Saba · Caribbean Netherlands · Seamount · Pinnacle · Pelagic & blue water
Third Encounter
Off the plateau edge to the tip of the Eye of the Needle
Area photo: Patrick Hawks · CC BY 2.0
The eastern end of a horseshoe-shaped seamount that rises from deep water to within 27 m of the surface. The dive can be kept entirely on the plateau on top, or extended off the edge into open water to the tip of the pinnacle known as the Eye of the Needle. Caribbean reef sharks and yellowtail snapper are the regular company, with Nassau grouper, nurse sharks and manta rays also recorded here.
Also known as 3rd Encounter.
Where it is and how deep
17.6233° N, 63.2797° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site sits at the eastern end of a horseshoe-shaped seamount, and the plateau on top of it is the dive. You go down the line to a summit that rises from deep water to within 27 m of the surface, then work the flat ground and its edges from there. Kept that way, the whole dive stays on the structure, and the profile is planned tightly around a top that begins at 27 m with nothing shallower to fall back on.
The other option is a short trip off the plateau into open water, out to the tip of the Eye of the Needle and back. That leg is the one that puts you in the blue with nothing underneath you. Caribbean reef sharks and yellowtail snapper are the common encounters, and Nassau grouper, creole wrasse and creole fish are recorded on the structure alongside nurse sharks and manta rays. The ascent is back onto the plateau and up the line.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Groupers
- Manta rays
| 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.
Know before you go
- An isolated summit standing in open water with current running across it: descend on the line, tuck in behind the structure and finish back at the line rather than drifting off the plateau.
Dive videos
Saba's Needle at Third Encounter · Sea Saba on YouTube
Sharks on Saba's "3rd Encounter" dive site. · IslandTrvl on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Third Encounter?+
The seamount rises from deep water to within 27 m of the surface, so the summit plateau is where the whole dive is spent. There is no shallower ground on the site, which is why the profile has to be planned tightly.
What will I see at Third Encounter?+
Caribbean reef sharks and yellowtail snapper are the common encounters. Nassau grouper, creole wrasse and creole fish are recorded on the structure, and nurse sharks and manta rays are listed for the site as well.
Sources
- Third Encounter dive site — PADI
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
Three pinnacles at 17 m over a mountain falling past 300 m
Utila's blue-water seamount, with whale sharks passing over
Silvertip and nurse sharks off the edge of an open-ocean bank
A submerged pinnacle where the sharks hold in the current