**More Information About What You’re Seeing Here** Join me as we fly to the shortest commercial runway in the world on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba. Saba is otherwise known as the home to the shortest commercial airport runway in the world. At only 1,300 feet long, it's only 150 feet longer than the deck on the US Navy's USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. The journey to this exotic Caribbean island begins on the nearby Dutch/French Caribbean island of Sint Maarten, where we board a Winair De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter for the short 15-minute flight to Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport. This video is edited in the style I love and has helped grow my channel. And that style is pure experience. No fancy music, over complicated voice overs, over dramatization, or anything else that takes away from the experience. It's just you, me, the aviation, the destination, and the ambiance & atmosphere that I experienced on that day. If you'd like to know more about something you're seeing you can use the description, chapters, timestamps, and this pinned comment that details everything presented in this video. If you’re a purest and don’t like the edited down version here, you can find the full flight links in the description. 0:00 - Intro 0:04 - We begin on the French/Dutch Caribbean Island of Sint Maarten, 28 miles north of Saba, at the Simpson Bay Resort & Marina 0:15 - We take one of the many local taxis to Princess Juliana International Airport. World renowned for its approach which features aircraft landing directly over Maho Beach. 0:31-1:05 - We arrive at and proceed through Princess Juliana International Airport’s terminal. This was filmed not long after Hurricane Irma decimated Sint Maarten. The airport and many other buildings are still undergoing major repair. This is why this airport and other shots around Sint Maarten look so unusual. 1:06 - We board Winair flight 401. Operated by a De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter. Registration PJ-WIQ. This particular Twin Otter is 43 years old. It still holds the record today, for being the oldest airframe I’ve ever flown on. The Twin Otter is well known for its legendary STOL capabilities. That’s “short takeoff and landing” abilities. Since we’re heading for a runway that is only 1,300 feet long, it’s the perfect aircraft for the job. 1:28 - The Twin Otter can hold 20 passengers, which makes it even more incredible that it can easily land on a runway that is only 1,300 feet long. Today’s flight is light, with only myself and a few other people eventually boarding. Seating on Winair is open, so if you want a specific seat, try to board first. 1:39 - The Twin Otter has no cockpit door. Seats 1A, B, and C have a direct view out the front windows. 1:47 - The crew begin to start the engines and I had multiple cameras running to catch the action from the cockpit and the engine/wing view. 1:56-2:35 - We taxi to Princess Juliana International Airport’s runway. A runway that is just as famous as the 1,300 feet long runway we’re about to fly to. 2:36-3:51 - This was the first flight of the day for this aircraft. So, the engines must be put through their paces. Referred to as a run-up. This ensures everything the engine is running properly and is ready to tackle the flight. You can hear the throttle and propeller pitch changes as the pilots check all systems. 3:52 - We taxi onto runway 10 at Princess Juliana International Airport with the famous Maho Beach visible. 4:10 - Power is applied to the Twin Otter’s two engines and we begin our takeoff roll. We’re on our way to the shortest commercial airport runway in the world! 5:13 - At only 28 miles apart, the silhouette of Saba is already visible through the cockpit windows. A silhouette you may be familiar with, as it was used in the original King Kong (1933) as Skull Island. 5:26-7:16 - It’s time! We’re now landing at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on the Island of Saba. This first view is show from the engine/wing. 7:17-8:09 - It’s time! We’re now landing at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on the Island of Saba. This second view is show from the cockpit. 8:10-8:46 - Having landed in just a few hundred feet, the Twin Otter showing all of its muscle, we taxi in to parking where the second portion of our journey begins. 8:47-9:27 - Welcome to Saba Island and Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport. Interesting tidbit. The only beach on the island is located just off the airport near all of the solar panels you can see at 9:20. Saba is not an island known for its beaches. It is more known for world-class diving and hiking, laid back atmosphere, and frequent weather changes. We’ll see the weather changes yourself on this day. Note that it was raining when we landed. 9:28 - We’ve caught a local taxi. The taxi drives on Saba are the friendliest I’ve ever meet. Simply tell them you’re a tourist wanting to explore the island, and they’ll take you around the entire island, giving you a narrated tour for only $40. Now, this was several years ago, I’m not sure if that’s still the going rate, but it was well worth it. At this point we’re now driving up “The Road.” Saba Island has only one road. It begins at the airport, runs up Zion’s Hill all the way to The Bottom, and then continues on to Well’s Bay Beach (which isn’t actually a beach), and Fort Bay. More on those later 9:44 - Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport and its 1,300 feet of runway seen from high up on The Road. Also visible is the one and only small beach on the island. 10:04-10:26 - We’ve made our way all the way to the other side of the island. Now in The Bottom, we’ll continue exploring Saba from here back to the airport. The day begins with a breakfast at Island Flavors. It’s worth noting that we visited Saba on a Sunday and didn’t realize this restaurant would be closed. The owner opened, just to make us breakfast, and it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. At 10:04 notice it is now sunny. Also at 10:12 notice that it is now raining again, before breakfast was even served.
10:27 - We’ve finished breakfast, and it’s now sunny again. The Saba historic governmental building is directly across the street form Island Flavors. 10:45 - Directly down the street from Island Flavors and the historic government building is Sacred Heart Church. The island’s Catholic Church which was built in 1877. And still hold weekly service today. Since we were there on a Sunday morning, church was about to begin, and the islands residents were starting to fill the building. They were gracious enough to let us peak inside before, before the service began. Notice, that it’s beginning to get dark again. 11:01 - We’ve made our way down to Well’s Bay Beach. The first termination point of The Road after going through The Bottom. As you can see, it is not quite what most people would call a beach. It’s also raining again. 11:18 - We’re back on The Road, heading to the other termination point of The Road, Fort Bay. Our taxi driver is explaining how taxes work on the island. It’s also sunny again. 11:33 - We’ve reached Fort Bay. Where most of the boats leave for the world-class diving that Saba is renowned for. It’s also the second of the two termination points of The Road. 11:54 - We’re now stopped on The Road, overlooking The Bottom as we begin our journey back across the island to the airport. Don’t worry, we have plenty more to see before catching our flight back. Our taxi driver is explaining how the cruise ship “The World” has stopped at Saba twice before, but the large ships cannot dock there. 12:09-13:17 - Our Taxi driver then dropped us on the side of The Road, promising that the small, unassuming trail, would lead us directly to the top of Zion’s Hill, where she’d pick us back up in an hour or so. She had another ride she had to go pick up and take somewhere else. We had no option but to trust her. We then got to experience some of Saba’s world-class hiking, as we spent the next hour on a very easy trail through thick rain forest canopies. Thankfully, it remained sunny for this portion of the day. At 13:05, I don’t believe this species is native to the forest. 13:18-13:55 - We reached the small settlement at the top of Zion’s Hill and had some time to spare before our taxi picked us back up. So, we explored the area on foot. We came across a very old cemetery, that I still cannot find the name of to this day, and several other shops, art galleries, and museums. Being that it was Sunday, they were all closed. But, it was still very interesting to just walk around. 13:56 - We’re back on The Road, heading for a scenic overlook, before heading back to the airport. 14:04 - Said scenic overlook. It is the view featured on this video’s thumbnail and is truly one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Our taxi driver said we were lucky the rains had held off, as this view is often obstructed by the clouds. This small settlement is literally perched right on the top of this tiny island, which is ultimately and extinct volcano. 14:17 - Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport and its 1,300 feet of runway seen from high up on The Road once again as we head back to catch our flight back to Sint Maarten. 14:25 - We’ve made it full circle, as we’re back at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport. 14:48 - Our ride back to Sint Maarten arrives. This De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter is only 39 years old. Registration PJ-WII. 16:06 - We board Winair flight 535 that will be our ride back to Sint Maarten. Technically this flight stopped once more before heading back to Sint Maarten, but for time sake, and to keep this video shorter, I only included the Saba to Sint Maarten portion. 16:14 - The engines are fired and we begin our very short taxi onto the world’s shortest commercial airport runway. 16:30 - We’re already on the runway! We now back taxi, as every foot of real estate on this runway matters. We also get a short passenger briefing here. This is also the extent of the safety briefing. 17:13-18:03 - It’s time! We’re now taking off on the shortest runway in the world. This first view is show from the engine/wing. 18:04-18:35 - It’s time! We’re now taking off on the shortest runway in the world. This second view is show from the cockpit. 18:36-20:03 - Just a few minutes later we’re already landing back at Princess Juliana International Airport on the island of Sint Maarten. At 19:00 there is a great view of the famous Maho Beach from the cockpit view. 20:04-21:12 - We taxi back to Winair’s hanger, where we’ll disembark. 21:13 - One last look at the 39 year old Twin Otter that just made short work of the world’s shortest runway. 21:24 - Princess Juliana International Airport’s terminal again. 21:33-21:52 - Dinner at a Sint Maarten favorite, Pineapple Pete! It was as good as it looked! 21:53 - We’re back where the day started. At the Simpson Bay Resort & Marina. The weather on Sint Maarten is as unpredictable as Saba. 22:05 - It didn’t stay that way for long. There’s just enough time left in the day to chill in the beautiful Caribbean waters for a short time. And we wrap up with a time lapse. I hope you enjoyed this video! Thank you
You should go back to my older videos. Before Covid I was in the Caribbean a lot. I have content on here from SXM, SAB, SBH, EUX, SKB, and GCM. It's all pre-Covid though. I need to get back down to the area!
@@sla31 I was in SKB during the Coronavirus pandemic. And SXM pre pandemic. I love those islands. I used to live in Antigua (ANU) but recently move to Jamaica (KIN).
Plenty more on the way for next year. Thanks for watching and I'm glad my videos can take you to a place of calm. You never know my friend. I fly a lot. We might share a flight some day.
Thanks my friend! The good news is I already have 7 or 8 more of these style of videos filmed. They're not from quite as exotic destinations, but still. If you liked this style then I have more coming!
WOWOWOWOW!!!!! What great views!!! These pilots must have served in the Navy because a Navy pilot has to know how to get his plane up in the air FAST. Anyhow, no jet lat to worry about from watching this video. :)
Definitely no jet lag. At 28 miles, this one is shorter than the shortest commercial flight in the United States. Thanks, as always, for watching my friend!
That's amazing! The nature at saba looks like something you would only see in a dream. And the landing was very quick to decrease speed! Takeoff was extremely fast to accelerate. Definitely a cool video!
Thanks my friend. As an aviation enthusiast this had been on my bucket list for years. This was actually filmed din 2019, but I'd love to go back again now that my equipment is so much better. That said, the actual island of Saba is still one of my all time favorite places that I've ever visited. I've love to go back again and spend a few days on exploring! Thanks for watching!
@@sla31 No, Thank you for taking the time to write back. I always have loved playing your videos, as the footage is high quality, and fun to watch. I'll definitely look forward to more videos in saba if that happens. Beside that fact, can't wait to watch more of your videos in 2023, Happy New Years!
@@aydenmyers8350 it’s no problem my friend. I do everything on this channel by myself, so I genuinely appreciate everyone who takes the time out of their schedule to watch. I’ve built this channel up from the very beginning and I’ve always said that I will always do the best I can to reply to as many comments as possible. Without you and everyone else watching, I wouldn’t be able to keep making videos. Anyway, there’s plenty more on the way for 2023!
So fascinating! Relaxing island, great tour + breakfast and trails! Not to mention cockpit and passenger views onboard. Great! What more is there to say?
wow great coverage Skylite. I thought Tribhuvan in Nepal was shortest in take off and landings. .I remembered St Maarten airport take off and landings before Hurr. Maria hit it in 2017.
I remember that well!, not sure i'll experience anything like that flightwise again (although st.barths is also a good one) was taken aback at first by the friendliness of the locals there also a great day all round.
I too was surprised by the friendliness of the local. I was there on a Sunday and I expected things to be kind of closed and slow that day. To my surprise the taxi driver was thrilled to give me a free tour of the whole island. You could tell she genuinely enjoyed teaching people about her islands heritage and history. I leaned so much from her. Also, the little local restaurant I ate breakfast at was closed. I was just not planning on eating much that day. Oh the taxi driver wouldn’t have it. She called someone, who called the owner of the restaurant, and they opened up just to feed me. Of course I was a paying customer; but still some of the most welcoming snd friendly people I’ve ever met! It’s been a long time since we met at Maho Beach. I hope you’re doing well my friend!
@Skylite Productions I've been away from airports and filming for some time now, but planning a hop around Asia later this year so will probably start up again then! I Think you're going rival Sam Chui for the amount of flights taken! Enjoy.
This was a great video!! Saba is really beautiful!! When are you coming to Antigua!? Would to see a video from you coming into our Airport VC Bird International.
Great fly and the chat! I hope you enjoy for the rest of 2022 while I am standing Times Square outside waiting for ball drop on the next 7 1/2 hours at the time of writing this comment. Happy New Year!
Both aircraft featured in this video are De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters. World renowned for their short takeoff and landing capabilities. Which is why the two aircraft here, were 43 and 39 years old, and still flying. They don’t really have anything that can replace them.
Always choose first class first class has the best seats in the house even if it’s a economy, I don’t mind economy I especially don’t like sitting next to couples with babies
Well I don’t disagree that first has the best seats, but I can’t afford to fly in fries to 😂. And to be fair, it doesn’t matter where you sit, babies can be present anywhere haha.
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