The waters around the entire island have been protected a by the Saba National Marine Park since 1987. The Park has healthy, well-developed coral communities and abundant fish life, attracting about 6,000 SCUBA divers annually. The 27 dive sites offer a tremendous variety of experiences and include reefs, steep drop-offs, encrusted boulder labyrinths, and pinnacles.
The offshore pinnacles, steep volcanic structures rising from great depths to 100 ft (30 m) below the surface, form the greatest attraction for (experienced) SCUBA divers. Here you can expect encounters with sharks, rays, turtles, large groupers, and often pelagic fish species. The protected leeward side of the island offers plenty of choices for shallow dives and some excellent snorkeling sites. Daily encounters with Hawksbill turtles, also at shallow sites, can be guaranteed. Weather permitting, a number of pristine sites, including spectacular walls, can be explored on the Windwardside of the island. Due to the steep character of the island, there is no shore access to dive sites and all diving is done by boat (but no boat rides are longer than 10 minutes).