SABA & SAINT KITTS

Year:2003

The unique liveaboard of the Leeward Islands

Season: Year-round diving

Visibility: 20-30 metres

Water temperature: 26-29°C

According to historians, Christopher Columbus first sighted Saint Martin and Saba on Saint Martin's Day, November 11, 1493 and it is thought that the island of Saint Martin was thus named in honour of the saint. The beautiful green and mountainous island, encircled by white coral sands and peeping from an azure sea, must have been a wonderful sight! A unique agreement between the Dutch and the French resulted in the island being divided into two: the French control the northern half of the island, known as Saint Martin, French West Indies, and the Dutch control the southern section, known as Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles. This amazing combination of nationalities results in at least one good thing - a truly excellent choice of dining opportunities! Saint Martin has a good choice of hotels, quite an active nightlife and is your starting point for a holiday on Caribbean Explorer.

SABA & SAINT KITTS

Saba and Saint Kitts offer one of the most unique and remarkable combinations of diving adventure in the Caribbean. Caribbean Explorer is the only liveaboard exploring the tiny volcanic island of Saba with its amazing rock pinnacles and the wrecks and reefs of Saint Kitts. Caribbean Explorer spends four days in Saba and two days in Saint Kitts.

Rising sharply from the sea is the verdant and mountainous tiny island of Saba, lying only 26 miles south-west of Saint Martin. Panoramic roads wind through the mountains and small villages of red-roofed houses are arranged in clusters nestling in the beautiful countryside. The inhabitants of Saba are immensely proud of their immaculately clean villages and the vehicle license plates all proudly proclaim 'Unspoiled Queen'.

For many people, diving on Saba is defined by the volcanic pinnacles that support fabulous populations of reef fish and encrusting sponges. The remarkable Eye of the Needle is a cylindrical column of about 10 metres in diameter that rises from 60 metres to just less than 10 metres below the surface. The rock is completely covered in sponges, including some of the largest yellow barrel sponges in the entire Caribbean. Descending down the anchor line to the top of the column, divers are greeted by jacks, groupers and schools of Creole Wrasse. Twighlight Zone and Third Encounter are also both pinnacles with vibrantly healthy corals where Nassau and Tiger Groupers, Brown Chromis and Creole Wrasse can be found schooling, exploring alone or awaiting their turn at a cleaning station.

Two shallow water pinnacles are adjacent to each other at Man O' War Shoals and Diamond Rock. The white, guano-covered Diamond Rock (home to many nesting seabirds) reaches out of the water by about 10 metres, but below the water line its vertical sides are covered in coral and sponges with a healthy population of friendly reef fish. Hawksbill Turtles can be found here and Flying Gurnards and Southern Stingrays rest in the sand at the bottom of the pinnacle. A canyon cuts the pinnacle at Man O' War and it is here that the finest reef life can be observed.

There is a variety of diving on Saint Kitts, ranging from the wrecks of the vessels that went down as a result of hurricanes to reefs and coral walls. River Thaw is a 60-metre inter-island freighter sunk by an earlier hurricane, but finally broken by Hurricane Claus in 1985. The vessel is encrusted with corals and lies in a sandy eel-grass bed. Night diving on this beautiful wreck is a fantastic experience. One full day will be spent diving Paradise Reef, at sites such as Anchors Away. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, many ships anchored just outside range of the cannons mounted at Forts Brimstone and Charles. Two hundred French, English and Dutch ships are reported to have sunk in this area! Each week Caribbean Explorer divers find more lost anchors and occasionally cannons and musket balls from these mighty ships, long ago sent to their watery resting places. Some cannons are nearly 4 metres in length and protrude from the reef, others are encrusted with star corals and sponges. (Please note: divers who find any artifacts may either leave them as they were found or, if small enough, hand them to the dive staff or captain. In the latter case, the item will be preserved in salt water and then donated to the Fort Brimstone Museum at Saint Kitts.) Barrel and vase sponges, up to 2 metes in diameter, support their own miniature ecosystem. Flying Gurnards and elegant black and white Spotted Drums are common in the areas of reef characterized by ridges and valleys. A night dive here is usually scheduled and proves exceptionally popular with underwater photographers because of the truly dramatic opportunities for unusual photographs.

CARIBBEAN EXPLORER

The 106-foot MV Caribbean Explorer accommodates up to 16 passengers in eight cabins, situated on two decks, with five identical cabins on the lower deck and three on the upper deck. Lower deck cabins have a double berth below and a single berth above. Upper deck cabins have one double berth. There are two bathrooms on the lower deck, one large bathroom on the upper deck and an extra head on the diving deck. Each cabin has a wash basin and vanity unit with plenty of storage space. The crew of Caribbean Explorer really take the effort out of diving. Once you have set up your gear on the first day they will look after it for the rest of the week, leaving divers free to enjoy what they have come for ­ diving! The main deck (with the diving deck aft) features a comfortable air-conditioned salon which is used for dining, slide shows or simply relaxing after a good day's diving. From the upper deck's open area passengers can marvel at the beautiful scenery, soak up the sun or, when the diving is over for the day, select a drink from the well-stocked bar and watch the warm sun disappear into the Caribbean Sea. There is also a shaded seating area and an entertainment centre with stereo system, VCR and TV. All enclosed areas are air-conditioned.

Diving takes place directly from the boat by giant stride into the water (a drop of just over a metre); at the end of the dive you simply climb aboard by one of the ladders. Underwater photographers have special facilities on board Caribbean Explorer. There is daily E-6 processing, two light tables in the salon and plenty of film and batteries for sale. The dive deck has a large three-level photography table for storage and servicing and there is a special stabilized charging station. Two separate rinse tanks are designated as camera-exclusive. Thorough briefings with site descriptions are given at each new dive site and, although divers are given a great deal of freedom, the buddy system is maintained at all times. Computer diving is encouraged to get the maximum profile from each dive. Caribbean Explorer anchors at specific sites for the morning or the afternoon for divers to enter the water when they wish (rather than have to dive with the whole group). Divers can expect up to 5 dives each day, including night dives.

Meals on the Caribbean Explorer are freshly prepared every day. There is a choice of eggs, cereal, toast, tea and coffee for breakfast each day. Lunch and dinner are served buffet-style, with the occasional barbecue on the top deck. On one evening, generally Thursday, dinner is taken in a restaurant ashore (included in your holiday price!). On Fridays dinner is not included in the holiday price and is usually taken 'on the town'. A selection of beverages is always available, including soft drinks and beer. Alcoholic drinks are included in the package price.

Caribbean Explorer mostly operates out of Bobby's Marina in Philippsburg on Saint Maarten for 7 nights cruises, departing every Saturday throughout the year (but some cruises operate into or out of the harbour on the nearby island St Kitts). The 4-hour crossing to Saba is usually made on the first night.

The Caribbean Explorer consistently gets very high ratings in magazine surveys and yet its cruises remain exceptional value for money. There are opportunities to land on both islands, so you are not at sea for the entire week, making the Caribbean Explorer an ideal choice for those who want to try out a liveaboard for the first time.

A Caribbean Explorer brochure is available from our office on request.

Cruises departing between September-December

£734

All other cruises

£910

Includes:

· 7 nights cruise on Caribbean Explorer on a twin/share basis with full board (except dinner on Friday evening), including soft drinks and house wine with dinner.

· 5 full days of diving (up to 4 or 5 dives daily, including night dives) plus one or two dives on the last day, cylinders and weights.

Please note: A small fee (currently US $3 per dive) is charged for each dive within the Saba Marine Park. These fees are not included in the package price and will be collected on board. Dinner on the last night is not included, but guests will be provided with guidance about good local restaurants.

Important: If your log book shows that you have not dived for over a year you will have to take a short scuba review course on the first day which costs US $75, payable on board.

Non-divers/snorkelers: A 10% reduction applies.

Additional Week: A 10% discount applies.

Single Occupancy Supplement: If you are travelling alone and are willing to share a twin cabin with a fellow passenger of the same sex you can avoid paying any supplement. If you prefer to have a cabin to yourself a 50% supplement applies.

Deposit: £300

FLIGHTS

Caribbean Explorer packages run from Saturday to Saturday, which means leaving London on Saturday morning.

The airfares shown are the least expensive fare category available at the time of going to press. We will quote you the airfare applicable, based on current fare levels and booking class availability, at the time of booking. The usual airfare deposit is £100.

AIR FRANCE

Daily morning flights from London (Heathrow) for Saint Martin via Paris (Charles de Gaulle), arriving in the afternoon. Return on any afternoon from Saint Martin via Paris, arriving at London (Heathrow) the following morning.

Flights are also available from the following airports (often at no extra cost): Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton. Please contact our office for further details.

£490 for departures 1 January-19 June (excluding Easter), 30 August-11 December.

£625 for departures at Easter, 20-26 June, 18-29 August, 26-31 December.

£750 for departures 27 June-17 August, 12-25 December.

Includes:

·Scheduled flights London (Heathrow)/Paris (Charles de Gaulle)/Saint Martin/Paris (Charles de Gaulle)/London (Heathrow) by Air France.

Important: Some cruises operate into or out of the island of St Kitts. The cost of the one-way flight between St Martin and St Kitts is £44.

COMBINING CARIBBEAN EXPLORER

WITH DOMINICA

Windward Island Airways and Caribbean Star fly daily between St Martin and Dominica. Why not combine a week of liveaboard diving on Caribbean Explorer with some diving on Dominica? Simply add the cost of your stay in Dominica to the cost of a week on Caribbean Explorer. There will be a charge of £190 for the inter-island flights, which should be added to the cost of the Air France airfare to St Martin.