Saba - Anyone Dive with Saba Divers?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

ootuoyetahi

Registered
Messages
32
Reaction score
10
Location
Branchburg NJ
# of dives
25 - 49
I am looking to go to Saba by myself in late August and I have been doing some preliminary research. For simplicity's sake, Scout's Place and Saba Divers look extremely attractive (sleep and dive arrangements made through the same place). My concern is that it seems that everyone dives with Saba Deep that travels to Saba. Does anyone have any experience with Saba Divers or should I just book with Saba Deep? Any other advice you can offer a solo traveler determined to dive Saba?

Thanks!
 
I would go with Sea Saba. They are great and seem to be the most popular on the island. The shop is well organized and the boats are very well taken care of. The dive shop can help make all of your arrangements including lodging. Give Lynn a call and discuss your plans. I am sure she will be happy to do so. We stayed at the Cottage Club which we liked and would do again. Sea Saba normally uses Juliana's which seemed more hotel like but also seemed nice. The diving is mostly pinnacle and has some great dives. Expect the dives to be in the 80' range. Make sure to save time to go climb Mt. Scenery. Also if you like a short landing, sit up front on the plane and film it. I would recommend being Nitrox certified or get the training while there. Lastly, they put on a presentation at Brigadoon's on Thursday I think. It is worth going to and having dinner there also. Our family wants to go again, so we would highly recommend the experience.
 
Thanks for the reply! Its tough to find info on Saba, as it does not seem to be a super popular destination (I guess no beach will do that). I will definitely check out Sea Saba, it's good to hear they have a good reputation on the island. I am planning a day just to hike and explore Mt. Scenery. I am already nitrox certified thankfully, that almost seems like a must here. Thanks a ton for the info.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
Getting there - We had Jet Blue, Southwest, and American Airline flights available to St. Maarten (maybe more). We were able to go immediately from our flight into St. Maarten to our flight to Saba without much waiting. Once we had landed on St. Maarten, we went to WinAir and had them change to an earlier flight. We liked doing this because another diver had to wait until their bags came on the next flight due to weight restrictions on the Twin Otter. Be careful how much weight you are packing, look up the WinAir limits. As I said earlier, we loved the flight into the island. I would highly recommend this over the ferry. Sea Saba arranged for pickup from the airport, drop off to the airport and all transfers to the dive boat.

Diving - The diving is mostly pinnacle. There are dives that go to 110' where you are over much deeper parts. The best dives we did are Shark Shoal, Man O' War, and Twilight Zone. We had wanted to do Eye of the Needle but could not make it due to the current. The reef is volcanic so it is dark sand with 'newer' growth but very dense and interesting. The fish life is fantastic as they have setup preserves from the beginning. There is a dive, Ladder Bay where you can put your hands in volcanic sands that are warm to the touch. Also if you are interested in doing a night dive, schedule it with the dive company as soon as possible. Sea Saba goes twice a week typically. The dive boat takes about 15 minutes at most to get to any site and no matter what the winds, there are dives completely surrounding the island. The crew of Sea Saba was absolutely the best group I have dove with in 30 years, they went out of the way for you and made it a great experience. They also let you dive your profile. We had brought our younger daughter with us and they had no problem letting her dive with us on all dives. We really appreciated Sea Saba for this. Typically there are 3 dives per day that you can sign up for. We did 2 morning dives and then 1 night dive. You are picked up at your hotel, driven to the dive shop where you can make dinner/lunch reservations if needed and then to the boat and back. There seems to be always a 20-30 mph wind around the island. It does not affect the diving as they can chose to dive the other side of the island as necessary. Never saw more than 1-2 ft waves all week.

The Road - The road is a very neat part of Saba. It was thought to be impossible to build but was done anyway. It is hilly, winding and narrow. We enjoyed the ride. It is difficult to walk between towns.

Lodging/Living - You will stay in Windwardside. This town is about 800' up (not to worry when diving as DAN has studied). You will need transfers from the dive shop to the boat at Fort Bay. The dive shop will arrange all of this. Windwardside is the main 'living' area as this is where most of the restaurants and shops are. There is not a big selection of restaurants or shops though. There are real grocery stores where you can buy almost anything you could in the states. We did not do the breakfast option so we often ate at the bakery for breakfast. There were a couple of places we liked to eat at, Brigadoon had great food, Juliana's had good wings, and Sea Witch for pizza, beer and steak. There were some other places that we did not go to but are supposed to be really good. There is also a good hardware store if needed. You do not need to worry about A/C as we left our windows open during the night. It stays very cool and breezy through the night, almost cold. We were there in early July. You are in a rainforest so there is a constant chatter of critter/insects during the night. All water on the island is rainwater. You can drink it but we were conscientious not to waste it. If you look at all of the buildings, you will see the drains going to a cistern. The wife is telling me that it is a Monday night slide show at Brigadoon's. It is worth seeing if you can.

Eco Tourism - Of course you have the climb up Mt. Scenery. Keep in mind your diving schedule for deco concerns. We did a non dive day for Mt. Scenery and shopping. There are numerous hikes around the island that we did not do. Some of them are recommended that you have a guide due to the terrain. The island eco life was unbelievable. We highly recommend Sea Saba but Saba in general is worth the trip regardless. Give Lyn a call-she will answer ALL of your questions.
You can look up older posts.....We love Saba...we will be back to see the new beach.

I will post some pics in my gallery of Saba diving and you can look You Tube for BranchScuba to see our Saba video. It is low quality and LOOOONG but it is all of our dives except the night dive.
 
We also used Lynn at Sea Saba and chose to stay at the cottage club.
Would have no problems recommending or using again.

Most afternoons my daughter and I were the only two people doing the third dive.

Now that was sweet.
 
I have had experience with Sea Saba and Saba Deep, but not with Saba Divers. The two are different experiences. Saba Deep is a small operation, with one small boat, and you get personalized service with them. Sea Saba is larger, with 2 boats that are capable of holding at least 16 divers, but they have a policy of putting a maximum of 10 on a boat (unless it is a group with more divers). They consistently have excellent dive captains and crews, and are by far the most popular dive operation of the three. Saba Divers/Scouts caters more to European divers. As Packrat said, Sea Saba will be happy to make your lodging arrangements for you if you book through them, and can offer a wider range of accommodations than just one. They'll even make your dinner reservations for you while you are diving!

I have a couple of things to "correct":D about Packrat's description, though. First, Saba diving is "mostly pinnacle" only if you and most others on the boat want it to be. Saba has a large number of moderate to shallow sites that offer much beautiful life, including some that are shallow enough that you are doing your safety stop on top of the reef. Windwardside is actually around 1500 feet above sea level, but as Packrat said, it does not cause any difficulties for diving. And if you are looking for hiking after diving, there are many trails that do not go to the elevation of Mt Scenery (the highest point in the kingdom of the Netherlands!). Many trail heads are near Windwardside, but if you want to hike a trail farther away, hitchhiking is a safe and accepted practice. We once got a ride from the Governor of the island!

There are lots of flight options to reach St Maarten from New Jersey. If you are in the northern part of the state, the NYC area airports, including EWR, have nonstop flights, and from the south, the same is true of Philadelphia. Look around, as some sites, including the airlines, don't all let you book through to Saba, but some do.

Whatever you decide, you will really enjoy Saba.

Larry
 
I would go with Sea Saba. They are great and seem to be the most popular on the island. The shop is well organized and the boats are very well taken care of. The dive shop can help make all of your arrangements including lodging. Give Lynn a call and discuss your plans. I am sure she will be happy to do so. We stayed at the Cottage Club which we liked and would do again. Sea Saba normally uses Juliana's which seemed more hotel like but also seemed nice. The diving is mostly pinnacle and has some great dives. Expect the dives to be in the 80' range. Make sure to save time to go climb Mt. Scenery. Also if you like a short landing, sit up front on the plane and film it. I would recommend being Nitrox certified or get the training while there. Lastly, they put on a presentation at Brigadoon's on Thursday I think. It is worth going to and having dinner there also. Our family wants to go again, so we would highly recommend the experience.

I'm also looking at diving Saba - for the first time. What is "pinnacle" diving? I am nitrox certified, but why is it recommended for Saba? I've heard that it's difficult to get to Saba from St. Maarten - that the flights and/or boats do not travel on a reliable schedule. Rough weather and everything stops. This could seriously mess up a planned vacation. What has your experience been? Thanks.
 
Getting there - We had Jet Blue, Southwest, and American Airline flights available to St. Maarten (maybe more). We were able to go immediately from our flight into St. Maarten to our flight to Saba without much waiting. Once we had landed on St. Maarten, we went to WinAir and had them change to an earlier flight. We liked doing this because another diver had to wait until their bags came on the next flight due to weight restrictions on the Twin Otter. Be careful how much weight you are packing, look up the WinAir limits. As I said earlier, we loved the flight into the island. I would highly recommend this over the ferry. Sea Saba arranged for pickup from the airport, drop off to the airport and all transfers to the dive boat.

Diving - The diving is mostly pinnacle. There are dives that go to 110' where you are over much deeper parts. The best dives we did are Shark Shoal, Man O' War, and Twilight Zone. We had wanted to do Eye of the Needle but could not make it due to the current. The reef is volcanic so it is dark sand with 'newer' growth but very dense and interesting. The fish life is fantastic as they have setup preserves from the beginning. There is a dive, Ladder Bay where you can put your hands in volcanic sands that are warm to the touch. Also if you are interested in doing a night dive, schedule it with the dive company as soon as possible. Sea Saba goes twice a week typically. The dive boat takes about 15 minutes at most to get to any site and no matter what the winds, there are dives completely surrounding the island. The crew of Sea Saba was absolutely the best group I have dove with in 30 years, they went out of the way for you and made it a great experience. They also let you dive your profile. We had brought our younger daughter with us and they had no problem letting her dive with us on all dives. We really appreciated Sea Saba for this. Typically there are 3 dives per day that you can sign up for. We did 2 morning dives and then 1 night dive. You are picked up at your hotel, driven to the dive shop where you can make dinner/lunch reservations if needed and then to the boat and back. There seems to be always a 20-30 mph wind around the island. It does not affect the diving as they can chose to dive the other side of the island as necessary. Never saw more than 1-2 ft waves all week.

The Road - The road is a very neat part of Saba. It was thought to be impossible to build but was done anyway. It is hilly, winding and narrow. We enjoyed the ride. It is difficult to walk between towns.

Lodging/Living - You will stay in Windwardside. This town is about 800' up (not to worry when diving as DAN has studied). You will need transfers from the dive shop to the boat at Fort Bay. The dive shop will arrange all of this. Windwardside is the main 'living' area as this is where most of the restaurants and shops are. There is not a big selection of restaurants or shops though. There are real grocery stores where you can buy almost anything you could in the states. We did not do the breakfast option so we often ate at the bakery for breakfast. There were a couple of places we liked to eat at, Brigadoon had great food, Juliana's had good wings, and Sea Witch for pizza, beer and steak. There were some other places that we did not go to but are supposed to be really good. There is also a good hardware store if needed. You do not need to worry about A/C as we left our windows open during the night. It stays very cool and breezy through the night, almost cold. We were there in early July. You are in a rainforest so there is a constant chatter of critter/insects during the night. All water on the island is rainwater. You can drink it but we were conscientious not to waste it. If you look at all of the buildings, you will see the drains going to a cistern. The wife is telling me that it is a Monday night slide show at Brigadoon's. It is worth seeing if you can.

Eco Tourism - Of course you have the climb up Mt. Scenery. Keep in mind your diving schedule for deco concerns. We did a non dive day for Mt. Scenery and shopping. There are numerous hikes around the island that we did not do. Some of them are recommended that you have a guide due to the terrain. The island eco life was unbelievable. We highly recommend Sea Saba but Saba in general is worth the trip regardless. Give Lyn a call-she will answer ALL of your questions.
You can look up older posts.....We love Saba...we will be back to see the new beach.

I will post some pics in my gallery of Saba diving and you can look You Tube for BranchScuba to see our Saba video. It is low quality and LOOOONG but it is all of our dives except the night dive.

Thank you so much for this. This is definitely one of the more glowing reviews I have read of a dive op. I will email Sea Saba this evening.
 
Pinnacles are lava fingers that stick up from the sea floor. On Saba, their tops are typically 80 - 100' down, while the sea floor around them are several hundred if not 1000' feet down. Because of the surrounding (and upwelling) deep water, pinnacles attract more pelagic species, including sharks and other things you don't normally see. Nitrox is recommended because your limiting factor when you do dives to these depths is often your NDL, not your gas supply, and nitrox increases your NDL.

As far as getting to Saba, there are two ferries that service the route. Neither runs every day. The Dawn II, based on Saba, leaves Saba in the morning and returns from St Maarten in the afternoon. The Edge, based on St Maarten, leaves St Maarten in the morning and returns from Saba in the afternoon. WinAir, the only air service to Saba, flies several flights daily, the last of which leaves around 5:00. The flights can occasionally be scrubbed, but not usually. Just don't wait till the last minute to book; when the med school on the island ends or begins a session, seats are hard to come by.

I hope this helps.
 
Very helpful. Thank you. My big concern was planning a vacation and then getting messed up because of not getting to the island. It doesn't sound as bad as I'd heard.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom