Saba · Caribbean Netherlands · Reef
Tent Reef
A boulder archway swim-through, taken in single file
Area photo: Patrick Hawks · CC BY 2.0
Tent Reef is the shallow, sheltered site immediately outside Fort Bay and one of the most used dives on the island. It starts in about 4 m of water and runs down to 15 m over a coral garden, a mini-wall and a field of huge boulders, with an archway swim-through between them. It is also Saba's standard night dive.
Where it is and how deep
17.6157° N, 63.2553° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
From the mooring the dive heads south over the coral garden until the ground gives way at the drop-off. What is here is a mini-wall rather than a true wall, with its top in shallow water — the site starts in about 4 m — and the deepest part of the dive at 15 m. That leaves plenty of gas and no-decompression time to work both levels rather than commit to one, which is why the site is dived as often as it is.
Turn easterly at the bottom and cross a sand slope, which is where garden eels stand out of the bottom and southern stingrays sit out on the open ground. From there the route works slowly back to the base of the mini-wall, in among the boulders and through the archway, which is taken single file. After dark the same ground is the island's night dive, with lobsters, turtles and octopus out over the reef in large numbers.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
- Sea turtles
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Macro critters
| 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.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Tent Reef?+
The site starts in about 4 m of water and its deepest point is 15 m, so it works as a first dive, a shallow second dive or a night dive without any deep profile planning.
Sources
- Tent Reef dive site — PADI
- Best Diving sites in Saba — Divezone
- Dive Saba, read Alert Diver Q3 — Divers Alert Network
More dive sites in Saba
Pinnacle
A needle-thin pillar rising to 27 m, dived with Third Encounter
Seamount
Off the plateau edge to the tip of the Eye of the Needle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle at 27 m with outcrops at 37 m, dived for the sharks
Wall
Out along the wall at 30 m, back under the ledge at 18 m
Reef
A steep patch reef from 21 m with a cup-coral swim-through
Muck & macro
Open sand off the harbour, searched for batfish and blennies
Boulders down to sand at 23 m, elkhorn coral in the shallows
Reef
A cave under the overhangs, and reef sharks out in the blue
Similar dives elsewhere
A strong south-to-north drift over shallow reef, to 17 m
A small coral island with a vertical wall, to 19 m
From 1.5 m to 18 m over coral, boulders and sand
Coral fingers and sand channels, usually with some current