Sint Eustatius ~ Unique Caribbean Beauty 🌅 🪸 🐠

Filled with pristine coral reefs, walls, volcanic crevices, historical dive sites, wrecks and fantastic wildlife, Sint Eustatius’s protected waters hosts a multitude of dive spots catering for all levels, one to the added to any diver’s to-do list.

The island itself, named Aloi by the indigenous, became Sint Eustatius in 1636 when the Dutch West India Company took possession of the island. The island, well suited for cultivation of tobacco and sugar, together with being a hub for the slave trade became an important island for the Europeans and consequently the island changed hands over 20 times between the Netherlands, Britain, and France over the next centuries before Sint Eustatius became a public body of the Netherlands on 10 October 2010.

Sint Eustatius, also known locally as Statia, is 6 miles / 10 km long and approx. 3 miles / 5 km wide. You will find the smaller summits of Signal Hill / Little Mountain and Boven Mountain to the northwest and a 602 meter high dormant volcano, Quill / Mount Mazinga, to the southeast. The flat saddle between the two elevated areas, forms the centre of the island that host the majority of the island’s population and the regional capital Oranjestad.

As the coastlines of St. Eustatius is not surrounded of miles of white sandy beaches, it has protected the island from mass tourism. So take a step to the past indulge in history and one of the most spectacular underwater marine parks in the world.

Statia’s location northwest of Saint Kitts and southeast of Saba is well suited to include in your Leeward island cruise. A down island cruise from St Maarten, St Barths and Saba to St Eustatius and further via St Kitts and Nevis to finish in Antigua & Barbuda makes for a great yacht charter itinerary.

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