In January 2007
Octopus magazine, a leading Russian dive magazine printed an article about
Explorer Ventures Northeastern Caribbean trip. Below is the article in english. A
pdf version is available and includes beautiful photos with the text in russian.
By Kasey Canton
Seemingly a world away, in time and space, the idyllic waters of the Caribbean Sea are parted from the vast, mysterious, and sometimes blustery Atlantic Ocean by a breathtaking sprinkle of volcanic islands. Amongst those islands, Saba, St. Eustatius (fondly known as Statia), and St. Kitts lie sparsely inhabited, and profound in their bio diversity above and below the surface. It is these islands, and their surrounding marine parks, that I've been privileged to explore with the attentive crew of Caribbean Explorer II.
This journey began on the wild side of the Caribbean, the indulgent island of St. Maarten. Although St. Maarten is better known for its beautiful women and decadent nightlife, it lies just 50km north of the sleepy nature island of Saba.
We couldn't have asked for better weather for our journey. At the peak of hurricane season, tropical systems in the Northern Atlantic had calmed the waters in this region, leaving us with winds under10kph, virtually no swells, and an average water temperature of 30C. Under the expert guidance of Fergi, our capable Canadian captain, the crossing to Saba was tranquil, and our arrival at the island was absolutely inspiring.
Saba rises violently from a black rocky coastline, through a ring of clouds, and onward to the heavens 900m above sea level. The rocks at the shoreline are redundant pyramids, broad at the base then narrowing sharply into peaks, and repeating both laterally and into the distance - a pattern not unlike the ragged teeth of a shark's mandible. As we approached, the singing of wild birds was interrupted only by the call of a wild goat reverberating from the hillside. Apparently, momma goat had lost her kids.
The pyramids of Saba are a recurrent theme. The shapes of hillside rocks are mirrored by the volcanic peak of Mt. Scenery. 100m off Saba's NW shore, another pyramid, Diamond Rock, juts from the surface alongside two "sister" pyramids. A bit further offshore, and submerged beneath 30m of clear, blue Caribbean water, yet another pyramid rises abruptly from the seafloor creating one of the most spectacular dive sites I've ever explored - Saba's Eye of the Needle.
The Eye is the featured attraction at a larger dive site, called 3rd Encounter. A series of ledges and ridges start at 20m, then fall sharply to a bottom well beyond recreational limits. Out of that bottom, however, rises a single tower, the Eye of the Needle.
An image of the Eye has been perfectly and permanently etched into my memory. Thousands of needlefish and schooling jacks circled in a silvery blur. Blacktip reef sharks patrolled, stealthily orbiting the monument. A spectacle of the blue, we found the Eye completely encrusted with hard and soft corals. Prized black corals swayed in the currents of the deep, and enormous barrel sponges dangled from its ridges. Undisturbed by our presence, a hawksbill turtle plodded clumsily over an elephant ear sponge, while a second munched contently on some large yellow tube sponges.
Caribbean reef sharks and even a great hammerhead had been spotted in prior weeks, here. When exploring the Eye, you will come to expect the unexpected. The experience of the site cannot be described in words, nor captured in photographs. The visceral dynamism of being there has to be felt in the pit of one's stomach.
Sadly, even on 32% EAN, not much time could be spent on the Eye. The ascent through to the 3rd Encounter site was equally enchanting, however. The walls of submerged rivers, where molten lava once flowed, now rise as multicolored ridges from the ocean's floor. A large male green turtle and a rotund Nassau grouper investigated our dive team. Rock hinds and snapper moved about fearlessly between hundreds of small sea fans and sea whips, with abundance only possible in Saba's 20 years old marine reserve.
Second in fame only to the Eye, the Diamond Rock site consists of three great pinnacles that rise from the sea floor at 30m. The largest of the three is Diamond Rock itself, which peaks 15m above the surface. A smaller rock abuts it and rises to half that elevation, while the third's peak is hidden 5m beneath the surface of the sea. Diamond Rock might be the blenny capital of the universe. Jennifer, our video pro and one of the senior staff of the Explorer Ventures vessel line, assured us that it was at least the blenny capital of the Caribbean! Sailfins, Relipped, Spinyhead, and Secretary blennies were impressively abundant. Although not typical for this site, I caught only a blur of these and other critters as we zipped by in a powerful current. Seemingly in consolation, however, a friendly hawksbill turtle and a spotted eagle ray accompanied us for the entirety of this dive, as if they'd been reassured by the local park rangers that we'd do them no harm.
The blessing of perfect weather allowed us to explore the Atlantic side of Saba. Dave's Drop off and Big Rock Market featured fingers of hard coral cover interspersed with black sandy chutes. Running a hand through the black sand offered a reminder that this is an active (though dormant) volcano. The deep sand is warm to touch, and if you look closely you'll notice gaseous bubbles percolating to the surface!
These dives sported healthy brain coral and star corals, vase sponges and tube sponges and hundreds of small sea fans. These healthy structures support a plethora of fish life. Shortstripe gobies. blennies of various species, moderate sized groupers, rock beauties, queen angels, trunkfish and surgeonfish were in great abundance. Investigating ledges and overhangs, we discovered delightful kaleidoscopes of color, accentuated by arrow crabs, decorator crabs, hermit crabs and shrimp of more varieties than one could count.
The shallowest sites of Saba lie directly along the shoreline, where the dramatic topography of the island continues into the sea, creating wonderful opportunities for creative wide angle photography. The shoreline cliffs of Saba plunge dramatically to the seafloor at 15m. Fallen boulders adorn that sea floor, have fallen over centuries from Saba's volatile shoreline. The effect is a great cathedral as sunlight is scattered through the waves as they beat against the shoreline. Approaching the shore, undulating with the surge, we were treated to a cosmic show of water, air, and light, as foamy surface waters spiraled downwards, then retreated abruptly. Schools of tang and doctorfish traversed the rocky bottom, along with an impressive variety of plump grouper. Looking closer, between the new sponge growths, we found many lettuce sea slugs including the rarer blue variety. Other nudibranchs, crabs, and shrimp made their homes between these volcanic rocks.
The dives around Saba varied tremendously, with the common thread of proliferative marine life of a mature marine reserve. From the dramatic seascapes at the Eye; to the brain corals, star corals, and vase sponges offshore; to the shoreline boulders, tunnels, and pavilions of light; Saba may offer the most diverse marine environment in the Eastern Caribbean. Our guides, Chad and Jennifer, were completely dedicated to finding us interesting critters to photograph and observe, in addition to assuring our safety and comfort.
Before departing, we were treated to a land tour of the island. Having accumulated substantial nitrogen during the prior days, we limited our tour to the lower 2/3 of Saba's great Mt. Scenery.
Saba is host to fewer than 1500 inhabitants. European countries have exchanged ownership of the island 12 times in the last 300yrs, and today it has confirmed its Dutch heritage as one of the Netherland Antilles. The people of Saba are impressively diverse for its miniscule land mass and population. They range from dark Africans, to olive Latinos, to fair people of Spanish and Dutch descent. Their English dialect is a similar compilation and sometimes unintelligible to the inattentive listener.
After a short dingy ride into Fort Bay, we journeyed up a serpentine path known simply as The Road, to a village called The Bottom, then on to a second village - Windward Side. Clearly Sabans have not put great thought into naming their infrastructure, but I suppose there is a refreshing simplicity in these methods. The Sabans do, however, take tremendous pride in their development -impressive on an island of such geological adversity. The Road is also known as "The Road that Couldn't be Built" due to the early surveys of Dutch settlers. For centuries there were only stairs across the island, and donkey trails to facilitate the movements from villages to the shore. The Road took 20 years to hand build between the years of 1938-1958. As we wound The Road skyward, the arid landscape became acutely greener, denser, and cooler. Acacia and shrubbery yielded to thicker grasses, red flamboyants, and fruit trees like mangoes and calabash. Ironically, it was quite a climb before entering The Bottom, a small plateau around which several volcanic domes rise dramatically in each direction. Climbing further, we neared a ring of clouds that perpetually lingers, concealing the peak of Mt. Scenery. For risk of the bends, we could go no further, but I was assured that the rainforest canopy thickening above us teemed with the birds, insects, and other diversity of a true rainforest.
Our tour complete, a downpour began as we descended the serpentine Road. Driving in Saba is not for the light hearted, and doubly so in the rain. A river quickly formed gushing down either side of our little tour bus. Perhaps the road could be built, but it probably shouldn't be driven in the rain! As our driver expertly navigated the blind switchbacks, I seriously contemplated financing a brake and transmission shop on this miniscule rock.
Thoroughly in awe of this morsel of paradise, the time came too soon to move on to the sister island of Statia. Also one of the Netherland Antilles, Statia's volcanic origins built similarly dramatic topography. The northern mountains of Statia dip into a mid-island trough, which is home to most of the 2000 people that live there. The southern mountains ring a crater known as the Quill. At 300m, this enormous crater is now a fully wooded rainforest complete with wild birds, and even an indigenous snake. Our 83year old tour guide, Mr. Daniels, treated us to a historic tour of the islands. Mr. Daniels is a remarkable historian, and truly a man of the world tending to this little island. In his tour bus, he shared with us personal letters of commendation written by the President of the United States, among other world leaders. Most notably, Mr. Daniels holds one of the 25 surviving original copies of the Declaration of Independence. Apparently, Statia was one of the first countries to recognize the sovereignty of the United States, and the keeping of this historic document has been handed down to Mr. Daniels.
Diving Statia was, in some ways, more of the same. In this case, that is a good thing. The diving here most resembled the offshore sites of Saba, with rolling spur and groove formations interspersed with black sand. Started in 1996, Statia's marine park is a bit younger than, Saba's, and there are still some fishing areas in the park. Thus, the abundance of grouper in Saba was not mirrored here. Monstrous Caribbean lobster seemed to thrive in their absence, however. Under every ledge, in threes and fours, were 6-8 pound lobsters. At Anchor point we were treated to sandy fields of yellow-headed jawfish and many Southern stingrays. Parrotfish of various species, some exceptionally large, munched on brain corals. Between hard corals and rocks we discovered spotted and goldentail morays, and octopi awaiting dusk to begin their hunt.
And dusk was when Statia's reefs truly came alive. Double Wreck is only the stone ballast and anchor remnants of the wrecks that sunk there in the 17th century, as the wooden hulls have been completely reclaimed by the sea. This site has become a fish nursery, and a haven for crustaceans. Octopi entertained us in their colorful hunt, maneuvering from rock to rock in a velvety ballet. The schools of juvenile goatfish that paraded by day were much less active now, but the lobsters that we'd found hiding in crevices now walked boldly in the sand. An eerie dance of the hunting and the hunted took place before us.
Just a few km south of Statia, we motored by night to the independent island country of St. Kitts. An island of more considerable development, efforts are currently underway to develop a marine park here in the image of its neighbors. The fish life was less prolific here, but the macro life was outstanding. It was here that our entire dive team became entranced by sailfin blennies. Captain Fergi guided us on the dives here, promising that the macro life was unique. What we found exceeded his lofty expectations! We came upon a sand flat at Monkey Shoals with hundreds of sailfin blennies - displaying, bickering, and warring for mates and territory. The interaction between these critters is downright mesmerizing. Dive after dive I planted my camera in 10m of water and inched forward, studying their behavior through my viewfinder. At a distance, they would fully levitate, fanning their fins, posturing for a mate. Creep in a bit closer and they'd still display, though not quite as exuberantly. But find two blennies in close proximity to each other, and a whole new show begins. Dominant sailfins hissed and gestured at each other, then darted out of their rocks to fight for a bigger den, or impress a blenny of the opposite sex. Most amazingly, they seemed much more disturbed by the blenny next door than by this bubble blowing, flash firing behemoth in a clumsy approach.
Those divers that tore themselves from our sailfin obsession reported yellow-head blennies, pike blennies, secretary blennies, spiny-head blennies...Well, you get the idea. Blennies teem here, as do jacks and parrotfish and other prized creatures like seahorses and flying gurnards. Patches of star and brain corals were adorned with healthy portions of yellow tube sponges, and myriad small colorful fans. An eagle ray hunted crustaceans on the sand, and by the end of my second dive glued to the bottom, it seemed completely comfortable digging its catch right next to me.
Too soon, our term expired, and we motored into Basseterre, the island's capital. Our week of luxurious indulgence had expired. Tony, our Jamaican chef, had packed an extra kilo or two onto our thighs with his exceptional cuisine - Tony's bubbly personality and cheery disposition was surpassed only by his magnificent pastries.
Explorer Ventures had one more treat for us, however, an island tour featuring the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Brimstone Hill Fortress. Overlooking the Northwest shore of the island, this mammoth fort took a century to build. The original European Settler of St. Kitts (then called St. Christopher) was Sir Thomas Warner, whose tomb lies at the base of Brimstone Hill. His arrival in 1624, was followed in 1625 by the arrival a battered French warship and its sailors. The French and English colonists joined forces initially, in a mission to eradicate the indigenous Caribs. The genocide culminated in the1626 massacre of the natives at Bloody Point. Those few Caribs that survived fled by canoe to the island of Dominica, the only island that today harbors descendants of the seafaring tribe.
Their common enemy defeated, the Europeans quickly turned their animosity towards each other. In 1690 the Fortress was begun as a military stronghold, and to stand as a monument to English power. The French left peacefully in 1713, but the construction continued at the hands of African slaves until its near-completion in 1782, when the French returned with force to overtake the island and the Fortress.
Over 200m from base to peak, the solid walls were crafted from bricks of volcanic limestone - limestone from the same mountainside that had to be painstakingly excavated to build the foundation of the Fortress. As regional peace took hold in the 18th and 19th centuries, the forest's monkeys and vines reclaimed the masterpiece. It was only in the early 1900s that a movement took hold to restore this monument to St. Kitts' history. Walking the crest of the fortress, canons pointed out to the sea, is an awe inspiring experience. 5 islands can be observed from this stronghold. Statia, Saba, St. Bart's and St. Maarten lie to the north. Nevis, St.Kitts' sister island lies to the south. Standing there, the strategic importance of this fortress became abundantly clear, as did the startling beauty of these majestic islands.
A week of exploration and diving behind me, I dismantled my cameras confident that I'd experienced some of the best diving the Caribbean has to offer. I was pleased to see that the citizens of these special islands were aware of their unique ecology and history. Their embrace of ecotourism, establishment of marine parks, and intelligent management of resources indicated a commitment to the future, and an assurance that this sliver a paradise shall remain just that.
