Hell's Gate, Saba: The First Village Above the Airport
Also called Zion's Hill — the settlement you climb through on the way in.
Why Go
Hell's Gate is the highest of Saba's villages and the first one the road reaches after leaving the airport, which means almost every visitor passes through it within ten minutes of landing and few stop. It is also called Zion's Hill, and the two names sitting side by side tell you something about the place. It is small, steep and quiet, strung along the road as it hairpins up from Flat Point, with views down over the runway and out to St Barths and St Maarten on a clear day.
The Experience
The village clings to the slope above the airport, houses stepped up the hillside in the same white and red as everywhere on Saba, with the road switchbacking through the middle of it. The drive up from the airstrip is the introduction most people get to the island's one road, and it is memorable — a series of tight bends cut into a cliff, built by hand after engineers declared a road impossible. From here the land drops away sharply to the north coast, where the tide pools at the shoreline and the old workings on Great Hole and Deep Gut are reached on foot. It is residential rather than commercial, with the Holy Rosary church as its landmark and very little else, and the quiet is genuine. The village is also the best place to grasp how little flat ground Saba has. From here you can see the airstrip below occupying essentially the only level surface on the island, a strip of lava delta at the foot of a cliff, and understand immediately why the runway is as short as it is.
What to Try
Stop on the way in or out rather than driving straight past — the view back down over the airstrip and the sea is the best introduction to the island's geography that exists, and it explains in one glance why Saba's airport has the reputation it does. Walk down toward the tide pools on the north coast, which are reached by a trail from this side and are one of the few places on Saba where you can get into the sea at all. Old Booby Hill and Flat Point are the other landmarks around the village. Beyond that, Hell's Gate has no restaurants or shops to speak of; Windwardside is ten minutes further along the road and is where you will eat. Deep Gut and the ravines below the village are the other features the trails from here reach.
Insider Tip
Ask your driver to stop at the viewpoint above the airport on the way in. Almost everyone arrives at Saba slightly rattled from the landing — the runway is one of the shortest commercial strips in the world with cliffs at both ends — and the view back down at it from Hell's Gate, once you are safely on the ground, is the moment the island starts to make sense. It costs two minutes and no taxi driver will mind.
The Practical Stuff
Hell's Gate is about five minutes above the airport at Flat Point and ten below Windwardside, on Saba's single road. That road is steep and hairpinned and is itself one of the island's landmarks. Taxis are the normal way to travel and meet arriving flights. The village has essentially no visitor facilities — no restaurants, no shops of consequence — so plan on eating in Windwardside. The tide pools on the north coast are reached on foot and should be treated with respect; the sea on that side is rough. Saba is a special municipality of the Netherlands using the US dollar, with English the everyday language. The island is in the hurricane belt, roughly June to November.
Common Questions
Why is it called Hell's Gate?
The origin is disputed and the village is also known as Zion's Hill, with both names in current use. The two sitting side by side is one of the more quietly interesting things about the place.
Where is Hell's Gate?
On the slope directly above Saba's airport, about five minutes up the road from Flat Point and ten minutes below Windwardside. Every arriving visitor passes through it.
Is there anything to do there?
Little commercially — no restaurants or shops of consequence. The reasons to stop are the view back down over the airstrip and the trail down to the tide pools on the north coast.
Can you swim at the tide pools?
They are among the very few places on Saba where getting into the sea is possible, but the north coast is rough and they should be treated with respect and judged on the day.
Is the road really that dramatic?
Yes. It hairpins up a cliff from the airport through the village, and it was built by hand after engineers said a road on Saba could not be done. It is a landmark in its own right.
Where do you eat?
Windwardside, ten minutes further along the road, which has most of the island's restaurants. Hell's Gate itself is residential.
Pair It With
- Tide Pools Guide — The rare chance to get into the sea on Saba.
- Flat Point (udde i Karibiska Nederländerna) Guide — The airstrip below, seen from safety.
- Great Hole Guide — The coastal walk down from the village.
