/Saba

Just a short ferry ride from Dutch St Maarten is another Dutch treat called Saba. This island cone of an extinct volcano is lush, green and hilly with outrageous undersea coral gardens and picture-postcard hamlets and villages.

Saba is a special high for nature lovers. There is only one road, appropriately called The Road. So you can't get lost on this five-square-mile isle once owned by France, Spain and Great Britain but now an overseas part of The Netherlands. Head for Windwardside to see the Saba Museum, once "home port" of a Dutch sea captain. Among its antiques is a four-poster mahogany bed with carvings of pineapples, that quintessential symbol of hospitality. There are also artifacts from pre-Columbian times and 1772 hurricane mementos. There is a bust of Simon Bolivar, "South America's George Washington" who came to Saba seeking soldiers in Bolivar's efforts to free South America from Spanish rule.

Among Saba shopping opportunities is the island's special lace with its unique needlework.

There are no beaches but the scuba diving and snorkelling are awesome at the Saba Marine Park, established in 1987. Some 29 deep and shallow dives can be arranged.

The local drink speciality is Saba Spice, a blend of 151-proof cask rum, brown sugar, anise seed, cinnamon and nutmeg. Casual outdoor dining on West Indian, American, Chinese and fresh-caught seafood is the order of the day. There are only a couple of night clubs but no shortage of small bars where you can relax in tropical tranquillity or chat away into the "whee" hours.

Saba's capital is appropriately called The Bottom. It reclines at the bottom of a green valley 820 feet above sea level. Look for The Gap, where you can descend 524 steps to Ladder Bay, the site where the first settlers brought their worldly goods "up to The Bottom," so to speak.

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