Saba 12/04

We booked our flights through USAir, and bought a diving/hotel package
from Sea Saba. We stayed at Juliana's in Windwardside.

The Winair flight from St Maarten to Saba is a crap shoot. It all
depends on the wind or if they can make more money taking someone
somewhere else. You don't have much choice here; Winair is the only
airline allowed to operate on Saba (it is a very short runway). If the
wind is wrong, they may not fly for days. They may not take your luggage
(we saw way too much of this) or they may fly with the plane only half
full. The day we arrived on St Maarten (our USAir flight from Philly was
late due to lazy baggage monkeys), our Winair flight was delayed and
then later cancelled "due to sunset". We were stuck on St Maarten (your
basic cruise ship slum) for a night at our own expense because we were
technically late to check in.

When we finally got to Saba, we found our room (the "Mango Apartment" at
Juliana's) to be roomy and have a spectacular ocean view. It was the
only room we saw there that had A/C, and we were glad to have it the
first couple of nights. Even though it got cooler at night, the first
couple were very humid. Later in the week it got really nice, and we
slept with the windows open. The owners of the hotel were friendly and
helpful.

Each day we were picked up by a taxi van provided by Sea Saba, and we
took the very exciting ride down to the pier. The taxi guy was extremely
helpful and colorful.

Sea Saba has 2 40' boats that are certified for 25 divers each. The most
we had was 10 people on 1 boat, and on one day there were just 2 of us
plus 2 crew. The boat crews here are not locals; Sea Saba is a pony on
the Caribbean boat monkey merry-go-round. Most of the crew had been
there less than a year. They were eager to please and entertaining. They
will haul your gear and set it up every day and after every dive if you
want/let them. I prefer to set up my own gear, and they only had to be
reminded once. The folks at the dive shop are extremely helpful and
organized. We are satisfied with the service they provided, although I
might add that diving in this place is not cheap and I would expect this
level of service at the premium prices they charge. There is also a
$3/dive marine park fee, which adds up over a week of diving. I will say
that the owners and staff of Sea Saba did everyhing they could to make
us happy, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

The diving was spectacular. The pinnacles were awesome; we saw lots
of sharks, large grouper, rays and of course the usual colorful fishies.
The coral was healthy. After an initial dive with a crew member, we were
pretty much left alone, except for at a couple of dive sites which they
considered difficult. I saw no difficult dives, with navigation being
extremely easy and no real currents to speak of. They claimed it was
"Marine Park Rules". They are also obssessed with dive computers and
insist that each buddy team not diving with a crew member have one
computer (Cindy still uses a Nitek 3 - she learned to dive in the NE). I
saw some really comical nonsense involving dive computers. Besides the
pinnacles, there were dives on rock walls and other rock formations. We
were never disappointed with a dive. Sea Saba imposed no maximum dive
times, so we got in some really nice long dives. Most of the diving is
on the leeward side of the island, and there is plenty of soft coral in
the shallows, so on the rock wall dives you can spend the end of the
dive at 15 or 20 ft with lots to see.

The Marine Park allows no deco diving or diving deeper than 130 ft.
There is a hyperbaric facility on the island.

The island is very quiet and extremely friendly (they don't have a
cruise ship dock). Taxis were a pleasant experience, with very friendly
and helpful drivers and consistent reasonable rates. This is a real
departure from the normal Caribbean island. We made dinner
reservations through the dive shop, and two of the restaurants not
within easy walking distance from our hotel provided taxis at their
expense. There are several restaurants within easy walking distance from
Juliana's. Our favorite restaurant was the Rainforest at Ecolodge. The
Gate House is also excellent, although a bit more pricey. Both are best
done by taxi from Windwardside. Gate House has a fantastic wine list,
and if you pick a wine and don't like it, they will drink it themselves
and bring you something else. The Y2K restaurant near the dive shop was
also very good.

Shopkeepers were very friendly and did not bother us like they do in
cruise ship slums. Even though the official currency is the NA Guilder,
we never saw any. All transactions were in US currency, and change was
given in $US. Cindy thought that the grocery store in town was really
expensive until we realized that the marked prices are in guilders (1.8
guilders=$1 US).

There is some amazing hiking on the island. You can go to the top of Mt
Scenery (about 3000 ft). There is a cloud forest at the top. The island
is crisscrossed by several other trails, which were the main
thoroughfares before they built "The Road". Much of the island is rain
forest, but the coastal areas are drier (goat territory).

By the end of our week we were in love with the place. This is a place
full of "characters" who will grow on you. This is not a place for those
on a tight budget, but those who go will be rewarded with an absolutely
charming little island, good food, the most exciting airplane rides
you've ever had and some really excellent diving.

Thanks Al. That was a real pleasure to read.


Al Wells wrote:
> We booked our flights through USAir, and bought a diving/hotel package
> from Sea Saba. We stayed at Juliana's in Windwardside.
>

Really great report, Al. Thanks and glad you had a good time.

Do you think the diving rated doing it on a liveaboard?

"Al Wells" <al.wells@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c672a576657114c989729@news.verizon.net.. .
> We booked our flights through USAir, and bought a diving/hotel package
> from Sea Saba. We stayed at Juliana's in Windwardside.
>
> The Winair flight from St Maarten to Saba is a crap shoot. It all
> depends on the wind or if they can make more money taking someone
> somewhere else. You don't have much choice here; Winair is the only
> airline allowed to operate on Saba (it is a very short runway). If the
> wind is wrong, they may not fly for days. They may not take your luggage
> (we saw way too much of this) or they may fly with the plane only half
> full. The day we arrived on St Maarten (our USAir flight from Philly was
> late due to lazy baggage monkeys), our Winair flight was delayed and
> then later cancelled "due to sunset". We were stuck on St Maarten (your
> basic cruise ship slum) for a night at our own expense because we were
> technically late to check in.
>
> When we finally got to Saba, we found our room (the "Mango Apartment" at
> Juliana's) to be roomy and have a spectacular ocean view. It was the
> only room we saw there that had A/C, and we were glad to have it the
> first couple of nights. Even though it got cooler at night, the first
> couple were very humid. Later in the week it got really nice, and we
> slept with the windows open. The owners of the hotel were friendly and
> helpful.
>
> Each day we were picked up by a taxi van provided by Sea Saba, and we
> took the very exciting ride down to the pier. The taxi guy was extremely
> helpful and colorful.
>
> Sea Saba has 2 40' boats that are certified for 25 divers each. The most
> we had was 10 people on 1 boat, and on one day there were just 2 of us
> plus 2 crew. The boat crews here are not locals; Sea Saba is a pony on
> the Caribbean boat monkey merry-go-round. Most of the crew had been
> there less than a year. They were eager to please and entertaining. They
> will haul your gear and set it up every day and after every dive if you
> want/let them. I prefer to set up my own gear, and they only had to be
> reminded once. The folks at the dive shop are extremely helpful and
> organized. We are satisfied with the service they provided, although I
> might add that diving in this place is not cheap and I would expect this
> level of service at the premium prices they charge. There is also a
> $3/dive marine park fee, which adds up over a week of diving. I will say
> that the owners and staff of Sea Saba did everyhing they could to make
> us happy, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
>
> The diving was spectacular. The pinnacles were awesome; we saw lots
> of sharks, large grouper, rays and of course the usual colorful fishies.
> The coral was healthy. After an initial dive with a crew member, we were
> pretty much left alone, except for at a couple of dive sites which they
> considered difficult. I saw no difficult dives, with navigation being
> extremely easy and no real currents to speak of. They claimed it was
> "Marine Park Rules". They are also obssessed with dive computers and
> insist that each buddy team not diving with a crew member have one
> computer (Cindy still uses a Nitek 3 - she learned to dive in the NE). I
> saw some really comical nonsense involving dive computers. Besides the
> pinnacles, there were dives on rock walls and other rock formations. We
> were never disappointed with a dive. Sea Saba imposed no maximum dive
> times, so we got in some really nice long dives. Most of the diving is
> on the leeward side of the island, and there is plenty of soft coral in
> the shallows, so on the rock wall dives you can spend the end of the
> dive at 15 or 20 ft with lots to see.
>
> The Marine Park allows no deco diving or diving deeper than 130 ft.
> There is a hyperbaric facility on the island.
>
> The island is very quiet and extremely friendly (they don't have a
> cruise ship dock). Taxis were a pleasant experience, with very friendly
> and helpful drivers and consistent reasonable rates. This is a real
> departure from the normal Caribbean island. We made dinner
> reservations through the dive shop, and two of the restaurants not
> within easy walking distance from our hotel provided taxis at their
> expense. There are several restaurants within easy walking distance from
> Juliana's. Our favorite restaurant was the Rainforest at Ecolodge. The
> Gate House is also excellent, although a bit more pricey. Both are best
> done by taxi from Windwardside. Gate House has a fantastic wine list,
> and if you pick a wine and don't like it, they will drink it themselves
> and bring you something else. The Y2K restaurant near the dive shop was
> also very good.
>
> Shopkeepers were very friendly and did not bother us like they do in
> cruise ship slums. Even though the official currency is the NA Guilder,
> we never saw any. All transactions were in US currency, and change was
> given in $US. Cindy thought that the grocery store in town was really
> expensive until we realized that the marked prices are in guilders (1.8
> guilders=$1 US).
>
> There is some amazing hiking on the island. You can go to the top of Mt
> Scenery (about 3000 ft). There is a cloud forest at the top. The island
> is crisscrossed by several other trails, which were the main
> thoroughfares before they built "The Road". Much of the island is rain
> forest, but the coastal areas are drier (goat territory).
>
> By the end of our week we were in love with the place. This is a place
> full of "characters" who will grow on you. This is not a place for those
> on a tight budget, but those who go will be rewarded with an absolutely
> charming little island, good food, the most exciting airplane rides
> you've ever had and some really excellent diving.

"chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada> pounded away at his keyboard resulting
in:
:Do you think the diving rated doing it on a liveaboard?

A trip on the Caribbean Explorer is a nice all round vacation. I have
done it twice. The first time we did the land tours, and I thought
the diving was better on Saba than St Kitts. The second time, we
didn't do the land tours I thought the diving was better on St Kitts
than Saba.

The diving in those two places is better than South Caicos, but not as
good as Cozumel.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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Al Wells <al.wells@gmail.com> pounded away at his keyboard resulting
in:
:The Winair flight from St Maarten to Saba is a crap shoot. It all
:depends on the wind or if they can make more money taking someone
:somewhere else. You don't have much choice here; Winair is the only
:airline allowed to operate on Saba (it is a very short runway). If the
:wind is wrong, they may not fly for days. They may not take your luggage
:(we saw way too much of this) or they may fly with the plane only half
:full. The day we arrived on St Maarten (our USAir flight from Philly was
:late due to lazy baggage monkeys), our Winair flight was delayed and
:then later cancelled "due to sunset". We were stuck on St Maarten (your
:basic cruise ship slum) for a night at our own expense because we were
:technically late to check in.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Over the years, after having close
calls ourselves, or seeing others get unlucky, for the most part, we
either,

a. only go places with direct flights, or
b. travel at a leisurely pace and only take layovers that are at
least 3 hours long.

If we were doing your trip, without actually knowing the flight times,
it is possible that we would have simply planned to overnight in St
Maarten.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

In article <1lktv0ph41k9mn0brtkk9b34stj3q7pr5r@4ax.com>,
NOTbracuk@pathcom.com says...
> If we were doing your trip, without actually knowing the flight times,
> it is possible that we would have simply planned to overnight in St
> Maarten.

Knowing what I know now, that's what I would do. I would plan on an
early morning flight from St Maarten to Saba, so you and your luggage
have several chances to get there. If you take the 8:30 AM flight, you
can be checked in and on the boat before noon.

In article <c4sLd.231515$8l.18426@pd7tw1no>, slarson@shaw.canada says...

> Do you think the diving rated doing it on a liveaboard?

When did you start top posting?

I'm not exactly sure what rates a liveabord; I wouldn't do it that way.
The Carribean Explorer goes there and spends about a day. There is one
other boat that is permitted to go there, but it seldom does.

The dive sites are close to the island, so boat rides are short. The
Carribean Explorer let all of the people go ashore for a few hours on
one visit (it came twice while we were there). I don't know where else
it goes.

"Al Wells" <al.wells@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c692a09b2cb87ea98972d@news.verizon.net.. .
> In article <c4sLd.231515$8l.18426@pd7tw1no>, slarson@shaw.canada says...
>
> > Do you think the diving rated doing it on a liveaboard?
>
> When did you start top posting?
>
> I'm not exactly sure what rates a liveabord; I wouldn't do it that way.
> The Carribean Explorer goes there and spends about a day. There is one
> other boat that is permitted to go there, but it seldom does.
>
> The dive sites are close to the island, so boat rides are short. The
> Carribean Explorer let all of the people go ashore for a few hours on
> one visit (it came twice while we were there). I don't know where else
> it goes.

Thanks, then I shall keep it on my list as an island to visit while diving.

There used to be a daily ferry boat from
St. Maarten to Sabe. Is it still running?

The flight would be preferred, but is the
boat still there as a backup in case
flights are grounded?

Al Wells wrote:
> We booked our flights through USAir, and bought a diving/hotel package
> from Sea Saba. We stayed at Juliana's in Windwardside.
>
> The Winair flight from St Maarten to Saba is a crap shoot. It all
> depends on the wind or if they can make more money taking someone
> somewhere else. You don't have much choice here; Winair is the only
> airline allowed to operate on Saba (it is a very short runway). If the
> wind is wrong, they may not fly for days. They may not take your luggage
> (we saw way too much of this) or they may fly with the plane only half
> full. The day we arrived on St Maarten (our USAir flight from Philly was
> late due to lazy baggage monkeys), our Winair flight was delayed and
> then later cancelled "due to sunset". We were stuck on St Maarten (your
> basic cruise ship slum) for a night at our own expense because we were
> technically late to check in.
>
> When we finally got to Saba, we found our room (the "Mango Apartment" at
> Juliana's) to be roomy and have a spectacular ocean view. It was the
> only room we saw there that had A/C, and we were glad to have it the
> first couple of nights. Even though it got cooler at night, the first
> couple were very humid. Later in the week it got really nice, and we
> slept with the windows open. The owners of the hotel were friendly and
> helpful.
>
> Each day we were picked up by a taxi van provided by Sea Saba, and we
> took the very exciting ride down to the pier. The taxi guy was extremely
> helpful and colorful.
>
> Sea Saba has 2 40' boats that are certified for 25 divers each. The most
> we had was 10 people on 1 boat, and on one day there were just 2 of us
> plus 2 crew. The boat crews here are not locals; Sea Saba is a pony on
> the Caribbean boat monkey merry-go-round. Most of the crew had been
> there less than a year. They were eager to please and entertaining. They
> will haul your gear and set it up every day and after every dive if you
> want/let them. I prefer to set up my own gear, and they only had to be
> reminded once. The folks at the dive shop are extremely helpful and
> organized. We are satisfied with the service they provided, although I
> might add that diving in this place is not cheap and I would expect this
> level of service at the premium prices they charge. There is also a
> $3/dive marine park fee, which adds up over a week of diving. I will say
> that the owners and staff of Sea Saba did everyhing they could to make
> us happy, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
>
> The diving was spectacular. The pinnacles were awesome; we saw lots
> of sharks, large grouper, rays and of course the usual colorful fishies.
> The coral was healthy. After an initial dive with a crew member, we were
> pretty much left alone, except for at a couple of dive sites which they
> considered difficult. I saw no difficult dives, with navigation being
> extremely easy and no real currents to speak of. They claimed it was
> "Marine Park Rules". They are also obssessed with dive computers and
> insist that each buddy team not diving with a crew member have one
> computer (Cindy still uses a Nitek 3 - she learned to dive in the NE). I
> saw some really comical nonsense involving dive computers. Besides the
> pinnacles, there were dives on rock walls and other rock formations. We
> were never disappointed with a dive. Sea Saba imposed no maximum dive
> times, so we got in some really nice long dives. Most of the diving is
> on the leeward side of the island, and there is plenty of soft coral in
> the shallows, so on the rock wall dives you can spend the end of the
> dive at 15 or 20 ft with lots to see.
>
> The Marine Park allows no deco diving or diving deeper than 130 ft.
> There is a hyperbaric facility on the island.
>
> The island is very quiet and extremely friendly (they don't have a
> cruise ship dock). Taxis were a pleasant experience, with very friendly
> and helpful drivers and consistent reasonable rates. This is a real
> departure from the normal Caribbean island. We made dinner
> reservations through the dive shop, and two of the restaurants not
> within easy walking distance from our hotel provided taxis at their
> expense. There are several restaurants within easy walking distance from
> Juliana's. Our favorite restaurant was the Rainforest at Ecolodge. The
> Gate House is also excellent, although a bit more pricey. Both are best
> done by taxi from Windwardside. Gate House has a fantastic wine list,
> and if you pick a wine and don't like it, they will drink it themselves
> and bring you something else. The Y2K restaurant near the dive shop was
> also very good.
>
> Shopkeepers were very friendly and did not bother us like they do in
> cruise ship slums. Even though the official currency is the NA Guilder,
> we never saw any. All transactions were in US currency, and change was
> given in $US. Cindy thought that the grocery store in town was really
> expensive until we realized that the marked prices are in guilders (1.8
> guilders=$1 US).
>
> There is some amazing hiking on the island. You can go to the top of Mt
> Scenery (about 3000 ft). There is a cloud forest at the top. The island
> is crisscrossed by several other trails, which were the main
> thoroughfares before they built "The Road". Much of the island is rain
> forest, but the coastal areas are drier (goat territory).
>
> By the end of our week we were in love with the place. This is a place
> full of "characters" who will grow on you. This is not a place for those
> on a tight budget, but those who go will be rewarded with an absolutely
> charming little island, good food, the most exciting airplane rides
> you've ever had and some really excellent diving.

In article <42000340.4000602@aol.com>, buff5200@aol.com says...
> There used to be a daily ferry boat from
> St. Maarten to Sabe. Is it still running?
>
> The flight would be preferred, but is the
> boat still there as a backup in case
> flights are grounded?

Yes, but I don't think it goes every day.