SABA

35 miles away from St. Barths and a world of difference. One road, no beaches, no fast food restaurants, unpretentious, an amazing airport and world class scuba diving. Saba is approximately five square miles in size and nearly 3,000 feet in elevation.

I remember the diving being excellent, but think if you were considering traveling there, you should look up local web sites on Saba for more up-to-date information.

A good place to have on your ‘gotta dive’ list. Below is a little info. Since I was last there the year they opened the marine park, I suggest visiting the Saba web site. I dove with an outfit called Sea Saba which are still in operation.

Saba Marine Park

In 1987, a marine park was established with permanent moorings, regulations of use and maintenance and a strong conservation attitude. At that time there were still few divers visiting Saba. The result is controlled diver impact and undamaged reef life, a powerful appreciation by locals and divers together of this pristine environment.

So complimented by this tremendous effort, the Dutch navy donated a four person recompression chamber, now backed up by volunteers from all the dive shops. All dive operations abide by the rules of the park and benefit from their ongoing research and education. Weekly slide shows are given to entertain and inform divers of Saba's special marine life.

Saba's Marine Park has received several honors and remains the only park of its kind in the worlds to be completely self-sufficient in its operation.

The park is situated around the entire island and includes the waters and seabed from the highwater mark down to a depth of 200 feet, as well as offshore seamounts. A zoning system is applied to get the best possible compromise between different uses of the marine environment.

Saba is a dormant volcano that rises steeply from the ocean. Depths of a 1000 feet and over are found within half a mile from shore. The nearshore environs offer some very interesting and extremely varied diving, while the offshore dives will leave you absolutely speechless.