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Dive Review of SEA SABA/THE COTTAGE CLUB in
Saba

SEA SABA/THE COTTAGE CLUB, Feb, 2006,

by Earl E. Carpenter, IL, usa . Report 2318.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments [None]SABA “The Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean” is everything a Queen should be. It is very unique & totally unlike any thing else in the Caribbean. Like being in the Alps with an Ocean of Blue at your feet. Five miles square & 3000 feet high it’s truly unlike any other diver destination in the Caribbean. The gracious people of Saba were as beautiful & welcoming as their island & they seem to enjoy sharing it with their guest. Many years ago these people realized the value of their reefs & marine life & created a protected Marine Park & therefore have some of the best dive sites I’ve seen in this part of the world.

ACCOMMODATIONS Hotels range from individual cottages to a couple luxurious resorts. They all are small, very clean, & close to nature. Our group of six stayed at the “Cottage Club,” where each cabin had a complete kitchen, two queen sized beds, a deck facing the ocean, plenty of room & only a short walk to the center of the community of “Windwardside”. Our experience with restaurants ranged from “The Swinging Door” which was great for ribs, a beer, & swapping stories with the locals at the bar, to “Brigadoon” which could teach Boston something about Clam Chowder, a glass of wine, and a Chocolate Orgasm. I heard praises for the lobster, but never got that far down their great menu. We found prices on the island to be very reasonable, although be aware that some establishments include a 15% tip on the bill — thanks to non-tipping Europeans.

SEA SABA www.seasaba.com Enough cannot be said about the quality of this dive operation. From our first encounter via e-mail to set up arrangements for our group of six guys, to being picked up at the airport, being transported to the dive boats, the quality of the boats and the dive masters, to reservations for whatever we wanted to do after the days diving. When you contact Lynn at Sea Saba, she’s in the Dive Shop, she knows all the local conditions & doesn’t have to contact someone on the far off island for your answer. After your dive, she’ll ask where you want to eat, & then pick up the phone to make you reservations. Lynn & John run the best professionally run dive operation as we’ve experienced in the Caribbean. They have two 38' boats which could probably handle over 20 divers, but we never had over 10 divers & plenty of room for suiting up & getting on or off the boat. Other dive operations on Saba have smaller boats & the conditions looked less than acceptable to our group. Dive limitations were, “We’d like you to be back on the boat with about 500# of air,”a discussion of diving in a Protected Marine Preserve, and safe diving practices. In twelve dives, I never experienced an air tank with less than 3000# of air. The dive masters gave very good outlines of what to expect on each dive regarding it’s origin, it’s terrain & the marine life we should expect to encounter. You could dive with the dive master or on your own if you so chose. I could not imagine an experienced diver being anything but elated with the dive operation of SEA SABA.

DIVING SABA Saba promotes it’s deep diving on their Pinnacles at about 100'. I personally was more impressed with the diving from 40' to 70', with a wide variety of terrain, pinnacles, fingers, mini walls & sandy bottoms. And the quantity of marine life was over whelming, which shows the value of having a Protected Marine Park. I have not seen anywhere else in the Caribbean so many huge barrel sponges & such an abundance of Black Coral. My personal favorite dive site was Diamond Rock, — two pinnacles about 30' in diameter, raising from a sandy floor 75' to crashing waves hitting their sides, every bit covered with beautiful coral & teaming with untold numbers & varieties of marine life. AWESOME!!! You have not dove the Caribbean until you have experienced diving SABA.

SUMMARY SABA is the destination that every serious diver must experience. And like everyone in our group, once you’ve experienced it you will start planning your next trip to SABA. SEA SABA will rival any dive operation we’ve experienced in the Caribbean, friendly, professional, honest & entirely devoted to your enjoyment of your diving experience. We could not recommend them more highly. Our recommendation is that you SEE SABA with SEA SABA.........

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving GRAND CAYMAN, LITTLE CAYMAN, BELIEZE, UTILA, GRAND TURK & FLORIDA KEYS
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather rainy Seas calm
Water Temp 78-80°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 0
Water Visibility 80-110 Ft/ 24-34 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions BACK ON THE BOAT WITH 500# AIR IN THE TANK
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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