Where to go? Saba vs Dominica

[manar]

I am going to Guadeloupe and Martinique this august. While staying there, I am thinking about visiting another Caribbean island, probably Saba or Dominica.
Due to time and budget limit, I only have to choose only one out of two, which is truly unfortunate.

I did my research on Saba and Dominica, and here are things I know about both places.

I heard diving in Saba is truly unique, especially about the pinnacle, chances to see sharks around the pinnacle(I like pelagics!, I know the Caribbean isn't normally a place to see pelagics, but anyway I hope to see some big stuffs.) Also, the island offers an amazing hiking and people are friendly, some highly recommended dive shops.

Diving in Dominica is maybe not as good as Saba but also nice, and some say there's not much difference. Dominica is also a fine place for hiking, waterfalls, rainforests, really a beautiful island with lesser tourists.


One of the important reasons that I'd want to visit one of those islands is to dive, but I also like sightseeing. Waterfalls and rainforests in Dominica do attract me a lot indeed, but I don't want to be disappointed with diving. Plus, I'd like to experience "the unique diving" in Saba. Budget is another important factor for me, but I guess the total sum would be pretty much the same overall. I assumed Dominica would be a lot cheaper but it turned out that diving in Dominica isn't so cheap as I expected, lodging is expensive also. On the other hand, Saba offers cheaper diving, cheaper lodging but little bit more expensive to get there, as I have to take 2 flights.

My visiting to the Caribbean is a rare chance, so this is kind of important decision to me. It's really tough to decide where to go! I want to dive in Saba but the beautiful scenery in Dominica remains in my brain!


Help!!

Thank you in advance :kiss2:

 

[lmorin]

My recollection about our trip to Dominica was that lodging/diving was not more expensive than it would have been in Saba. We had a package through Dive Dominica and Castle Comfort Lodge. Another thing to consider is the availability of shore diving in one place vs the other. There is a very good "front yard" dive from the Dive Dominica dive op dock that is available all day every day at no extra charge. I don't know of anything comparable in Saba, but that may reflect my ignorance.

 

[cfelliot]

My recollection about our trip to Dominica was that lodging/diving was not more expensive than it would have been in Saba. We had a package through Dive Dominica and Castle Comfort Lodge. Another thing to consider is the availability of shore diving in one place vs the other. There is a very good "front yard" dive from the Dive Dominica dive op dock that is available all day every day at no extra charge. I don't know of anything comparable in Saba, but that may reflect my ignorance.

Although I found the boat diving in Dominica excellent, I thought the "front yard" was a boring dive at Castle Comfort. It is not reef, rather just a pile of boulders. I only did the dive once, preferring to spend my afternoons up in the rain forest!

 

[Divedoggie]

Saba is a unique diving experience. The van will pick you up at your hotel in the morning and drive down a spagetti noodle road to the harbor. From there, a quick meeting at the dive shop and then onto the boat. A short and scenic boat ride and 2 dives later, you are whisked away, back up the mountain. Additional diving is a repeat of the process.

The dives are generally quite deep for recreational diving as the underwater topography drops off very quickly. The pinnacles, underwater hotsprings, lava flow rock formations, and generally healthy marine life make the diving interesting. There can be strong currents and high seas which vary day to day.

There is no beach and and a very different caribbean atmosphere. Air temperatures in town can be significantly cooler than the temps down at sea level. A sweatshirt or light jacket is recommended for evenings. There are some excellent restaurants and intersting galleries. Locals are friendly.

Hiking is actually excellent, although you will see no waterfalls. You will see incredible views from high apon mountains, and amazing sunsets and sunrises. I believe the best Op on the island is Saba Divers and Scout's Place - About Us - Who are we? and they offer a reasonably priced lodging/diving package. They market to Europeans, and their boats generally have smaller groups than Sea Saba Dive Center - Saba Dutch Caribbean - "Dive the Sea Saba Difference" - Dive Saba!

So that's a summary. Other people have experience with Dominica. Good luck!

 

[lmorin]

Although I found the boat diving in Dominica excellent, I thought the "front yard" was a boring dive at Castle Comfort. It is not reef, rather just a pile of boulders. I only did the dive once, preferring to spend my afternoons up in the rain forest!

Too bad for you. I saw a bunch of species down on the sand flat areas that I had never seen before - batfish, flying gurnards, goldspotted eel, spotted snake eel and numerous blennies. Plus, there was a seahorse and frogfish.

 

[Bryan.]

Hey Manar,
Choices eh!! Well to be honest I have never been to Dominica however I have been to Saba last year and I am planning to return this year!

Saba was an awesome experience! Starting with the flight in and continuing w/ the topography of the island which lends itself to amazing hiking through the rain forest & cloud forest. All the trails are maintained by the Saba Conservation Foundation. Additionally, the streets are the cleanest I have ever seen, the locals are welcoming and friendly and the diving is incredible!!

Some places to check out on the island would be Juliana's & Tropics Cafe (ask for Wim & Johanna), Shearwater (ask for Paul), Swinging Doors, and last but not least.... Sea Saba (John & Lynn)!!

So... bottom line is that if you want a unique and awesome experience Saba is a place to check out!!

Additionally, if you ever find yourself on Curacao stop by and see us at Ocean Encounters West!!

All the best and good luck with your choice!!

 

[krbnlaw]

I've been to both islands and prefer diving in Dominica. Northern swells made Saba diving a little rough when we were there. I'm sure it's better diving when the weather cooperates. The diving 5 minutes by boat from Castle Comfort Lodge in Dominica is great. Dolphins played with our dive boat on several mornings and the whale watching was fun. Hot spring waterfalls, cave swimming and hiking also fun. Saba is such a quaint, beautiful place. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

 

[Hawksbill87]

You've picked two great islands. In the past two years, I've taken two diving trips to Saba and one to Dominica. Personally, I would give the edge to Saba for better diving and unique charm, but Dominica is great too.

Saba might be my favorite Caribbean island. Totally unique geography. Great walking trails. The "road" and the town are totally charming. Really friendly people. Beautiful quaint unique architecture. Lots of fruit trees (sugar apple, mango, soursop...). Brigadoon is my personal favorite restaurant in the Caribbean, and probably in my top 10 restaurants in the entire world. The black sand beach actually has really cool snorkeling (interesting rock formations, a little coral, lots of sea turtles - like 10 turtles in a one-hour snorkel). Nice friendly simple guesthouses. Even the airport is a cool place to hang out just to watch the planes land and take off in an amazing setting. The rock pool in the ocean below the airport is fun for kids (and for us). Great sidewalk trails through charming houses in the main town. You can walk around The Bottom and ask locals to try the fruit from their trees. Very unique peaceful environment with beautiful views everywhere you go. I really really love this place.

Oh, the diving - it's totally out of this world. In my opinion, all the reefs seemed to be in pristine condition, with amazing underwater pinnacle formations. And the non-pinnacle dives were just as good. We saw pretty large Caribbean reef sharks on a couple of our pinnacle dies, especially at third encounter (with the needle). Also turtles, frogfish, shrimp, lobsters, nurse sharks, large stingrays, spotted drums, a freakishly large moray eel... My best day of diving ever was a calm day when the dive master was willing to take my wife and I to the Atlantic side of the island. Totally pristine beautiful underwater environment, and we saw a pod of humpback whales on our surface interval! I've gone with two of the dive shops, and Saba Deep was my favorite. Very friendly. Excellent dive masters. We loved Bob, and Big Mike is truly a classic individual and excellent dive guide.

One Warning about Saba: the dives are deep! I'm a relatively new diver and not entirely comfortable thinking about myself 130 feet below the surface, but I followed the dive master below that depth several times.

We just got back from Dominica about a week ago. It's a much larger island, with a lot more to do. The diving was good, although not as thrilling as Saba. We did see seahorses, turtles, stonefish, a juvenile spotted drum, and for the first time in my life, a walking sea urchin. The hiking and waterfalls on the island are outstanding. I can highly recommend staying at Titiwi and diving with Aldive (MUCH more appealing to me than the larger places, which had huge dive boats with a lot of divers). On two of the three days we went diving, we had the boat and dive master to ourselves. Janet at Titiwi and Samantha at Aldive are both very friendly and helpful.

On Dominica: Fantastic fruit, with great variety and flavor. The Saturday early morning market is a must. Emerald Pool and Titou Gorge were wonderful, but be sure to go late in the day when a cruise ship is not in port in order to avoid the crowds. After 3:00 PM, we had the Emerald Pool to ourselves on two days, but I've heard it can get very crowded around 10:00 on cruise ship days. Sari Sari falls was a spectacular hike, if you don't mind crossing rivers with slippery rocks. I went on the whale watch with Castle Comfort, and we saw three sperm whales within 20 feet of the boat. Very cool stuff! (Definitely do the whale watch with Castle Comfort instead of Anchorage. The Castle comfort guides were really great, in contrast to Anchorage who tends to ditch individual customers in favor of huge cruise ship parties at the last minute.) We also loved dinner and hot pools at Papillote.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss details. I love these two islands.

This was my first scubaboard post!

 

[pelan-pelan]

Although I found the boat diving in Dominica excellent, I thought the "front yard" was a boring dive at Castle Comfort. It is not reef, rather just a pile of boulders. I only did the dive once, preferring to spend my afternoons up in the rain forest!

We dived the front yard in the middle of the day, which is the worst time of day for that kind of dive. From the surface it looks like a load of rubble and rocks from jetty construction. We were stunned at what we saw. All just "sitting there" ignoring us. "Drums swim under rocks and soon disappear when they see you." Oh no, not here. Here they come out and boogie with you. Huge things. Same with the lobsters. My log looks slightly hysterical, and babbles on about sweepers, garden eels, crabs with urchins, needlefish, electric rays and a large barracuda.

Talking of boogeying, it was up the road at a restaurant playing loud rock music that a ray came to the surface and appeared to be flapping to the music. I think it might have been cleaning itself on the rough shore rocks, but we all reckoned it was in to heavy metal.

Very interested to know what your choice is between Dominica and Saba and to see a trip report. A friend went to Saba and her pictures were stunning. It is on our list to go see.

 

[skyward]

Lot's have already talked about the diving, sightseeing etc. so I thought I'd address the cost issue as you think Dominica is expensive.

We dived with Nature Island Dive in Soufriere in February and the package rate was $37.50 per dive which I thought was pretty good and they don't set a time limit on dives so you can do an hour or more if you have the air.

There is a wide range of accommodations from a seaside two bedroom villa which we got for $1350 for 10 days to apartments in town for $50-$60 per night. Karen at Nature Island is a great help finding what you want.

Food is pretty cheap too if you eat local. Lunch was typically EC$7-EC$10 and dinners anywhere from EC$15 for a barbecue to EC$30 in a restaurant. You get an awesome piece of barbecued chicken and potato salad for about EC$10. Keep in mind we didn`t stay at the Dive hotels or eat at the tourist restaurants near Roseau so I don`t know what they cost but I`m guessing they are more expensive.

You can spend a lot if you want to but you can get decent accommodation, good food and great diving at relatively cheap prices.

Doug