Pick a coast before a hotel, because the island is steep and the driving slow. The southwest is the usual start, with Roseau, the dive operators and Trafalgar Falls. The interior is the reason to come, with the Boiling Lake and Emerald Pool within an hour of the capital. The far south is for diving. The north around Portsmouth is the second base, with the Indian River and Cabrits. The northeast has beaches, and the Kalinago coast is a day out. Sleep four or five nights southwest, three north.
1 Dominica city guide
Fun fact
In November 2023 Dominica created the world's first marine protected area for sperm whales, about 788 square kilometres of its western waters. It works because a resident population stays put, so the same families are logged off the same coast year after year. Shipping is routed around it.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityTwo countries roughly 700 kilometres apart. Dominica is a 750 square kilometre volcanic island between Guadeloupe and Martinique, English-speaking, with 66,205 people in 2024. The Dominican Republic shares Hispaniola with Haiti and speaks Spanish. Check the airport code: DOM and DCF are Dominica.
The realityThe sand is volcanic and mostly dark, the west coast drops steeply into deep water, and the resorts of Barbados or Antigua were never built. The island has walking, diving and rivers. For a week on a lounger, pick another island. For boots, a mask or a boat, nowhere in the chain beats it.
The realityMaria crossed as a Category 5 storm on 18 September 2017, with damage put at EC$2.51 billion and roughly 90 per cent of housing affected. The towns, roads and hotels are back, and the forest closed over within two seasons. Parts of the Waitukubuli trail are still rough, so check segment status.
The realityA ship day gets you Trafalgar Falls, a hot pool and a look at Roseau. The Boiling Lake alone is six hours of walking, the Waitukubuli National Trail runs 184 kilometres in 14 segments, and the whales are a half-day boat trip. A day is a pleasant afternoon. A week is the island.
How to behave
- Greet before you ask. Good morning or good afternoon comes first in a shop, a bus or at a stall, and skipping it reads as rude.
- Cover up off the beach. Swimwear in a shop, a bank or a restaurant is taken as bad manners, and a shirt and shoes are the minimum in town.
- Hire a guide for the hard walks, and not only for the company. The Boiling Lake, the Valley of Desolation and several Waitukubuli segments run through terrain where the route is not obvious and the ground is hot in places.
- In the Kalinago Territory, ask before photographing people or houses. It is a lived-in community of villages, and the cultural village at Crayfish River is the place set up for visitors.
- Take the trail fees seriously. Site passes fund the maintenance of the falls, the parks and the trail network, and rangers do check them.
- Leave the crapaud alone. The mountain chicken frog is critically endangered and protected, and it is no longer eaten here whatever an older menu or guidebook says.
Famous faces from Dominica
Jean Rhys
Thea LaFond
Sylvanie Burton
Lennox Honychurch
Roosevelt Skerrit
Dame Mary Eugenia Charles
Phyllis Shand Allfrey
Ophelia Marie
Gordon Henderson
Alwin Bully
Shane Shillingford
Cissie Caudeiron
Must-try food in Dominica
Cassava bread
Kasav, grated cassava pressed and griddle-baked in the Kalinago Territory.
Callaloo soup
The national dish since 2013. Dasheen leaves stewed in coconut milk, often with crab.
Sancoche
Sunday one-pot of split peas, ground provisions, dumplings, salt meat and coconut milk.
Mountain chicken, on the menu no longer
The crapaud frog, a former national dish, is now critically endangered and protected.
Crab backs
Land crab seasoned with onion, thyme and pepper, baked back in its shell. A starter.
Titiwi accra
Fritters of titiwi, tiny river-mouth fry that run with the moon. Found nowhere else.
Saltfish and bakes
Salt cod with onion, sweet pepper and thyme in a fried bake. The default breakfast.
Bakes
Palm-sized fried dough, between a bread roll and a doughnut, filled at the stall.
Ground provisions
Dasheen, tannia, yam, green fig and breadfruit, boiled as the base of the plate.
Fresh river crayfish
Crayfish and cascadura from the interior rivers, stewed in Creole sauce.
Kubuli
The island lager, brewed with Loubiere spring water, named after Wai'tu kubuli.
Macoucherie rum
The only rum distilled from local cane, at a mill still driven by the Macoucherie river.
Cocoa tea
Breakfast, not dessert. Grated cocoa in hot water or milk with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Bush tea
Lemongrass, soursop leaf, mint or bay, steeped and offered for a cold or a late night.