Saba – The tiny slice of pure paradise

There are regular ferries from Sint Maarten with a connection from Simpsons Bay three times a week and another from Phillipsburg a different three days a week. The journey over was lovely with some great people to chat to and a couple who were going to visit the commissioner on the island and promised to introduce me to help find boats southwards. My hopes dwindled as I saw the port, one building and very few boats larger than a dingy. We asked around with the help of the commissioner and discovered that the ferry to Statia advertised online did not exist anymore and that there was only one local on the island who ever went there and he wasn’t doing so any time soon. Saba is far too expensive for me to wait around in to get lucky with a private boat so I resigned myself to returning to St Martin or flying.

The hike to the summit of the volcano, the highest point in The Netherlands, is hot and sticky but really rewarding, as long as you don’t get dragged around the muddy side of the mountain by relying on an unsecured rope (bad idea!!). Back in town I met wonderful people to socialise with in the lovely restaurants and my hotel, had incredible food and generally came the closest to true holiday relaxation of any part of my Caribbean travels.

I also have to tell you about the remarkable little airport that they built here. There is almost no flat land on the island so it’s impressive they were ever able to build one in the first place. It has the shortest commercial runway in the world, surrounded on 3 sides by steep cliffs. Only tiny planes with very little fuel onboard can land, if they are carrying more than what’s required to get back to St Martin they won’t be able to take off. The terminal is a single building, there is no security and a very casual immigration. The landing looks scary and the take-off was nerve-wracking, they have to spin the plane right at the end of the runway, by the cliffs and accelerate at full speed, leaving the ground barely before the next cliff. The views back over the volcano are incredible once you are airborne. The island was the backdrop for King Kong, Skull Island and it is precisely that iconic view.

Brief History

I was completely unaware of any of the history of the Caribbean Islands when I visited. While travelling around and writing these articles I became curious and decided to include a brief history of each. I hope you find it interesting.

Saba has a unique history for the Caribbean. It was inhabited by the Ciboney then the Arawak peoples and was spared European colonisation for centuries due to its tiny size, imposing cliffs and lack of places to dock. The French, British and Dutch all attempted to settle the island, sometimes due to being shipwrecked there and it wasn’t fully occupied until 1816, by the Dutch. It also regularly acted as a haven for smugglers and pirates. As trade in the region developed Saba became “The island of women” as the men left to sea and the women created a valuable trade in Saba lace.

The island was very hard to develop due to the cliffs and steep slopes but a road (called “The Road”) was successfully constructed in 1943, an airport in 1963 and a larger pier in 1972. These are still the only major infrastructure on the island but allowed tourism to become the largest sector of the economy, primarily ecotourism, scuba diving and hiking

Last Updated: May 2020