SABA AND ANGUILLA ARE NEIGHBOURS. Both are fewer than 15 minutes' flying time from St Martin, one of the main eastern Caribbean hubs for European air traffic.
     Anguilla's tourist office promises on its website: "tranquillity wrapped in blue... first-rate scuba diving and snorkelling... rich marine life, sunken coral gardens and bright coloured fish are in abundance... visitors will be enchanted by Anguilla's diverse scenic underwater adventures which range from wall dives to wrecks and caves... the wreck diving capital of the Caribbean".
     Saba's site describes the Leeward island as: "a monument to nature's best above and below the ocean's surface. The famous Saba marine park is second to none... Saba's beauty extends below the waterline into an exciting marine environment rich in corals and active with fish life." The dive cliché generator strikes again.
     What is striking as you fly into each island is the difference in topography. Anguilla is a long, flat strip of land; Saba is effectively one big mountain that soars out of the ocean.
     Landing in Anguilla is sedate. Landing in Saba (Say-bar), on the shortest commercial runway in the world, takes you close enough to the cliffs and rock faces to affect the most hardened traveller. The runway is surrounded on three sides by a sheer drop into the ocean. Ever wondered what it's like to land on an aircraft carrier?
     Both islands are wrapped in turquoise sea, as you might expect, but what lay below? We stayed six days each with Matthew and Tweety from Shoal Bay Scuba in Anguilla, and Barbara and Wolfgang from Saba Divers.

Our introductory dive in Anguilla was on the Commerce, a cargo vessel wreck in 20-something metres. There was no current, crystal viz and shoals of baitfish in the wheelhouse, fast food for marauding snappers that made regular forays from the lower decks, but it was by no means an "adventure".
     This was easy diving and plenty of couples were enjoying just that. Most were either holding hands under water or gazing lovingly at each other across shoals of fish. Anguilla sells itself as a romantic getaway, and this seemed to apply as much under water as above.
     Our second dive was on Shoal Bay reef. My description would not come up to tourist office standards: "shallow, fairly lifeless, plenty of fish pots and lots of brown". Around the reef all I could see were brown sponges, brown corals and brown algae. Matthew tried to entertain us by finding spider crabs and cleaner shrimp to play with, but they couldn't distract us from the drab backdrop.
     All but one of the second dives we did that week were equally disappointing. Lobster Reef featured many plain-looking hard corals, a 15m mini-wall and no lobsters. At Angel Reef none of us saw an angelfish. Where was the "rich marine life", the abundance of "bright coloured fish"?
     Towards the end of our stay we met Mercedes, an American on holiday with her non-diving husband. After her first day of "wreck, back to the beach, reef" diving, Matthew asked what sort of diving she would like to do for the rest of her stay. "I want to dive the wrecks!" came her response.
     Not possible - there were only just enough wrecks to fill a week, and the longer surface intervals necessary would impinge on lunchtime diver training.
     But Mercedes was right - Anguilla's wrecks are not spectacular but they will interest both marine-life and wreck admirers. So buy a five-dive package, use them up on the wreck dives and forget the second dives.

So much for the "first-rate scuba diving" and "wreck diving capital of the Caribbean". But I said there was one exception to the poor second dives, and this was the Steps.
     Here, we were told, we would see sharks. The dive was off the small, uninhabited Scrub Island, a bumpy ride far east of the mainland and the only location in Anguilla where we experienced any noteworthy current.
     At 25m we found a boulder the size of a house. On one side of it the current was strong enough to whisk us out to sea. That was where we found the five blacktip reef sharks. We hung on and watched as they slowly became alert to us.
     They didn't come close, but Lyle and Miriam were transfixed. This was more like the promised "adventure".
     And there was one other extraordinary dive. Around the Caribbean there are plenty of sites where Spanish galleons have been found. I have dived many of them and seen their cannons and sometimes their anchors, but no more. This was the first time I had dived a galleon where you could find coins and other trinkets, untouched pieces of history.
     The warship El Buen Consejo was carrying missionaries and cargo to Mexico and sank after hitting the reef in 1772. She remained undisturbed until 1986, when she was discovered by a local fisherman.
     The government later designated the site as an Underwater Archaeological Reserve. Some artefacts have been taken off as part of research conducted with Michigan University, but the rest of the cargo remains in situ for divers to discover.
     I had been sceptical of the hype surrounding this site (though surprisingly the Anguilla tourist office makes little of it on its website). Lyle and Miriam had told me: "This dive was what made us decide on Anguilla. What an opportunity, to dive on a Spanish galleon!"

At first the site looked like a field of bland coral and rock. Then Matthew pointed out a bunch of cannon well disguised by coral growth, and gestured for us to search in any nooks and crannies.
     I was less enthusiastic than I should have been until I found an old fork, then a belt buckle, followed by a small bronze medal. I could tell that the buckle had been picked up before, but the medal appeared untouched. Suddenly the site was a lot more appealing.
     Lyle and Miriam found a ring and started practising for their wedding day. They seemed disappointed when they had to leave it behind, but the rules are: look, touch and then put it back where you found it. We had been issued with pocketless BCs, too.
     Had the wreck lived up to Lyle and Miriam's expectations? "It was more scattered than we thought it would be - we expected to be able to make out the sides and stuff like that. But we loved it. It was fascinating diving on a piece of history, and if it had all been excavated, it wouldn't have been nearly as interesting. Where else can you get the opportunity to find medallions and jewellery on a wreck?"

By contrast, in Saba there are no wrecks at all. Ships have sunk there, but within a short distance of land the waters plummet hundreds of metres, way beyond diving range.
     There are several shallow (to 25m) dive sites around the shoreline, but this isn't the real attraction. Unlike Anguilla, this island has what can be described as adventurous diving around five pinnacles and seamounts that rise from the depths.
     Our first dive was on Shark Shoal. "It's called that because we don't see any sharks on it," said British diving instructor Richard. The American divers didn't appreciate his sense of humour and seemed disappointed.
     Richard threw a Tom Petty tape into the player and, with Freefalling in the background, briefed us on the dive.
     "Freefalling" is an apt description of the descents onto the pinnacles and seamounts. Their tips start in about 30m and drop off steeply to three-figure depths. Shark Shoal is two pinnacles divided by a saddle. And unlike Anguilla there is colour everywhere, with sponges in red, yellow, oranges and purples and plenty of hard corals as standard.
     Moving from the edge of the drop-off into the blue, the vertical enormity of the site hit me. At these depths there was just enough time to fin around the two peaks, one at 29m and the other at 38, and to drop to the saddle at 45m.
     Shoals of snapper and foraging horse-eye jacks provided silver contrast to the brilliant colour scheme.
     Divemasters keep a careful eye on proceedings here, as the visual blur soon eats into your sense of logic. And Richard was right; this was the only dive we did in Saba on which we didn't see sharks.

Saba's diving takes place in a well-managed marine park with permanent moorings on 26 official sites, and strict rules to keep you out of the island's hyperbaric chamber. Divemasters are strict about dive times to avoid deco stops. No leisurely hand-holding here.
     Eye of the Needle is a seamount, the top a steep-sided plateau, and it seemed less exciting than Shark Shoal - until the divemasters took us off the edge into the blue. Within a minute or so we were in open water at a disorientating 30m.
     Slowly in the haze we saw the Needle itself - a pinnacle rising at an angle from about 60m and only, from base to barrel-sponge-crowned peak, a few metres in diameter. We circled it once and it was a breathtaking experience.
     Finning back to the plateau we saw two blacktip reef sharks cruising around the edge. What to look at - sharks or fading Needle? For those of you experienced enough for the depth and conditions, such classic dives will stay with you for a long time.
     However, there are opportunities to dive what would have been deep pinnacles had they been further from land. Diamond Rock is the only one that rises out of the water, and despite several second dives we never tired of it (see Mark Webster's account).
     Our final pinnacle was Mont Michel (named after the instructor who recently discovered it). It's a fair distance from the clump of pinnacles and seamounts that have become the signature of Saba diving, and is the smallest site of all - a 40m-long knife-edge that starts in 30m and ends where your dive plan and no-deco rule allows.
     In our case this was at 40m, where a forest of whip corals swayed in the slight current. Around the top of the edge we found a turtle resting under an overhang and a sleeping nurse shark - perfect!
     Where most visitors to Anguilla had seemed to be American, Saba had a mix of European and US visitors. We didn't meet anyone who wasn't there for the diving, though there are also numerous nature trails for those who enjoy solitary walking.
     Jenny and Paul from the Midlands had chosen Saba "as we'd never heard of it." They liked the excellent diving, relaxing atmosphere and friendliness of the people on this crime-free island. Most hotels provide no room keys - there's no need.
     Saba does not fulfil the stereotype of a Caribbean holiday. There are no beaches, and reggae and calypso doesn't get a look in. Visiting during festival week, the processions, concerts and jouvert "jump-up" lacked the tackiness I've seen elsewhere in the region.
     Saba's self-proclaimed title "The Queen of the Caribbean" seems justified by its charm and majestic, rainforest-capped mountain, where the original King Kong was filmed. However, its quiet manner might make it the sort of place you want to visit for no more than a week.
     On one of his days off we dived with Thomas, a Swiss medical student doing his elective in hyperbaric medicine.
     "The diving is unspoilt and unique but life beyond work and diving can get a bit tiresome. I've hiked all the trails and visited each of the handful of shops.
     "Then you realise that this is an island where among a population of just over a thousand it's somewhere to sit back and relax - you don't have to be doing something all the time!"

Anguilla is similar in that we found our aprés-dive activities limited, though unlike Saba it has an incredible array of picture-book beaches devoid of crowds.
     The many restaurants offer some of the best cuisine in the world, though many are priced for the rich and famous - use the Internet to find the few with great menus at reasonable prices before going.
     Saba is the kind of place singles, groups or couples could visit and have plenty to share around the dinner table, but on Anguilla everyone we met was either engaged, getting engaged or on honeymoon. As Matthew from Shoal Bay Divers put it: "This island isn't for the hardcore diver, it doesn't have the depth or the walls. I would describe it as 'diverse'. What it has is an atmosphere that is ideally suited for couples in love."
     This isn't just tourist board rhetoric. My wife and I are living proof of how the place gets to you. We had been planning to get married in the UK but, caught up in the romance of the island, waited 48 hours for a licence and got married on the beach in front of our hotel.

another colourful Saba scene


Lyle and Miriam share a romantic moment with a ring borrowed from a Spanish galleon off Anguilla


the green hills of Saba


snapper and baitfish on the Anguilla wreck the Commerce


Turtle


Life on the Commerce in Anguilla


strange-looking filefish approach divers readily in Saba


Brendan O'Brien succumbs to Anguilla's romantic allure


a bold lobster marches across the seabed in Saba, shadowed by a trumpetfish


foureye butterflyfish


horse-eye jacks around Diamond Rock


on a Saba seamount


the real Queen of the Caribbean? Saba's tourism director Glen Holm

GETTING THERE One of the Leeward Islands, Saba is a part of the Netherlands Antilles group which includes St Maarten (half-Dutch, half-French) to the north and the ABC islands off Venezuela to the south. From the UK fly to St Martin via Amsterdam with KLM or Paris with Air France. Connections to the islands are with Winnair. No visas required for British passport-holders. $20 departure tax payable at the airport. DIVING & ACCOMODATION:Brendan O'Brien dived with Saba Divers, which is attached to Scouts Palace Hotel (011 599 416 2740, www.sabadivers.com). Mark Webster visited Saba with Explorer Ventures' liveaboard mv Caribbean Explorer (001 307 235 0683, www.explorerventures.com). Brendan dived around Anguilla with Shoal Bay Scuba and Watersports (001 264 497 4371, www.shoalbayscuba.ai). WHEN TO GO: All year round. Average temperatures 26-32°C, with warm easterly tradewinds. Water temperature 25-29°C. Hurricane season August-October, though this can extend to November. Wettest months May and November, though short showers can be experienced all year round. Hottest months May-August. MONEY: In Saba the Netherlands Antilles guilder (ANG), in Anguilla the Eastern Caribbean dollar, but US dollars are accepted everywhere. COSTS: Harlequin Worldwide Diving (01708 850330, www.harlequin-holidays.co.uk) organises packages to both islands, flying via KLM from any UK regional airport. Seven nights' B&B, two sharing, on Saba, staying at the Hotel Juliana and doing 10 dives with Sea Saba, costs £1346. Seven nights' self-catering at the Carimar Beach Club in Anguilla costs £828, plus £228 for five two-tank boat dives. FURTHER INFORMATION: Saba Tourist Board (011 599 4 62231, www.sabatourism.com), Anguilla Tourist Office (001 264 497 2759, www.anguilla-vacation.com)

See also: Mark Webster dives Saba's twin attractions, Diamond Rock and Man O'War Shoals