Nearby to the islands of St. Maarten and St. Barths is a scuba favorite for its sweeping range of underwater diversity, including gorgeous, healthy reefs thanks to the 1987-founded marine park.
Two hawksbill sea turtles glide over Tent Reef
Saba Tourism
Marine Park
Much of the credit for the island’s alive and thriving corals, including elkhorn gardens and populations of reef fish, such as blue tangs, goatfish and Creole wrasse, goes to The Saba Marine Park. For almost three decades, the no-take laws and 36 moorings have protected these sites, ensuring the steady growth fish populations and critters like lobsters and channel-clinging crabs.
Ideal Conditions
Sure, the island has warm water, averaging 82 degrees year-round. More impressive is the visibility: You can expect around 80 feet on any given day. Saba has no beaches, so you won’t be doing a lot of sunbathing. Nor will you have sand and sediment run-off compromising water clarity. Plus, the island has almost no development — no high-rises, no hotels, no stoplights — so there’s almost zero polluting run-off.
Pinnacles The island of Saba, in large part a volcano, punches up from the seafloor. Its coasts are sheer. So it’s perhaps not surprising that a collection of pinnacles, seamounts and steep-walled shoals rise just off the west coast. Sites like Eye-of-the-Needle, Twilight Zone and Third Encounter are pure drama: coral-covered wonders rising from the abyss. Eye-of-the-Needle is the most advanced — and the most spectacular — site, rising to just 90 feet from the surface.
Diver at Saba's Pinnacles
Sea SABA
Big Animals
Where there’s near-shore deep water, there’s big life. The island’s sheer-walled west coast and offshore pinnacles attract a wealth of shark varieties not commonly seen elsewhere in the Caribbean — namely black-tip reef sharks and gray reef sharks. Lucky divers may even sight a hammerhead. Closer to shore, nurse sharks, Southern stingrays and large grouper are also regular sightings.
Macro Life
Few Caribbean destinations pack both big-animal thrills and thriving communities of macro life — and yet, Saba does. Frogfish — yes, frogfish — have been spotted at a handful of sites from shallower dives like Tent Reef and the muck-diving areas to the pinnacles and seamounts at depths of 120 feet. Not to mention seahorses, which are also common finds nestled among sponges.
For an in-depth look at the scuba diving in Saba, read Saba: The Undiscovered [Scuba Diving] Queen.
Visit sabatourism.com and plan your next dive.