone is related and everyone is well known to all. You may find that your taxi driver from the airport is your waiter, and people quickly recognize you and greet you warmly around the island, even during a short week's stay. Check out the local art gallery, visit the trail shop at the foot of Mt. Scenery, rent a walking stick to help up and down the sometimes slick, mossy steps and hike to the top of the mountain for lush tropical forest and spectacular views of nearby Statia, Kitts, Nevis and St. Maarten. Scenic foot paths all over the island, the original means of travel before "The Road That Couldn't Be Built" was engineered.

Sea Saba/Juliana's, January 1999, Gloria Davis (ldavis@rollanet.org), St. James, MO. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 78 degrees. Juliana's is clean. Quiet and comfortable. Franklin makes the best blueberry pancakes. Staff went out of their way to be helpful. Sea Saba a well-run operation. Friendly and helpful. Some sites were just average and there are exceptional sites. Two dives a day not enough. Sometimes offer a third dive. Lots of hiking. Island beautiful, clean, and friendly. No crime! St. Martin Airport a madhouse. Allow two hours between flights unless you want to make a mad dash and maybe still miss your flights.

Sea Saba, February 1999, William Edwards, Placerville, CA. Vis: 80-90 ft. Water: 77-80 degrees. Dive restrictions: 130' depth. Day late due to AA pilot sickout. Diving great. Lots of tropical fish, a shark, several large eels. Dive operation one of the best. Boats roomy and well-equipped. Divers were split by experience on two boats; no overcrowding. Crew cheerful and attentive. Room at Juliana's was neat and clean. Owners Frank and Juliana were friendly and helpful and cheerfully refunded us for the night we missed due to AA. Frank made a lunch for me daily when I was diving, and Juliana made dinner reservations for us every night. Small, intimate restaurants with good food are all over the island.

Sea Saba/Queen's Garden Resort, April/May 1999, Tim Hauser, Oklahoma City, OK. Delightful experience, the diving and the hotel. Island is 5 square miles with an elevation of nearly 3000 feet, which results in breathtaking views. Our room had such a view, not only from the living area, but from the bedroom. Resort is a lovely small hotel nestled in the hills on the leeward side. Don't recall ever being happier with a dive operation. Divemasters Vinny, Charlotte, and Dick accommodated every request for sites, and while available for problems, generally had a "hands-off' policy for experienced divers. Vinny told me what type of film to use on a night dive and gave me a roll out of his own supply. Owners John and Lynn were accommodating and a real delight. John shared fascinating stories and a nip of Saba Spice after night dives. Best diving experience after 240 Caribbean dives.

Sea Saba/Cottage Club, June 1999, Kathy Riddle, Enon, OH. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 79-81 degrees. Beautiful island, friendly inhabitants. Food expensive. Cottage Club wonderful clean, comfortable, beautiful view, continuous breeze, steep hills. Windwardside quaint; you feel at home. Sea Saba well run, family-like. Helpful with dinner reservations, questions, suggestions, scheduling. Dive boats comfortable and roomy with shade. 6-8 divers. Divemasters terrific, safety and coral conscious. One stayed on boat after dive preview while other was in water. Stay with him/her or go on your own. Lots of nice tropicals, a few sharks, good corals. Eye of the Needle the best dive with sharks and a magnificent pinnacle. One dive had significant current but most were easily handled. Night dive $65/person, leaves at 6:00 P.M. and must be scheduled ahead of time with minimum of 4 divers. Pleasant relaxing trip.

Sea Saba/Juliana's Guest House, July 1999, Stan Wilson (Stan.Wilson@hdq.noaa.gov). Package arranged thru Juliana's, included being picked up at the airport, driven to and from the dive boat daily, and driven back to the airport. Juliana's (20 rooms) on Windwardside, one of three villages on the island; easy walk to a grocery store (sells beer) and several restaurants (Y2K and the restaurant at Juliana's were especially good). Could arrange with two other restaurants to be picked up and returned afterwards for no additional cost. Juliana and her staff friendly and helpful. Sea Saba outstanding. Lynn, the proprietor, friendly, efficient, and knowledgeable. Divemasters excellent. Sites interesting. Nice walls, pinnacles, and reefs. No trash on the sea floor. Hiked around the 3-mile diameter island. Everything from rain forest to somewhat dry foliage; even ripe mangoes to eat. No beaches, golf courses, high-rise hotels. Dive, hike, and hang out.

Sea Saba/private home, August 1999, Margie Harris, Houston, TX. Vis: 40-60 ft. Steve and Charlotte the best divemasters I've gone with. Knowledgeable, personable, flexible, trustworthy. 2 divers were rather anxious about deep dives and they got special professional attention, were never pushed. Special lodging experience at the home of Chuck and Ed. Very gracious!