What the Saba crossing asks of you
The ferry to Saba runs on a handful of afternoons a week, and the island it lands on has no beach to speak of. Both facts shape the trip more than the fare does.
By Camille Gumbs ·
Saba is the smallest of the Dutch Caribbean islands and the one people most often reach by air, in a Twin Otter, onto the shortest commercial runway in the world. The ferry is the quieter option and the one that asks more planning, because it does not run every day.
The shape of the week
The Makana Ferry works between Bobby's Marina in Philipsburg, on the Dutch side of St. Maarten, and Fort Bay on Saba's south coast. It sails on a handful of afternoons each week rather than daily, on a schedule built around the island's own rhythm rather than a tourist timetable. The operating days are published on the destination guide, which reads them from the operator's schedule; a day trip is possible on some of them and impossible on others.
Because the operator publishes days rather than a daily service, we treat a Saba crossing as a request rather than an instant booking. The operations desk confirms the operating day, the fare and the baggage allowance with the operator before anything is charged. That is slower than a checkout button and it is the honest way to sell a service that can be cancelled for weather.
What Fort Bay is, and is not
Fort Bay is a working harbour, not a resort arrival. The road up from it is the one road, and it climbs. Visitors heading for The Bottom or Windwardside are looking at a short drive with a great deal of altitude in it, which is worth knowing if anyone in the party is uneasy on mountain roads.
Saba has no real beach. What it has is the marine park, some of the most protected diving in the region, and a network of walking trails including the climb up Mount Scenery. People who arrive expecting sand are disappointed; people who arrive for the water and the walking tend not to be.
Before you book the crossing
Check the operating day first and the return second. The pairing matters more than either alone, because a crossing that lands on an afternoon with no return that suits turns a day trip into an overnight one, and Saba's accommodation is small and books up.
Sea conditions decide the rest. The channel is open water and the crossing is exposed; a sailing can move or be cancelled on the day. Anyone who knows they are a poor sailor should consider the aircraft instead, which is a short hop and lands somewhere memorable.
Current fares, published departure times and the request form are on the destination guide, which is updated from the operator's own schedule rather than from this piece.