In SXM & contemplating a visit to Saba. Any suggestions on what to do there & also where to have lunch? Thank you.

Gracie,

Saba is my personal favorite of all the near islands. So much so after finally making our first daytrip we booked a short stay there a few years later. There’s not much in the line of shopping there and the big deal for Saba is hiking. Be prepared if that’s your thing - you will probably want to wear sturdy shoes and bring plenty of bottled water for the climb.

I trusy you know there’s no beach to speak of.

Our first time over we booked an all-day tour through our resort’s activity desk which included transportation via the Edge and a site-seeing expedition while there. This was a great first exposure. The taxi/bus/van picked us up off the boat and gave us a personal tour of the island. I think there may have been six of us in his comfortable van. We were glad we did it this way because the roads are NOT for the faint-hearted. They are narrow and windy and often times the turns are sharp and not always easy to navigate, even for the island drivers who are very familiar with them.

Our tour stopped in several places for photos and to allow a few hikers to be dropped off and later picked up again at the end of their trek.

The highlight of the tour for me was our wonderful lunch at the Queens Garden Inn, so much so that while enjoying our lunch on their patio under the trees, we KNEW we had to return and stay for a few days.

Saba is all about relaxing and chilling but if you are a hiker or a diver you will love it there, too. I do envy you......wish we were there too.

One word of caution - if the seas are st all rough, you might want to fly as opposed to taking the boat over. There’s a reason they call it the ‘Vomit Comet’ and while I had no problems with it, many on the boat did.

Everyone should experience the flight to Saba in their lifetime. If you go that way, be sure to have a video camera "locked and loaded". The landing is never to be forgotten.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a comprehensive recommendation. Appreciate it very much.

It was my pleasure and you are very welcome.

We had been going to SXM for twenty years, always saying that one of these trips we had to do Saba. When we actually did the trip did we were so happy to have finally seen it. If you’ve been to St. John, Saba reminds me somewhat of the time we stayed there but it’s smaller and around every corner there’s another photo op, and we didn’t even do the climb up Mt. Scenery. Daughter and Granddaughter tried but even my daughter gave up at the half or three quarter point. They didn’t have sturdy hiking shoes or water for the climb.

Our van tour took us through the hydroponic garden, made a stop at a beautiful little church where we got to check out the painting on the altar and we also stopped to look at and purchase some beautiful hand made Saba lace pieces and also some Saba Spice. It was a beautiful island day even if it didn’t include beaching.

But the best part of the day was enjoying our lunch in the garden at Queen’s Garden Inn.

We were on Saba a few years back to go diving. One of the great diving sites in the Caribbean. The landing and take off are pretty cool. I didn't care for the weather but put up with it. It's a small rocky island.

Yes it is a great Diving destination. I have 9 dives logged in Saba and everyone was super great. Always took the Edge, aka vomit comet, from SBRM to Saba. Well worth the trip.

We went to Saba quite a few years ago....hopefully will return this March. It is a beautiful island! We did the hike up the mountain, I really enjoyed this. If you decide to do the hike, make sure you have a good pair of sneakers or hiking shoes on. The path/rocks can be a little slippery. Back when we did it, there were little rest stations along the way to sit and relax. I don't know if this one section is technically called a rain forest, but it is very cool! They day we went it was misty raining.....the plants are huge and there also were/are monkey swinging around. We were not far from the top, when a group of people heading back down told us not to bother going the rest of the way.....it was so foggy you could barely see the person next to you let alone the volcano. There was a little shop at the base of the trail that you could by trinkets. The shop owner was a hoot......she had the best jokes....some would make you blush! At the time there was a restaurant that hung out over a cliff that we had lunch at.....absolutely gorgeous view and very good food. I can't remember the name...sorry, could be the one Pat went to, I'm just not sure. We also hired a taxi to give us a tour of the island.....that's and adventure in itself....LOL. As Pat mentioned, we also stopped at the little church where the ladies were selling their lace products. You should make plans to go.....it's lovely.

If you do plan on taking the hike take plenty of water. It's easy to get dehydrated.

The restaurant hanging over a cliff may be Scout's Place. We ate there a number of years ago and it felt like we were dining in the clouds. Puffy cloud formations floated by and seemed very close to us. Food as I recall was pretty good, the atmosphere and scenery was amazing! I regret that we haven't returned to Saba, it was a great adventure. My husband, myself, and my 3 children took the "Vomit Comet" and that name held true for 3/5 (not me!). Despite that very sad detail, all 5 of us enjoyed the island and the boat ride back to St. Martin was far more pleasant than the boat ride to Saba.

Hmmmm, your description of the restaurant as ‘hanging over the cliff’ sounds like an apt description of Queens Garden, too. The indoor dining room of the restaurant was very formal and many in our group chose to eat inside. We opted to eat on the patio and it was that lunch that made us HAVE to return for a short stay. The patio overlooked the valley below and it was incredibly beautiful as were all the greenery growing all around the patio. In fact, one of the people eating at our table actually had a piece of fruit fall and hit her on the shoulder. Since we never made it to Scouts Placeand judging by your description, it sounds like that must be the norm for Saba.

When wecstayed over at QGI we had one of the upper rooms with the built in hot tub but it was so cool in them thar Hills I had to wear a sweater when sitting on the living room sofa at night. It was chillyand the really strange thing was even with the living room lights on and no screens in the windows, we didn’t have one flying bug in the room.