Windwardside, Saba: The Village Most Visitors Stay In
White houses with red roofs at fifteen hundred feet, and the Mount Scenery steps.
Why Go
Windwardside is the second village on Saba and the one where visitors sleep, eat and start walking. It sits at around fifteen hundred feet on a shoulder of the mountain, a cluster of white clapboard houses with red roofs and green shutters — a building code that is enforced and that gives the whole island its extraordinary uniformity. The steps up Mount Scenery leave from here, the island's museums and craft workshops are here, and on a clear day you can see St Barths, St Eustatius and St Kitts from the village.
The Experience
The village is small enough to cross in ten minutes and steep in every direction. Lanes drop away between houses with gardens cut into the slope, and the cloud comes and goes across it — at this altitude Windwardside is often in mist when Fort Bay below is in sun, and it is genuinely cool in the evening, which is not something most Caribbean visitors pack for. There are shops, a handful of restaurants, a couple of small hotels and inns, and no traffic to speak of. The pace is set by the fact that nobody is going anywhere quickly on an island with one road. The trailheads for Mount Scenery and the Saba Heritage Trail both start from the village, which is why boots outnumber flip-flops here. The uniformity of the buildings is worth understanding rather than just photographing. Saba requires white walls, red roofs and green shutters by code, and the result is that a village of a few hundred people reads as a single composition. No other island in the region has held that line, and it is the main reason Saba looks the way it does in every photograph ever taken of it.
What to Try
Climb Mount Scenery — roughly a thousand stone steps from the edge of the village up through cloud forest to the highest point in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the reason a good share of visitors come to Saba at all. Allow a morning and expect to be wet. The Saba Heritage Center and the Harry L. Johnson Museum explain how a vertical island was settled and farmed. Jobean Glass Art is the island's best-known workshop and Handmade on Saba keeps the lace tradition going, which is a genuine local craft rather than a souvenir. Eat at Brigadoon, Tropics Cafe or Bizzy B, with Saba Snack and Choi and Suzan covering the informal end, and Big Rock Supermarket for provisions. The Studio and Boomerang are the other shops worth a look.
Insider Tip
Pack a layer and start the climb early. At fifteen hundred feet Windwardside is several degrees cooler than sea level and the evenings genuinely need a jumper, which surprises people who packed for the Caribbean. For Mount Scenery, leave by eight: the summit is in cloud by mid-morning on most days, and the view — which is the whole point — closes with it. The steps are wet, mossy and uneven regardless of the weather, so proper shoes matter more than fitness.
The Practical Stuff
Windwardside is about fifteen minutes from the airport at Flat Point and ten from the harbour at Fort Bay, on the single road that crosses Saba. That road is steep, hairpinned and famous — it was built by hand after engineers said it could not be done. Taxis are the normal way to move around and hire cars are available but not necessary for most visitors. Saba is a special municipality of the Netherlands and uses the US dollar; English is the everyday language and Dutch is official. Shops keep short hours and much closes early. There is no beach on Saba and no nightlife. The island is in the hurricane belt, roughly June to November.
Common Questions
Is Windwardside where you should stay on Saba?
For most visitors, yes. It has the majority of the island's accommodation, restaurants, shops and museums, and both main trailheads start from it. The Bottom is the capital but has far less for visitors.
How hard is the Mount Scenery climb?
Steep and sustained — roughly a thousand stone steps through cloud forest, often wet and slippery. It is not technical, and a reasonably fit walker manages it in a morning, but proper shoes matter.
Is it cold at Windwardside?
Cooler than you expect. At around fifteen hundred feet the village is several degrees below sea level temperatures and evenings genuinely need a layer, which catches out visitors who packed only for the beach.
Why do all the houses look the same?
A building code requires white walls, red roofs and green shutters across the island, which is why Saba's villages have a uniformity that no other Caribbean island matches.
How do you get around Saba?
By taxi, mostly, on the single hand-built road that crosses the island. Hire cars exist but are unnecessary for most visitors, and the road is steep and hairpinned throughout.
When should you climb Mount Scenery?
Leave by about eight. The summit clouds over by mid-morning most days and the view goes with it, and the steps are wet and mossy whatever the weather.
Pair It With
- Mount Scenery Trailhead Guide — The climb that defines a trip to Saba.
- Jobean Glass Art Guide — The island's craft, made in the village.
- Brigadoon Guide — Dinner after a day on the steps.
