St. Eustatius or Statia as we island people know it, is one of the six or so neighbors my bedroom window looks out on. We took a little trip over mid June too see what all the chatter was about from the many recent divers who had been there or were going there in addition to their Saba visit. Thanks Lynn for the hook up, and Glenn & Michelle for the great hospitality…
At first the island seems like a flatter Saba, if we here lived at harbor level. We arrived at The Old Gin House Hotel to find a very New Orleans like building and gardens. Very well appointed with nice staff and great food. They have an ocean front restaurant and bar, something Saba does not. The other very noticeable element is a long stretching beach.
Sidebar here; The island history is amazing, long and storied…this is an untapped treasure that shows every resemblance to what she was just a short time ago. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Eustatius for the complete story.
After checking in with Golden Rock Dive Center at the hotel, and getting the quick picture of where and when for the next days dives and food right now, we scurry to the local hamburger joint; also the ice cream shop. Upon arriving, it’s Tuesday at 3pm by the way, we find a patio filled with screaming Dutch people in full regalia watching the Euro Soccer tournament. The beer could not be delivered fast enough for these people. Priorities are realigned. They win! Hoopla!
So diving is a bit like Saba…further from shore…with some nice twists.
Century Slave Beads, but we didn’t find any ourselves, but we weren’t, looking either. Seconds from submersion the excitement began. Flying play peek-a-boo endlessly, Octopus poking out of sand holes, The lava flows are the similar with the same life…however when we encounter certain fish like barracuda, we encounter dozens at a time. A must dive is the Hangover reef, a low flat shelf formation running nearly a mile from shore. Statia has two things that Saba does not…Wrecks and an amazing Muck dive. We dove the Charlie Brown, a very long ship on her side. It is newer, but well attended by local life. I did see the largest school of Horse Eyed Jacks I have ever seen here, hundreds. As for the Muck dive, Blue Bead Hole is famous for 17th century slave beads, but we found none, and we we not looking either. The second we submerge it’s Flying Gurnards, Pike blennies of every variety, Mantis shrimp abound and Yellowhead Jawfish and Sailfin Blennies are boring they are so common here…and…a first for everyone on the dive, including the dive staff, owners, and everyone we’ve told so far….a Bandtail Searobin; see Statia Gallery. We begged for the site everyday after…we are going back just to dive this site again and again…it is a Macro photogs Utopia. There was a confirmed and video recorded encounter with a Manta Ray the second day in…we found out exactly where and our crew was determined to make the best attempt they could to find it. They set up a two way drift dive. A first for me, something like a ” You go ’round back” cops style endeavor. Three of us would get dropped at Off The Wall, drift thru Mushroom Garden and head onto The Humps. Joel would move the boat to The Humps and begin diving towards us, hoping we would encounter the Devil Fish in between us. The Vis was crap, but that was good, it was a massive plankton bloom, we scoured it till the air ran out and did not have the fortune to see it. Joels girlfriend just two weeks prior was doing her first certification dive, and guess what, MANTA! Likely the same one hanging about enjoying the massive food supply flowing past. Beginners luck huh? They have one nice hike, something Saba is superior on, yet this is very unique too. The Quill is a true volcano with crater and everything. So we trekked for about three so hours and acheived the rim, and explored the crater. The only true rain forest on Statia is inside the crater. It was like a scene from Jurassic Park, WOW. I perched atop a rock pile and shot Anoles for nearly an hour. See Statia Gallery.

As for the rest of the island, as on Saba, Friday night is Karaoke and the bar crawl. So is the lack of any other social stimulation otherwise. If you are a serious diver, or even more a serious photographer, leave your watch and high expectations at home and try Statia, and Saba too.