Saba is the smallest island that the family has ever made me drag them to. 13 square kilometres. One road. Population about 2,000. No beaches. No casinos. No flat ground for an airport — the airstrip is famously the shortest in the world (400 metres) carved into a cliffside, and landing feels like the plane is going to fly off the other end. Hana (then 8) loved every minute of the approach. Yusuf (6 at the time) didn't open his eyes. Alhamdulillah, we landed safely.
But for diving — and that's why we went, by extension of a longer Saint Maarten family trip — Saba is one of the best-kept secrets in the Caribbean. Possibly in the world. The whole island sits in a marine park, the underwater landscape is volcanic and dramatic, and the visitor numbers are tiny because logistics are hard. Worth the effort if you have the diving cert and even the kids' patience.
[IMAGE: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1582967788606-a171c1080cb0?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop | A scuba diver descending along a volcanic pinnacle at one of Saba's marine park dive sites, with schooling jacks above and gorgonian fans below]
What Saba is
Saba (pronounced "say-bah", not "sah-bah") is a small volcanic island in the Lesser Antilles, about 45 km south of Saint Maarten. It's a special municipality of the Netherlands — yes, the Dutch Caribbean, the same status as Sint Eustatius and Bonaire. Currency is the US dollar. Official languages are Dutch and English. Most signage is in English.
The whole island is essentially the cone of a still-technically-active volcano (Mount Scenery, 887m — last erupted around 1640). The terrain is so steep that there are no beaches — every settlement is built on the slopes, with red-roofed white houses clinging to the green hillside. The four main villages — The Bottom (the capital, no joke), Windwardside, Hell's Gate, and Zion's Hill — are linked by "The Road" which Saban engineers built by hand over 20 years in the 1940s-60s after Dutch consultants said it couldn't be done.
The whole island is encircled by the Saba Marine Park, established in 1987 and one of the oldest and best-managed marine parks in the Caribbean. The park funds itself through dive fees ($3 per diver per dive) and donations. Strict no-take and no-anchor rules, which is part of why the diving is so good — the reefs have been protected for nearly 40 years.
Getting there
There's no direct international flight. You fly to Saint Maarten (which has plenty of international connections) and then take either:
The plane. 12-minute flight on Winair (Windward Islands Airways), small turboprop seating 19 people. Lands on Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport — the world-famous short airstrip. Frequent during the day. About $130 round trip. The landing is the thing — the runway is essentially a piece of flat ground on top of a cliff, with the sea on both sides. Cockpit view photographs of this approach circulate every couple of years on aviation forums.
The ferry. 90-minute boat ride from Saint Maarten. About $100 round trip. Calmer seas than the boat ride to some of the other Dutch islands but still can be choppy. We did the plane both ways with the kids — Hana's been talking about it ever since.
Once you're on Saba, getting around is by taxi (small island, taxis are quick) or rental car (works, but the road is steep and twisty, brakes get a workout).
Why dive Saba
A few reasons it's special:
No coral bleaching of significance. Saba's reefs sit in deeper, more open water than most Caribbean reefs and haven't suffered the catastrophic bleaching events that have hit Florida or the Bahamas. Coral cover here is among the highest in the Atlantic.
Volcanic underwater landscape. Pinnacle dives at depths from 20-40m, dramatic walls, swim-throughs through volcanic boulder formations. Underwater scenery here is unlike standard Caribbean fringing-reef sites.
Pelagic visitors. The deep water around Saba attracts pelagic species — eagle rays, occasional Caribbean reef sharks, tuna, schools of jacks, the occasional whale shark in spring. Less common: bottlenose dolphins, manta rays.
Visibility 25-40m. Some of the clearest water in the eastern Caribbean.
Very few divers. Saba gets maybe 5,000-10,000 dive tourists a year. Compared to Cozumel's 500,000+, it's a different scale. You'll often have a site to your boat alone.
The dive sites
The standouts:
Diamond Rock. Pinnacle dive west of the island, max 30m. Wall drops past 40m. Schools of barracuda, big black grouper, occasional reef sharks. Currents can run strong — Advanced cert recommended.
Third Encounter. Pinnacle topping out at 20m, dropping to 35m+. The closest you'll get to seeing big pelagics in the marine park. Eagle rays are regular visitors.
Tent Reef Wall. Shallow start at 8m, drops to 30m. Easier site, good for younger or less experienced divers (and for the deeper-trained kids — Yusuf wasn't yet certified but we did the snorkel from the surface here).
Twilight Zone. Deep pinnacle, advanced. Coral pinnacles in 25-40m range. Big-fish photography.
Outer Limits. Far site, only dived in calm weather. Some of the best pelagic encounters in the park.
How to dive it
Three operators on the island, all small and well-regarded:
- Saba Divers (based in Windwardside)
- Sea Saba Advanced Dive Center (Windwardside)
- Saba Deep Dive Center (Fort Bay, where the dive boats actually leave from)
All offer two-tank morning trips at around $115-140 (including the marine park fee), certifications, equipment rental, and combined packages. Small boats — typically 6 divers max. Personal service.
For families: most operators are happy to take certified parents out while the non-diving family members do snorkel trips from the same boat. Younger kids over 10 can usually do the Discover Scuba shallow dive.
What to do beyond the diving (with or without kids)
Saba is small enough that you'll exhaust the "tourist things" in 2-3 days, but the diving is what fills the rest of the week.
Mount Scenery climb. 1,064 steep stone steps to the summit. About 2.5 hours up, 1.5 hours down. Through cloud forest, with frequent fog. Excellent. Kids over 8 can usually manage if they're outdoorsy. The summit has a small visitor's-book hut.
Windwardside walks. The main tourist village. Boutiques, cafes, small museums. The Harry L. Johnson Museum has Saban heritage exhibits — small but well-curated.
The Road tour. Take a taxi for an hour and drive the full length of "The Road" from The Bottom through Windwardside to Hell's Gate and back. The local cab drivers are excellent guides and the story of how the road was built is worth hearing.
Snorkelling at Cove Bay / Wells Bay. The few small accessible shore-snorkel spots. Cove Bay is the only "beach" on Saba and even that is mostly rocks. Good for younger kids.
Stargazing. Almost no light pollution. The night sky here is one of the darkest you'll see in the Caribbean.
Eating on Saba
Small island, limited restaurants, all good. A few standouts:
Tropics Cafe (Windwardside). Casual Caribbean-American with a Saban twist. Good for families.
Brigadoon (Windwardside). Slightly more upscale, fresh fish, beautiful sunset views.
Bizzy B Bakery (Windwardside). For breakfast and lunch. Pastries, sandwiches, the kids loved it.
Saban hot peppers — fiery little local peppers, used in everything. Try the homemade pepper sauce at any restaurant; bring a small bottle home.
Saba Spice — the local rum-and-spice liqueur, made by hand by a few families. Sweet, warming, gets you in trouble. Not for the kids.
Where to stay
A handful of small hotels and guesthouses, all in Windwardside or The Bottom. We stayed at Juliana's Hotel in Windwardside — small, family-friendly, owner-managed, walking distance to two dive operators. About $180 a night for a family room. The Queen's Gardens Resort (small luxury) and Scout's Place (mid-range with a popular bar/restaurant) are the other main options.
The whole island has maybe 200 hotel rooms total. Book early in dry season.
When to go
December-April is the dry-and-cool season. Best diving conditions, the busiest and most expensive months. Christmas-New Year is peak.
May-November is wetter. Daily afternoon rain. Sea conditions can get rough — some dive sites cancel. Hurricane season is June-November. The hurricane risk is real — Saba was hit hard by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and the rebuild took years.
We went in March. Conditions perfect.
Practical bits
Currency. US dollar. ATMs in The Bottom and Windwardside. Cards work at the bigger places; cash needed at smaller cafes and taxis.
Power. US-style 110V flat-pin plugs. Same adapters as the US.
Cell service. Patchy. Plan for downtime. WhatsApp works on WiFi at most cafes and hotels.
Language. English universally. Dutch official but spoken less in daily life.
Tipping. 10-15% at restaurants is standard. Round up taxis.
Dress. Caribbean-casual. The mountain climbs need proper hiking shoes, not flip-flops.
Combining the trip
Saba pairs best with Saint Maarten (your transit hub anyway) — give yourself 2-3 nights on Saint Maarten plus a 4-5 night Saba stay. From Saint Maarten you can also reach Anguilla, St Barts, or the wider Lesser Antilles. The Caribbean category page collects more from across the region. For tours in Saba, most are dive-anchored and the operator combinations include shore-based packages.
For another small-island reef-diving destination of comparable feel, Dominica's reefs is the natural pair — similar vibe, similar manageable scale for families, comparable diving quality.
Official sources
The Saba Marine Park is the official marine reserve site, with the current rules, mooring information, and the dive-fee structure. Saba Tourist Bureau covers the broader visitor info.
Last word
Saba is the kind of destination that rewards effort. The flights are weird, the landing is alarming, there's no beach, and the island is so small you'll memorise it by day three. But the diving is genuinely world-class, the marine park is one of the great Caribbean conservation success stories, and the slow pace of the place is the antidote to a too-busy Caribbean trip elsewhere.
A week minimum. Get certified before you arrive. Bring proper hiking shoes alongside the dive gear. The kids will remember the airplane landing forever. The trick is to embrace the smallness — Saba isn't trying to be anything else.