JediCheese
Registered
Just got back from Saba diving from 3/24-3/26 in 2024. TL;DR it was great.
Air Transportation:
I'll skip arriving in Sint Maarten because up to then it's standard Caribbean airline fare. From there we flew Winair to Saba. Winair isn't exactly the most organized operation and the flight board didn't update with our flights information. They will board multiple destiations from the same gate, so we just hung out around the ticket counter from about 30 minutes prior to departure to when they called the flight. The Twin Otter is a small airplane and doesn't seat many people, but was a smooth flight. The pilots stuck the landing and coming in I was shocked how short the runway is (400 meters). If you take the flight, sit up front and get near a window!
The flights got cancelled several days in a row trying to leave. They need winds directly down the runway, so a crosswind or not enough wind will result in a cancellation of the flight. Luckily, we had planned a surface day at the end in Sint Maarten which we used for a boat ride back and then immediate flight out. Our hotel was nice enough to let us stay an extra day. One of the divers got hosed and was going to have issues making their flight out due to the airline cancelling the flights out and the irregular schedule to Sint Maarten.
We got the cheaper fare class ticket, so we're out the money paid for the flights due to our demanding schedule back to the US.
Accommodation:
We stayed at El Momo Cottages (Welcome to El Momo Cottages on the beautiful island of saba in the Dutch Caribbean!) and they arranged a taxi to pick us up from the airport. There aren't rental cars and no other realistic way of travel (despite the island saying there's a public bus system).
The Cottages were great! I would describe it as cozy rustic. We stayed in the Turtle Cottage and it had an amazing deck and view from the balcony. The temperature was just right and we left the door to the balcony open all the time to enjoy the breezes. It's a short walk to Windward Side where most of the tourist shopping and food are. Plus if you're so inclined, it's within walking distance of the path up Mt. Scenery (we didn't hike the mountain). The only downside to the location we stayed at was it was a solid 20 minute hike up a hill to get there from the city and our motivation was sometimes low after diving all day and then gorging ourselves on the great food available in the city.
They offer a breakfast which is a little skimpy for $9.50 that we did each day, adding two Eggs and I got bacon for $2 a side apiece. We don't do a big breakfast so it got us through the day, but if you want an American sized breakfast spread you're going to be unsatisfied.
More of the divers were at Juliana's which is a more traditional hotel in Windward Side and they seemed pleased with those accommodations and that didn't require a hike back to the hotel after eating in Windward Side.
Diving:
As to our experience, I had my AoW and Nitrox with a whopping 32 dives but hadn't dove in 2 years because of Coronavirus. My GF had just gotten her OW and was doing the Nitrox course on the island. We were very green compared to the rest of the divers onboard the boat each day. After talking to them, they advised us to do 2 dives the first day (skipping the first deepest/hardest dive), and then we could do all 3 dives on days 2 and 3. They don't advertise it online, but they also do night dives if they can find 4 people to go diving (we could only find 3 people that wanted to do night diving sadly).
The only shop on the island is SeaSaba (www.seasaba.com). They picked us up and dropped us off every day at our hotel but they will arrange transport for you each day to/from the dock as part of the package where ever you stay. We brought mask and diving computer and rented everything else. The gear was serviceable but basic rental ScubaPro equipment, we had no problems. The fins were nice ScubaPro Go Travel with spring strap which is a nice change from the typical bad rental fins. Typical fill was 3100-3200psi after losing some air checking the nitrox concentration which was very constantly near 32%.
The diving is deep for recreational. The shallowest dive on my computer was 57ft and the typical profile put our deepest at 80-90ft. We both dove Nitrox but I never felt depth limited due to PO2. Lots of walls and pinnacles to dive on and manage your depth/airflow depending on how you want to dive it. Visibility was amazing, I don't think it was less than 30ft anywhere. The weather was good while we were there without many surface waves or difficult current. The boat crew did tie up once and decide against that dive spot due to current and took us to another dive spot, so I got the impression they were doing a good job of finding good dive locations based on conditions.
I will say their Nitrox course is a PHENOMINAL deal if you want to do it, $200 for the course and includes nitrox for all your diving. They charge $60 for the Nitrox for a week of diving, so you're essentially getting the course for $140! My GF liked the class and they did it right on the boat (outside the online training) and it didn't interfere with diving at all. I would say half the boat was on Nitrox and it really helped with NDLs on repeated 3 dives a day and shortish surface intervals.
The dive boat crew was good and it was well organized. Since we were fairly new, we were last ones off the boat and then the first ones on the boat due to air. GF and several divers had gear issues due to inexperience (mainly mask flooding/losing them when jumping in issues - I don't think anyone rented masks) and the dive crew helped them in the water get it sorted quickly so the dive went forward without delay. Most dives were guided for the first 35-40 minutes, but then at the end of the guided portion you could swim around until you had to return to the boat and there was typically good stuff to see/explore in the area around the boat. No one seemed to be complaining about having to return too early, only rules were back on the boat after 60 minutes, no deco, and 500 psi end on the boat. Mainly couples so we naturally paired off for diving buddies but they didn't seem to enforce any buddy rule.
You're responsible for your own food/snacks but they have water and Gatorade on the boat. We had poor timing being that we got in late Saturday and most everything is closed Sunday, so we starved a little our first and second day. Had we planned ahead, I'm sure El Momo or SeaSaba would happily have arranged to have food for us in advance when we arrived.
As to wildlife, there was the standard Caribbean reef fare. Lots of turtles, crabs, lobsters, a few nurse sharks, a few rays, and reef sharks off in the blue. Lots of soft coral but the hard coral was hard to find and wasn't nearly as abundant. I'm not a big fish identification person, but the photographer on the boat was very pleased with the wildlife availability.
Other Activities:
Saba has some phenomenal hiking, but we weren't there for that. All the other guests at the Cottages were there for the hiking and seemed to enjoy it.
Food:
Great seafood. Ate and drank way too much (and spent too much too) but we were on vacation. The pizza at Long Haul Grill is amazing and must be tried at least once! Make reservations at Brigadoon for a fancy meal if you can, it's worth it! The bakery Bizzy B is very good bread but the panini's were just ok. Saba Snack and The Hideaway are also very good.
Final Thoughts:
I almost abandoned my GF to dive more! I didn't have to be home until Monday and she needed to be home Friday, so it was very tempting to continue to stay and dive more. I don't know if I'd go back because there are so many other places to explore, but it's definitely a great dive operation and you'll see an older unspoiled Caribbean instead of the squat concrete brick buildings you tend to find everywhere else.
Air Transportation:
I'll skip arriving in Sint Maarten because up to then it's standard Caribbean airline fare. From there we flew Winair to Saba. Winair isn't exactly the most organized operation and the flight board didn't update with our flights information. They will board multiple destiations from the same gate, so we just hung out around the ticket counter from about 30 minutes prior to departure to when they called the flight. The Twin Otter is a small airplane and doesn't seat many people, but was a smooth flight. The pilots stuck the landing and coming in I was shocked how short the runway is (400 meters). If you take the flight, sit up front and get near a window!
The flights got cancelled several days in a row trying to leave. They need winds directly down the runway, so a crosswind or not enough wind will result in a cancellation of the flight. Luckily, we had planned a surface day at the end in Sint Maarten which we used for a boat ride back and then immediate flight out. Our hotel was nice enough to let us stay an extra day. One of the divers got hosed and was going to have issues making their flight out due to the airline cancelling the flights out and the irregular schedule to Sint Maarten.
We got the cheaper fare class ticket, so we're out the money paid for the flights due to our demanding schedule back to the US.
Accommodation:
We stayed at El Momo Cottages (Welcome to El Momo Cottages on the beautiful island of saba in the Dutch Caribbean!) and they arranged a taxi to pick us up from the airport. There aren't rental cars and no other realistic way of travel (despite the island saying there's a public bus system).
The Cottages were great! I would describe it as cozy rustic. We stayed in the Turtle Cottage and it had an amazing deck and view from the balcony. The temperature was just right and we left the door to the balcony open all the time to enjoy the breezes. It's a short walk to Windward Side where most of the tourist shopping and food are. Plus if you're so inclined, it's within walking distance of the path up Mt. Scenery (we didn't hike the mountain). The only downside to the location we stayed at was it was a solid 20 minute hike up a hill to get there from the city and our motivation was sometimes low after diving all day and then gorging ourselves on the great food available in the city.
They offer a breakfast which is a little skimpy for $9.50 that we did each day, adding two Eggs and I got bacon for $2 a side apiece. We don't do a big breakfast so it got us through the day, but if you want an American sized breakfast spread you're going to be unsatisfied.
More of the divers were at Juliana's which is a more traditional hotel in Windward Side and they seemed pleased with those accommodations and that didn't require a hike back to the hotel after eating in Windward Side.
Diving:
As to our experience, I had my AoW and Nitrox with a whopping 32 dives but hadn't dove in 2 years because of Coronavirus. My GF had just gotten her OW and was doing the Nitrox course on the island. We were very green compared to the rest of the divers onboard the boat each day. After talking to them, they advised us to do 2 dives the first day (skipping the first deepest/hardest dive), and then we could do all 3 dives on days 2 and 3. They don't advertise it online, but they also do night dives if they can find 4 people to go diving (we could only find 3 people that wanted to do night diving sadly).
The only shop on the island is SeaSaba (www.seasaba.com). They picked us up and dropped us off every day at our hotel but they will arrange transport for you each day to/from the dock as part of the package where ever you stay. We brought mask and diving computer and rented everything else. The gear was serviceable but basic rental ScubaPro equipment, we had no problems. The fins were nice ScubaPro Go Travel with spring strap which is a nice change from the typical bad rental fins. Typical fill was 3100-3200psi after losing some air checking the nitrox concentration which was very constantly near 32%.
The diving is deep for recreational. The shallowest dive on my computer was 57ft and the typical profile put our deepest at 80-90ft. We both dove Nitrox but I never felt depth limited due to PO2. Lots of walls and pinnacles to dive on and manage your depth/airflow depending on how you want to dive it. Visibility was amazing, I don't think it was less than 30ft anywhere. The weather was good while we were there without many surface waves or difficult current. The boat crew did tie up once and decide against that dive spot due to current and took us to another dive spot, so I got the impression they were doing a good job of finding good dive locations based on conditions.
I will say their Nitrox course is a PHENOMINAL deal if you want to do it, $200 for the course and includes nitrox for all your diving. They charge $60 for the Nitrox for a week of diving, so you're essentially getting the course for $140! My GF liked the class and they did it right on the boat (outside the online training) and it didn't interfere with diving at all. I would say half the boat was on Nitrox and it really helped with NDLs on repeated 3 dives a day and shortish surface intervals.
The dive boat crew was good and it was well organized. Since we were fairly new, we were last ones off the boat and then the first ones on the boat due to air. GF and several divers had gear issues due to inexperience (mainly mask flooding/losing them when jumping in issues - I don't think anyone rented masks) and the dive crew helped them in the water get it sorted quickly so the dive went forward without delay. Most dives were guided for the first 35-40 minutes, but then at the end of the guided portion you could swim around until you had to return to the boat and there was typically good stuff to see/explore in the area around the boat. No one seemed to be complaining about having to return too early, only rules were back on the boat after 60 minutes, no deco, and 500 psi end on the boat. Mainly couples so we naturally paired off for diving buddies but they didn't seem to enforce any buddy rule.
You're responsible for your own food/snacks but they have water and Gatorade on the boat. We had poor timing being that we got in late Saturday and most everything is closed Sunday, so we starved a little our first and second day. Had we planned ahead, I'm sure El Momo or SeaSaba would happily have arranged to have food for us in advance when we arrived.
As to wildlife, there was the standard Caribbean reef fare. Lots of turtles, crabs, lobsters, a few nurse sharks, a few rays, and reef sharks off in the blue. Lots of soft coral but the hard coral was hard to find and wasn't nearly as abundant. I'm not a big fish identification person, but the photographer on the boat was very pleased with the wildlife availability.
Other Activities:
Saba has some phenomenal hiking, but we weren't there for that. All the other guests at the Cottages were there for the hiking and seemed to enjoy it.
Food:
Great seafood. Ate and drank way too much (and spent too much too) but we were on vacation. The pizza at Long Haul Grill is amazing and must be tried at least once! Make reservations at Brigadoon for a fancy meal if you can, it's worth it! The bakery Bizzy B is very good bread but the panini's were just ok. Saba Snack and The Hideaway are also very good.
Final Thoughts:
I almost abandoned my GF to dive more! I didn't have to be home until Monday and she needed to be home Friday, so it was very tempting to continue to stay and dive more. I don't know if I'd go back because there are so many other places to explore, but it's definitely a great dive operation and you'll see an older unspoiled Caribbean instead of the squat concrete brick buildings you tend to find everywhere else.
They were also keeping a log of where and what they caught for the lionfish.
