Dive the Sea Saba Difference
Chad NuttallFrom shallow patch reefs to deepwater seamounts, Saba offers interesting diving at each depth and for every diver's experience level.
Before Chad & Katy Nuttall became the owners of Sea Saba, they were scuba divers who traveled the world, which gave them a first-hand look at the way various dive shop owners conducted business.
“We realized that not all shops tried to offer an experience from the perspective of the customer,” says Chad. “At Sea Saba, we try to be customer service-focused.” That philosophy underscores the dive shop’s motto: “Dive the Sea Saba Difference.”
That emphasis on customer service touches every aspect of the Sea Saba experience. The PADI 5-Star Resort takes guests to the Saba Marine Park’s 30 protected dive sites, all of which are just a short trip from the island’s harbor, Fort Bay.
The five-square-mile island is actually the peak of a dormant volcano. Eons ago, seismic activity shaped not only the dramatic and beautiful topside views but also created the diverse underwater topography that includes drop-offs, caves, tunnels and pinnacles.
Chad NuttallA friendly Saba resident.
Whatever your skill level, you’ll find diving that matches your skill and comfort level. Shallow sites such as Tent Reef and the Ladder Bay area are perfect for new divers. The moorings are in about 40 feet of water; divers can follow a gentle slope down to a deeper depth if they’d like or stay shallow and cruise along the top of the reef, which features lava fingers and sand chutes that are home to stingrays, garden eels and passing sea turtles.
The deeper walls and pinnacles, such as Third Encounter and Shark Shoals, attract Caribbean reef sharks, hawksbill turtles and moray eels. Occasionally, silky or hammerhead sharks will make an appearance.
“We have different pinnacles that require different skill levels, ranging from the ones where you’re swimming over a blue bottom, and the depth is well below recreational limits, to other, pinnacle-like experiences, where there is a bottom at 75 to 80 feet,” says Nuttall. These sites offer divers the chance to circumnavigate the base and then slowly spiral up.
Man ’O War Shoals is one of those pinnacle-like dive sites. It starts at the bottom and reaches to within 15 feet of the surface. “It’s actually two little pinnacles with a saddle in between, so you can do a figure-eight around it as you come up,” says Nuttall.
Chad NuttallOne of Saba’s many plummeting pinnacles.
Saba is a popular location for divers seeking to take advanced courses, such as the nitrox and deep diver specialties. “We are one of the better places in the Caribbean to come and do a deep diver specialty,” says Nuttall. “We have a lot of unique sites where you can reach depths that you can dive easily, in a safe and controlled manner; plus, there’s so much down there to see.”
Sea Saba currently has three boats, and is awaiting delivery of a fourth. The two 40-foot Deltas take out a maximum of 10 divers, and the 40-foot Evans, with a little wider beam, takes out a maximum of 14 divers. “We have a brand-new 46-foot Newton coming in May, and we’re going to be limiting that boat to 20 divers maximum,” Nuttall says. “We have a lot of requests from larger groups that want to dive together, so we needed a boat that would allow them to do that. That circles back to our customer-first perspective.”
Another aspect of Sea Saba’s approach to customer service is its approach to its schedule. “Our diving day starts at 9 in the morning, so you don’t have to get up at 6:30 a.m. to get on the boat,” Nuttall says. “We do three dives a day, 364 days a year.”
“We do our best to make the customer feel important,” says Nuttall. “We want them to feel they are the primary reason for what we are doing. That to us is the ‘Sea Saba Difference.’”
Contact Information:
+599 4162246
