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You may be surprised to find Saba's sister island St. Eustatius or more commonly called "Statia" to be quite a different island experience. Statia is only 18 miles from Saba and can be easily reached with an 8-minute direct Winair flight each day. Like Saba, Statia has not been exploited by cruise ships or timeshare properties. Actually, we think of Statia as Saba was 15 years ago with its tourism product still being refined.
Why Statia? Different Diving A New Wreck Dive Operators Although diving tourism has been on Statia since the 80's, The Statia Marine Park was not officially established until 1997. Moorings are in place at the 38 official dive sites of the park. The considerable leeward side of Statia affords easy access to dive sites. Like Saba, any diving around Statia must be done through a local dive operator. Three professional dive shops can be found just south of Statia's harbor where the remains of ballast stone warehouses are part of the lovely scenery along Statia's boardwalk. From the boardwalk, trek up the Slave Path to Fort Oranjstaad. The now panoramic view once served as the strategic positioning for threatening forces arriving by sea.
Statia was the first nation to recognize the U.S. flag once they
declared their independence from England. This came at a price
with the British soon destroying the many warehouses along the seawall
below Fort Oranjstaad. In addition to Statia's healthy reefs and
abundant fish life, interesting finds are common in the sandy, shallow
areas closer to Statia's shoreline. Look for a pipefish or
blue-throated pike blenny as you scour the sand for blue beads.
Blue beads can be bought at gift shops but finding one while diving is
considered true treasure. The blue glass beads were made in
Holland but sent to the Dutch West Indies and where they were used to
value slaves in the 1800's. Like wrecks? Statia has a few to
please--read about the latest wreck from
our "Latest News"
page in August
2003... Nearby
Statia is Wrecked!
Map of Statia and its dive sites--coming soon...
This page last updated on 09/22/2006 from our Windwardside office. |
Excuse to visit Saba #33: The
nearby island of Statia (St. Eustatius) has long been planning the sinking
of M/V Charles L. Brown, more commonly referred to on Satia as
The Charlie Brown. The 300' (100m) cable ship acquired for purposes of an artificial
wreck has now met its final resting spot. On its own, the ship sunk a day ahead of press time but to
the delight of locals, exactly as hoped: the forward section in
approximately 45' (15m) and the stern in approximately 105' (32m).
Charlie Brown is the second artificial reef created on Statia.
The first was the STENAPA project, now known as "Wreck City".
"Double Wreck" and "Triple Wreck" are dive sites with multiple natural
shipwrecks. Additionally, there's inaccessible wreckage that is
located outside the park's limits in heavily trafficked shipping lanes. Divers
looking for authentic treasure can experience the thrill of finding real treasure.
Original "blue beads", glass beads used in slave trading in earlier
centuries, are still abundant. The beads are found on shallow shore
dives--but, if you can't find one and can't live without one, a few are
for sale on the island. 
