Saba sees positive season ahead

Saba looks forward to a positive season with the addition of air and sea capacity to the island per November 15th. The elimination of COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated day trippers per November 15th is expected to lead to more visitors.

Day trippers can make use of The Edge ferry service which will start running day trips from St. Maarten to Saba as of November 16th. On Wednesdays and Fridays, The Edge will depart St. Maarten for Saba at 9:00am. The return trip from Saba to St. Maarten is at 3:30pm the same day.

As the season progresses, The Edge will evaluate to add the day trip ferry service on Sunday. Under the current schedule, which will be in effect until November 15th, The Edge comes to Saba on Friday and Sunday afternoon and returns to St. Maarten the following morning, on Saturday and Monday.

Coming soon is the Makana ferry service between St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. This new ferry service is scheduled to start soon and will further add capacity to Saba. More information will follow shortly.

Windward Islands International (Winair) will add more flights on the St. Maarten-Saba route per November 15 when the winter schedule goes into effect. Per November 15, Winair will fly three times a day to Saba. Currently, Winair carries out two flights per day, four times a week. St. Maarten Airways continues to offer private air charter services.

Per November 15, fully vaccinated persons from high-risk countries travelling to Saba by boat or plane for one day (day trip) no longer have to provide a negative COVID-19 test result. Persons will still have to fill out the Saba EHAS form 24 hours before their departure, and wear a face mask during their visit, especially indoors and in crowded areas.

Commissioner of Tourism Bruce Zagers stated that it is promising to already to see tourism arrivals picking up. “Although it will probably take some time for our numbers to fully recover to pre-COVID-19 times, the season ahead does look very positive which will be helpful for our tourism sector and economy as a whole,” he said.

“Saba is very happy to welcome day trippers for a wonderful time to hike, dive, visit our restaurants, explore the island and our villages. We look forward to continue to expand our product offerings. Saba continues to see interest from visitors who are vacationing on neighboring islands. Multi-destination trips are expected to become more popular, with the entry requirements for day trippers eased. With the upcoming increased seat capacity both by ferry and by air, we look forward to welcoming more visitors to the island,” said Director of Tourism Malinda Hassell.

Information about Saba, as well as the EHAS application, can be found on: www.sabatourism.com

GIS.