Third Encounter

A horseshoe shaped volcanic seamount about half a mile off Saba's western coast, rising from over 600 m of open ocean to a plateau at 29 m. The signature feature is Eye of the Needle, a free standing pinnacle whose summit lifts to within 27 m of the surface, ringed by horse eye jacks and patrolled by Caribbean reef sharks. The plateau hosts Nassau groupers, nurse sharks, and creole wrasse, with one long resident grouper known to divers as Charlie; deeper edges drop into blue water where manta rays and the occasional pelagic pass through. Plankton rich water and moderate current are typical, and the site has been voted among the Caribbean's top pinnacle dives.