Though Saba (pronounced say-ba) is just south of St. Maarten (if you've seen the original King Kong, you may recognize its majestic silhouette from the beginning of the film), the islands couldn't be more different. St. Maarten is all beaches, gambling, and duty-free shopping; Saba is ecotourism, diving, hiking, and reveling in pristine nature.

Nearly half of Saba's 5 square miles (13 square km) is covered in verdant tropical rain forest; the other half is sprinkled with picturesque villages composed of white, green-shuttered houses trimmed with gingerbread, roofed in red, and built on grades so steep, they seem to defy physics. Flower-draped walls and neat picket fences border narrow paths among the bromeliads, palms, hibiscus, orchids, and Norfolk Island pines. The... Read More