Fine local cuisine is offered at the island’s guest houses and there are several public restaurants. Restaurants and bars are usually closed by midnight.

National specialities:
• Calaloo soup (a thick green soup traditionally made from dasheen leaves).
• Curried goat.
• Breadfruit.
• Soursop ice cream.
• Exotic fruit grown on the island – mangoes, papayas, figs and bananas.

National drinks:
• Saba has its own brand of rum – Saba Spice, a potent blend of rum, aniseed, cinnamon, orange peel, cloves, nutmeg, spice bush and brown sugar.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: A surcharge of 20% is usually added to guest house and restaurant bills to cover government tax and service. Elsewhere, 10 to 15% is expected.

There are few visitors to the island and generally evenings are quiet, but on Friday and Saturday nights there is dancing at some restaurants and some guest houses have lively bars.

Embroidery has become Saba’s chief claim to fame. The Saba Artisans’ Foundation in The Bottom promotes local lacework, silk-screened fabrics and garments printed and handmade by Sabans, as does the Island Craft Shop in Windwardside.

Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0800-1200 and 1400-1800.