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SABA
Hard to get to.  No beaches.  No nightclubs.  No casinos.
No fancy restaurants.  It╒s the Un-Caribbean.
So why go there?

 By LAN SLUDER
Copyright 1993, All Rights Reserved

╥We're going to crash!"  are famous first words on Saba.
 You may utter them yourself as the Winair Twin Otter sweeps by a
green volcanic mountainside and drops suddenly onto someone's short
drive way.
Nope, look again.  That's a landing strip, all 1,312 feet of it.
Miraculously, the pilot stops with one-third of the runway to spare.
Just 15 minutes  -- and about 50 years -- from busy Juliana Airport in St.
Maarten, Saba exists on a different level of reality from the duty-free
shopping and clothing-optional beaches of its sister Dutch West Indies isle.
Forget the Caribbean cliches of coconut palms, lazy beaches, resorts and
steel bands.  Saba is the un-Caribbean.  Off-the-beaten-track, a bother to get
to, the tiny five-square-mile island has no real beaches.   No casinos.   A
dozen restaurants, none of them with grand pretensions.
A hotel with 14 rooms is a big one here.  On a busy in-season day, the
island might get, oh,  80 or 90 visitors.  The average is about 65, compared to
almost 3,000 new arrivals a day on St. Maarten.
In all the Caribbean, only St. Eustatius gets fewer tourists.
So why spend your vacation on Saba?
Easy answer:   Saba is  the region╒s most unlikely yet perhaps most
interesting destination.
Here, gingerbread cottages with red roofs cling to hills, lending a fairy
tale quality.   Many of the residents, reserved but friendly, are descendents
of Shetland Islanders and are reputed to be among the Caribbean's best
fishermen.
Everything is clean as a pin, and folks still wash the steps of their
houses every morning.   Seemingly the only litter comes from overripe
mangos falling on "The Road," a six-mile ribbon of concrete, the island's
one and only,  built by hand by the self-sufficient Sabans, who -- it is said --
learned road-building techniques from a mail-order course.
Those who have been to Saba say they can╒t forget it.  It╒s been called the
Bali Hai of the Caribbean, hauntingly beautiful, happily undeveloped.

The High and the Deep
If you crave excitement and nightlife, don't come to Saba.
On an island with only 1,200 residents, 300 cars,  200  goats, and about
23,000 visitors a year,  a hectic day is a Heineken at the bar at Captain's
Quarters, and then a few hours watching the geckos catch flies.
Determined outdoors types, however, will find a good deal to do.
Strolling to the store for a Coke, for instance.   Saba's hills make San
Francisco look flat, and a walk from Lower Hell's Gate Upper Hell's Gate to
English Quarter to Windwardside , over to Booby Hill and then to The
Bottom, is an aerobic, not to mention a semantic,  workout of near-epic
proportions.
Adults in reasonable physical condition, and kids of almost any age, will
want to attempt the hike up Mt. Scenery.   Stone steps have been built --
1,064 of them -- up from Windwardside to the 2,855-foot peak, where there is
a Cable & Wireless tower and mahogany trees.    These are not steps like
those on your back porch.  These are the kind that  stretch your thigh
muscles an extra inch or two.
As you get near the top of Mt. Scenery, the rain forest micro-climate
means that the rock steps are extremely slick with moisture and moss.
Going down,  past tree ferns, begonias and huge heliconias,   is even worse
than going up.  You may find taking off your shoes and walking barefoot
will give you a better grip.  The views from the trail switchbacks are
stunning, though, and worth the pain.  Figure on at least a half-day for the
hike.
Once back in Windwardside, take a casual stroll through the Dutch
Caribbean as it used to be.  The Saba Museum in Windwardside ($1
donation) is a good starting point to appreciate the simple qualities of Saba.
Operated by volunteers, it is in a 19th century Saban house, still looking
much the way it must have when it was the home of a sea captain.
Shops on Saba are casual affairs, often begun from someone╒s back
window to serve neighbors and the occasional tourist.   The largest grocery
on Saba is Big Rock Market in Windwardside.  It has the selection of a good
convenience store in the U.S.
Shopping 'til you drop takes only four minutes.   Islanders make and
sell Saba lace, drawn-thread work in the Spanish style by way of Venezuela
(a tablecloth might be $200), unique resort and children╒s clothes at
moderate prices, and Saba spice, rum mixed with sugar, fennel, cloves and
other spices, about $5 for a hand-filled bottle.   The nicest selection are at the
Saba Artisan Foundation in The Bottom and at the community center next
to Queen of the Holy Rosary Church in Hell's Gate.
Another nice take-home is a water color or print from a Saban artist.
Try Heleen's Art Gallery in The Bottom.  Heleen Cornet, the owner,  has
done a series of lovely watercolors on the island's houses and buildings,
available as photographic prints.    Saban ladies also sell beads and trinkets
for a dollar or two in make-shift booths in The Bottom and elsewhere.
Cemeteries have grave markers in white and Delft-blue porcelain, and
about two out of five graves hold someone named Hassell, one of the leading
families on this closely held island.
Scuba freaks say Saba offers some of the best diving and snorkeling in
the Caribbean.  Saba Marine Park, encircling Saba,  was established in 1987
to protect Saba's black coral caves and undersea mountains.  Saba Deep,
Sea Saba and Wilson's Dive Shop offer day and night trips to Saba's more
than two dozen dive spots.  Several hotels have dive packages.   Not to worry:
The island even has its own hyperbaric chamber.
Its reputation as the beachless isle to the contrary, Saba actually has a
small beach, thanks to hurricane winds which opened a small gray sand
spit near Well's Bay.    However, it is seasonal, useable in summer only,
and only by the adventuresome who are willing to risk a long walk down
and back just to see if the walking beach is there.    Local kids also swim at
Fort Bay, and there╒s a swimming area at Flat Point near the airport.  You
could find better beaches in Kansas.
For those who just want to see sights, not conquer them, Saba is an
extraordinary pleasure.  No Caribbean island is more photogenic.  An
afternoon's walk around Windwardside or The Bottom will reward you
with bucolic scenes of  a donkey beside the weathered remains of a cottage,
or surprise you with a collage of alpine greens and terra cotta reds.
Evenings can be uncannily still, with the only sound a dog barking from
Hell╒s Gate and the only sight the lights of Philipsburg, St. Maarten,
twinkling like tomorrow in the distance.


# # #

Lan Sluder's travel articles have appeared in many publications
around the world including  the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times,
Newsday, Miami Herald, New Orleans Business, Bangkok Post,
International Magazine, The Tico Times  (Costa Rica,) and Country
Journal.  He is Caribbean Section Leader on CompuServe╒s Travel Forum.


* * *
Where to Stay and Eat:  Cozy Inns and Bargain Villas
Inns on Saba are all small personality places, with rates well below
those prevailing in most of the rest of the Caribbean.  At present, the island
has about 50 hotel rooms.  A new condo resort, Queens Gardens Resort,
being developed now, will eventually add 39 units to the market, and other
properties are in the planning stage.
The island╒s most interesting hotel is  Cranston's Antique Inn in The
Bottom, the little capital town of Saba.  Formerly a government guesthouse
which in 1955 hosted The Netherlands' Queen Juliana (in Room 1),
Cranston's has six rooms, furnished with antiques and four-poster beds.
Cranston's is 130 years old and while it shows its age in places, it is a
delightful place to stay, eat, or have a drink in the patio bar.  Double, $50 in
season,  plus 10% service and Saba's 5% tax.  Rates here and elsewhere on
Saba are lower off-season, but the discount generally isn't as great as on
other islands.   Phone [phone] (from the U.S., dial 011 first.)
Everybody knows Captain's Quarters in Windwardside.    The main
structure, built about 1900, was a sea captain's house.  It has something of
a New England cum Key West feel, with 10 airy rooms, furnished with
antiques, popular restaurant, delicious pool, and separate bar with
wonderful views of the Caribbean.   Windwardside, at 1,800 feet and with
breezes blowing,  is usually cooler than elsewhere on the island.  $125,
double,  in season, with continental breakfast.  Phone [phone], fax 599-4-
62377.
The most-popular hotel may be Scout's Place ("cheap ╘n cheerful") in
Windwardside, just up the hill from Captain's Quarters.   With 14 rooms --
the largest hotel on Saba -- a restaurant many consider the best on the
island,  pool, and a new shop addition, Scout's is popular with divers and
repeat visitors.  The restaurant and bar, with a view to beat the band,
serves stewed goat and fresh fish, and big sandwiches at lunch.   Double,
$85, phone [phone].
The best place to stay on Saba isn't a hotel but one of the houses rented by
enterprising Sabans.  Top choice are the cottages and apartments from
Saba Real Estate, N.V.  Ruth Hassell, a young Dutch-born anthropologist,
and her husband, Danny,  have built several houses and now rent these
and other properties at bargain rates, starting at just $240 weekly plus 5%
tax in season.  On most islands, you'd pay that for a single night.
Three of the properties have private pools, a rarity on Saba where the
chief source of water is from cisterns.  If you like authentic island
architecture, you will love the  Saban-style gingerbread cottage on Booby
Hill.  With two bedrooms, two baths, fully equipped kitchen, porch and
private pool, and a storybook view of the Caribbean far below, it rents for
$120 a night for two persons, or $775 weekly, plus tax.  Phone [phone],
fax [phone].
Check with the Saba Tourist Bureau for a list of the 20 or so houses and
apartments for rent on the island.
Don't expect culinary adventures on Saba. Aside from the hotel
restaurants at Scout's, Captain's Quarters and Cranston's, where full
dinners run about $15 to $25, the island has about a dozen independents, all
inexpensive to moderate in price ($10 to $20 for dinner).   For hot pizza and a
cold beer, try Guido's near Windwardside.  Queenie's Serving Spoon in The
Bottom serves local dishes, including curried goat and soursop ice cream.
    --Lan Sluder

* * *
Practical Matters
Guidebooks:  The best (and only) general guidebook dedicated solely to
Saba is Saba, The First Guidebook, by Paul Pfanstiehl, a native Saban, and
his wife Natalie.  This charming little guide, first published in 1985, has
been updated with a separate supplement.  Guide and supplement, $12,
available at shops and the Tourist Bureau on Saba.  Birnbaum╒s, Fodor╒s,
Frommer╒s and other guides to the Caribbean all include coverage of Saba.
Visitor Information:  The Saba Tourist Bureau in Windwardside is
efficient.  For first-hand help and information, dial 0599-4-62231 or fax 599-
4-62350.  Saba's tourism contact in the U.S.  is handled by Medhurst &
Associates,  toll-free 800-344-4606.
Language:  English is spoken by nearly everyone.
Money:  The Netherlands Antilles gilder is fixed at about 1.79 to the U.S.
dollar.  Dollars are accepted everywhere.
Entry Requirements:   Entry procedures at Saba's tiny airport are
informal but efficient -- this is a Dutch island.   A current passport is
advised, but an expired passport, birth certificate or voter registration card
will usually do.  You're also supposed to have an onward ticket.  Saba is a
free port, so there's no customs hassle.
Getting There:  The best way is to fly Winair  (Windward Islands
Airways) from St. Maarten.  Five flights a day, about $55 round trip.
Winair is one of the better Caribbean island hoppers, but schedules are set
to island time.  You can also get to Saba by boat from St. Maarten.  A new,
larger airport for Saba has been planned for several years, but the current
status is undecided.  Pray it doesn't materialize.
Car Rental:  Don't do it.  The first car did not come to the island until
1947, and still today "The Road" is too steep, too narrow and too short for
comfortable driving.  Take a taxi instead, or walk.  If you absolutely must,
Scout's, Johnson's Car Rentals (phone [phone]) and Doc's Car Rentals
(599-6-2271)  have cars for about $30 to $40 a day, unlimited mileage.  Day
trippers to Saba can get a taxi tour of the island for $35 (up to four people).
--Lan Sluder