Medical Facilities

Hospital: A.M. Edwards Medical Center
Telephone: 599-416-3239 / 416-3288 / 416-3289
One Resident Doctor and Registered Nurses oversee this medical facility.

Saba Marine Park Hyperbaric Facility

Telephone: 599-416-3295 Fax: 599-416-3435
This four-person re-compression chamber is administered by the Saba Marine Park and operated by a staff of specially trained volunteers. It has been operating since 1980 and serves the Eastern Caribbean region.

Contact: Saba Marine Park
P.O. Box 18
Fort Bay, Saba
Netherlands Antilles

SABA University School of Medicine
E-mail: saba@tiac.net
Telephone: 599-416-3456 Toll-free: 800-825-7754 (U.S.)
Telephone: 508-630-5122
Fax: 508-632-2168

The Saba University School of Medicine was chartered in October 1992. It provides students from the U.S.A. and abroad an opportunity to acquire a medical degree and fulfill their ambition of becoming a physician. Applications are invited from all qualified students with a sincere desire to practice medicine. All courses are taught in English by an experienced M.D./Ph.D. faculty whose only responsibility is medical education.

For more information, contact:
Saba University School of Medicine
P.O. Box 1000
The Bottom, SABA
Netherlands Antilles
Telephone direct dial from U.S.: 011-5994-63456
U.S. Toll Free: 800-825-7754 Top

Pet Regulations

Animals are admitted temporarily to the island with the following papers: a health certificate dated no more than 10 days before visit and a record of innoculations, including rabies shot administered no more than 30 days prior to the visit. Top

Population

1,500 people. Top

Restaurants and Night Life

Each village has several small and individually unique restaurants. Most of them offer outdoor dining as well as a friendly bar. You'll want to sample them all though, because there is a wide variety to choose from, American, European, Chinese, Italian, and that delicious blend of Indonesian and West Indian Creole. Each restaurant becomes a gathering place for conversation anytime, day or night. Weekends will always find an "island-wide party", that means everyone is invited. It may also be disco music, steel band drums at poolside, or a barbeque at the bay under the stars. Click here for a full list of restaurants on Saba. Top

Saba Lace

Saba lace is a unique needlecraft painstakingly created by the industrious women in Saba. Saba lace, also known as Spanish work has a special history . In the 1870's, Mary Gertrude Hassell Johnson was sent by her parents to study at a convent in Caracas, Venezuela. While she was there, the nuns taught Miss Hassell to create the intricate designs of this needlecraft. Miss Hassell brought the craft back to Saba and in 1884, when regular mail service first connected the island to the outside world, the wives and daughters of Saba's seafaring men turned the craft into a mail-order cottage industry.

How the Saba women marketed their needlework demonstrates their ingenuity. As boxes of merchandise were sent from the United States to Saba, the ladies would copy the addresses of the American companies and then write them a letter explaining their work and the prices. Often a sympathetic person receiving the letter would post it on the company bulletin board and ultimately the lace makers would receive orders for their work. By 1928, the Sabans were exporting almost $15,000 worth of needlework annually!

Now, more than a century later, the skill learned by a young Saban girl, still provides a means of support for many families on the island. Blouses, dresses, tablecloths an napkins are only a few of the pieces the Saban women create in a variety of colors.

Saba Lace is just one example of the unique beauty that is Saba. We hope you enjoy owning and using your piece of this special needlework.

Saba Lace is available at the following outlets:

Hell's Gate

The Saba Lace Boutique

This boutique, situated behind the Roman Catholic Church in Hell's Gate, has the largest selection of lacework.

Opening Hours : 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Windwardside

Peggy's Boutique

Just up the street from the Post Office and La Bella Vita.

Opening hours : 8:00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Helen's Notions & Fabrics

Opening Hours : 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Bottom

Artisan Foundation

Opening Hours : 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Saba Lace Work
www.sabalacework.net

Saba Lace creations from sisters Debby and Peggy Barnes.

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Schools

Sacred Heart Primary School - an English language primary school, Kindergarten 1 (4yrs) through 6th grade.
Email: sacredheartprimaryschool@yahoo.com
Telephone: 416-3281

Innovations Bureau Saba
Email: fbe_saba@yahoo.com

The Saba Comprehensive School
St John's
Saba

SABA University School of Medicine Top

Shopping

Enter into any of the shops within the villages and you'll be invited into conversation. You'll find beautiful, delicate linen items with hand-drawn threadwork designs. Artists find Saba a perfect inspiration for their work. many watercolours, photographs, jewelry and books are displayed in two art galleries.

While in Windwardside, ask your driver to drop you off at the Windwardside parking lot. Then stroll the main drag through Windwardside's mini-mall. Its here you'll find take-home souvenirs, tasty boutiques, dive shops, the tourist office, an art gallery, two restaurant/bars, a supermarket and a bank. Just a turn will take you to the post office and yet another bank as well as another dive shop-hotel-restaurant-bar. The Mini Mall is where you'll pick up charming remembrances of the beauty of Saba. Shop in !!!!!! Top

Delicious homemade Saba Spice, the sweet rum-based liquor, is made from the local spices in the kitchens of many Saban ladies. Ask for a sample.

Two silk-screen operations keep the island supplied with a variety of T-shirts and fabric. Colourful tropical designs on many interesting items and apparel are made on Saba, or a nearby island neighbour.

While in Saba stop by Jobean's Hot Glass Studio, the only flame-working studio in the Caribbean and see rods of brilliantly colored glass transformed into dancing fish, sea creatures, fanciful frogs and elegant jewlery. Buy a present, especially one for yourself and bring home a memory.

Plan to take a Glass Workshop and bring home glass jewelry that you have made yourself.

More interested in learning? One to four workshops are available.

You will have an introduction to glass, learn many techniques of bead making, experiment with buttons, Christmas tree ornaments and simple sculpture and fusing using elements that you have made on the torch.

Workshops can be arranged in advance by request with at least three students. For more information e-mail Jobean's at info@jobeanglass.com or telephone 011-599-416-2490 or 2499.

For your general needs - kitchenware, food, beverages, shop at Big Rock Supermarket in Windwardside. Click here for more information. Top

Taxes and Tipping

The government room tax of 5% is automatically added to your bill. A service charge of 10% or 15% will be added to your bill. For taxis and guides, tip at your own discretion. Top

Taxis

Modern taxis are readily available on Saba. Click here for taxi rates. Top

Telephone

Hotels have direct dialling worldwide. Landsradio has phone booths in The Bottom and Windwardside for calls anywhere in the world. Top

Time Zone

Saba is on Atlantic Standard Time year round. During day light savings time, noon in New york equals 1 p.m. on the island. During spring and summer time, the hour is the same on the Eastern Seaboard as it is on the island. Top

Visa/Entry Requirements

Click here for detailed Visa information tourist/business visits to the islands of the Netherlands Antilles.

Yearly less than 25,000 tourists come to Saba, and those who do treat the island and her people with respect and admiration. Even though the island has modern facilities and technology, their attitude is strongly conservative towards their nature, development and industry. They love their island as much as you will.

As part of our commitment to our environment, we have established the Saba Conservation Foundation to preserve and manage our natural and cultural heritage. The Foundation oversees the running of the famous Saba Marine Park. Top

The Tourist Office, the Saba Conservation Foundation and many local supporters have adequately marked and maintain trails for easy trekking. Some trails need a guide, all the better to fully appreciate the botanical and historical parts of Saba. Everyone can easily hike over and into Saba's rain forest, tidepools, historic ruins, and rich nature wonderland. Even a walk along Saba's winding road will lead you to a magical view, and a memorable vacation. Top

Weather

Daytime temperature on Saba averages 80°F., give or take a few degrees. Easterly trade winds and the mountain create ever changing cloud movements. Winter evenings often require a light sweater. Temperatures will always be cooler on the top of Mt. Scenery.

Good weather resources include:
Carib WX - Caribbean Weather Centre
Tropicalweather.net
The Hurricane Page (www.stormcarib.com ) - Hurricane Information Top