The Bottom

Saba's first European settlers were colonists from Zeeland, who arrived around 1640. When a landslide destroyed their first settlement, they moved to a valley enclosed by mountains and called it De Botte — old Dutch for "the bowl". "The Bottom" is the English corruption of that name. Irish, English and Scottish settlers followed, with enslaved Africans, and English became the language of the island's villages.

By the 1860s The Bottom was one of seven districts on Saba, each with its own elected head, and in 1865 it had 616 inhabitants. Most men farmed or fished, and many built ships, one of the island's 19th-century industries, while women worked at home and made hats and Saba lace, a drawn-thread needlework. Building began on the Catholic Sacred Heart Church in 1877. A navigation school opened in 1909 and ran until 1922, and the Queen Wilhelmina Library opened in 1923.

Emigration in the early and middle 20th century almost halved the village, which had only 341 inhabitants by 1972. The island's single road, The Road, designed by the self-taught engineer Joseph "Lambee" Hassell and built by hand, began at Fort Bay and climbed to The Bottom, and the airport later opened at Flat Point on the far side of the island. The first supermarket opened in 1964, a small silk-screen printing works was built in 1972 to provide new jobs, and a medical school opened in 1992. When the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved in 2010, Saba became a special municipality of the Netherlands, with The Bottom as its seat of government.

The Bottom is English-speaking, and Saban English, the island's own variety, is heard in every shop and on The Road; the first dictionary of it was published in 2016. Dutch is official and taught in school, but English is the language of instruction. Families have deep roots, and a few surnames — Hassell, Johnson and Every above all — are shared by a large part of the island.

Church life matters. The village has three: the Anglican Christ Church, the oldest on the island on record; the Catholic Sacred Heart Church, begun in 1877; and the Wesleyan Holiness Church, begun in 1919. Catholics are now the largest denomination on Saba. Saba lace, known on the island as "Spanish work", is still made and sold, and Saba Spice, a sweet rum flavoured with local spices, is the island's best-known drink.

The village is the centre of the island's big celebrations. Saba Carnival, usually in late July, fills Carnival Village with a week of live music, food, dancing and parades, and the Grand Parade passes through The Bottom. On Saba Day in early December, offices, schools and businesses close, and islanders mark their culture with performances, cookouts, fishing contests and a concert at the sports field.

The village had 462 inhabitants at the last census, in 2001, and the whole island had about 2,160 people at the start of 2025, making Saba the smallest territory by permanent population in the Americas. The Bottom holds the island government offices, the hospital, a nursing home, the library, the sports field and a medical school.

Tourism now contributes more to the island's economy than any other sector, much of it from divers and hikers, alongside government jobs and the medical school. Supplies arrive by boat at Fort Bay, and imported goods are expensive. Life is organised around the sea, the trails, the church and the flight and ferry timetable, and in a village this size most people know each other.

Most families trace their ancestry to early Dutch, English and Scottish settlers and enslaved Africans. Saba elects its own island council, and its people are Dutch nationals; moving to the Netherlands for study, healthcare and work is common.

Saba eats Caribbean-English home cooking. Goat water, a spiced goat stew, is the classic dish, alongside johnnycakes, saltfish, pea soup and pumpkin soup, fresh fish and lobster, with pigeon peas and rice on the side. The Saba Bank, a large submarine atoll a few kilometres south-west of the island, is a prime fishing ground, particularly for lobster.

Almost everything else is imported, and grocery stores in The Bottom and Windwardside are where many visitors buy food for their own meals. The village has a handful of restaurants and bars, including one of the island's two Chinese restaurants, and much of the island's eating out happens up the road in Windwardside.

The drink to know is Saba Spice, a sweet rum enhanced with local spices and still made by Saban women; a nip of it may end a meal, and bottles are a common souvenir. Rum, regional beers and fresh juices are the usual drinks in the bars.