One of the reasons my bliki entries have been quiet recently is that I've spent a week at one of my favorite places in the world. Saba is a very small island in the Caribbean, close to St Martin. In many ways the best things about Saba are the things it doesn't have. There are no beaches, no golf courses, no casinos. The mass tourism and resort complexes that litter so much of the Caribbean have ignored Saba since it's too small and too hilly. As a result the island is wonderfully quiet and relaxed.

As a result only a few tourists go to Saba. For those that do the main activity is diving. Saba is surrounded by coral reefs in a marine park, and the resulting diving is excellent. (However since the reefs are 30' and deeper, there is nothing for snorkelers.) Most of the diving is a short boat ride from the harbor, so you can take your surface time on shore and quickly get to the next dive site when you're ready. When I go I dive with Saba Deep, who like to run small group dives. Often I've dived with them with only a couple of other divers.

Saba also has nice hiking trials that can fill a couple of days. The most popular gives you the irresistible opportunity to hike to the top of the tallest mountain in the kingdom of the Netherlands (around 3000 ft). My favorite trail is the Sandy Cruz trail which loops around the rain forest on the north slopes of Mount Scenery.

The island's vertical nature yields quite a few special stories. Such as the island's road. They got Dutch civil engineers to survey a road early this century and were told it couldn't be built. So one of the islanders took a correspondence course in civil engineering and the islanders built the road themselves. My wife (a structural engineer) appreciated both the road and the Dutch engineer's reaction - apparently that road would break just about every building code in the US. The airstrip is a similar story, it's the shortest landing strip you are ever likely to land on. Sit by right hand window and you'll swear that that wing will scrape the mountainside going in. But in 30 years there's never been an accident.

The last couple of times I've gone to Saba I've stayed at the Gate House. It's a comfortable B&B with excellent food and wine. The small friendly nature of the island was summed up the first time we went. The immigration officer at the airport said - oh yes you'll be staying at the Gate House, Vincent's here to take you up in his taxi.