Saba · Caribbean Netherlands · Wall
Tent Reef Wall
Out along the wall at 30 m, back under the ledge at 18 m
Area photo: Patrick Hawks · CC BY 2.0
Tent Reef Wall is the wall section of the Tent Reef system near Fort Bay, and the site the boats use when the offshore pinnacles are out of reach. It runs as a multilevel dive south of the mooring: out along the wall at 30 m, back under an overhanging ledge at 18 m, with encrusting sponges covering both.
Also known as Tent Wall.
Where it is and how deep
17.6161° N, 63.2570° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
Head south from the mooring and the ground turns into a multilevel wall dive with rich colour and looming overhangs. The standard profile takes the wall at 30 m on the way out and returns along an overhanging ledge at 18 m, and the return leg is the part worth slowing down for: the ledge puts the encrusting sponge species within arm's length, and there is a long list of them on this stretch of rock.
A short swim off the wall stands several pinnacle formations, and they are the reason the site gets dived as a deep dive rather than only as a bad-weather substitute. Taking them means spending the deep end of the profile early and keeping everything after it on the ledge and above. Because the wall sits close in near Fort Bay, it stays diveable on mornings when the sea is too big to run out to the pinnacles.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good |
Season follows Saba: December–April offers the calmest seas for pinnacle access; September–October bring the highest hurricane risk.
Sources
- Tent Wall dive site — PADI
- Best Diving sites in Saba — Divezone
- Dive Saba, read Alert Diver Q3 — Divers Alert Network
More dive sites in Saba
Reef
A cave under the overhangs, and reef sharks out in the blue
Reef
A loaf-shaped reef with a roughtail stingray cleaning station
Pinnacle
A full circuit of the rock, then up the canyon on its northeast side
Pinnacle
A needle-thin pillar rising to 27 m, dived with Third Encounter
Boulders down to sand at 23 m, elkhorn coral in the shallows
A shallow shoal off Torrens Point, capped at 25 m
Muck & macro
Open sand off the harbour, searched for batfish and blennies
Pinnacle
A narrow sponge ridge topping out at 33.5 m in open water
Similar dives elsewhere
An undercut amphitheater in the wall, lipped with black coral
A sloping wall dived between 18 m and 34 m
Near-continuous schools of grunts and snappers on the wall top
Overhanging cliff hung with black coral trees and deep-water gorgonians