We motored the 60 nautical miles from St. Pierre, Martinique, to Portsmouth, Dominica, in the wind shadow created by Dominica’s tall mountains. It was a cloudy and misty day. The scenery reminded me of a moody Chinese Shan Shui (山水, “mountain-water”) painting.
Although Dominica is only a few hours’ sail from Martinique, the contrast was immediate as we stepped onto the only main street in Portsmouth, the island’s second largest city. Chickens and street dogs roamed freely while people sat on low stools or gathered around street corners and shopfronts. Near the main fisherman’s dock, a few fruit and veggie stands offered excellent local produce. Our friends called Dominica the “old” Caribbean, and now I understand why: it has not been taken over by fancy hotels, large modern resorts, and shopping malls. It is anything but posh.
Traveling through the Caribbean always means adjusting to each island’s quirks, like switching between driving on the left and right depending on colonial history. Martinique is French, so you drive on the right. Dominica was British, so it’s on the left. Robert and I are from the US, and it felt a little too adventurous to rent a car and try driving on the “wrong” side of the road on such mountainous roads. So we stuck with taxis, even though prices weren’t clear and they were expensive, and drivers were mostly interested in taking us to the obvious tourist spots rather than where we wanted to go, based on our extensive research. Oh, no, do not attempt to fool us, local taxi drivers.
Aside from the daily coaxing of our taxi driver to venture out further to “dangerously” far locations (such as Victoria Falls), and a few blank stares from idle islanders on the street with what I can only describe as proud resentment, the beauty of Dominica wowed us every day during our short stay. We loved stunning waterfalls, jungle hikes, fruit trees, tropical flowers, the daily fresh catches from local fishing boats, and unfamiliar tropical fruits from the friendly local fruit stands.
We visited Syndicate, Trafalgar, Middleham, and Victoria Falls. If we had chosen, we could easily have visited another 3 or 4 beautiful falls. Dominica is an island of waterfalls.
Our favorites are Middleham and Victoria Falls. It took a mountainous drive and a moderate hike to reach the Middleham Falls, but the effort was well worth it. The hike to the fall was a wonder in itself. The tropical jungle offered an incredible feast to all senses. As we picked our way to descend carefully, the 275 feet waterfall jumped into view. The sight was impressive.
After visiting the first three waterfalls, the group decided that we had not had enough. We embarked on a long journey from Portsmouth on the northwest corner of the island to visit Victoria Falls on the southeast corner of the island. The drive was long and bumpy, but interesting, with varied scenery throughout the island’s interior.
We hired a guide who met us in the town of Delices. The guide directed the car to a super-narrow dirt road and told the driver to park near a few private houses (shacks). That was the trailhead to the falls. No markings, no signs. We were very happy to have a guide. It felt like we were allowed into a local secret. Our hike to the falls was fun, at times tricky, but not terribly demanding, thanks to our guide’s excellent instructions. We climbed over slippery river rocks and waded across the stream three times. At the deepest, the water was at waist-deep. Surprisingly, the water was not as cold as at the other waterfalls we had visited. Our guide explained that this was because Victoria Falls is one of the outlets of the famous Boiling Lake.1
It took us about 45 minutes to reach the waterfall. The view was breathtaking.
On the final day of our road trip, we visited the lesser-known Red Rock and Grand Baptiste Bay on the northern coast of Dominica.
The entrance to the Red Rock scenic area is on the property of the Red Rock Cuisine restaurant. The restaurant has many outdoor tables under the shade and a bar that offers beer, fresh local juices, and various cocktails. I sampled a tamarind sorrel juice, which was delicious. From either the restaurant or the tree-lined trail entrance, we had no view of the scenic cliff or the bay. As such, we had little expectation of what we would find at the end of the trail. All at once, as we stepped out of the dense forest, we saw the unexpected, dramatic red vista and the Caribbean Sea beneath the cliff.
Since we needed to get out of the Atlantic hurricane belt, we had to make our way south by the end of May. So long, Dominica! Next stop, St Lucia!
Some lessons from our two weeks in Dominica:
- If you feel comfortable driving on the left on narrow, hilly roads, renting a car could save quite a bit of money compared to expensive taxis (often $150–$200 daily).
- Higher-end restaurants often disappoint, lacking real culinary training yet trying to emulate fine dining and charging high prices. Local hole-in-the-wall places offered better-tasting meals at a fraction of costs.
- Portsmouth grocery stores have only basic goods; Roseau is better stocked. Weekend markets in Portsmouth offer outstanding fresh, local produce.
- Visit the Portsmouth seafood market early, as the best catch is gone by 10am. Fishermen will fillet your purchase on request.
- Bring cash, as many places don’t accept cards. ATMs may be empty; if so, visit the bank early in the week to avoid long Friday lines and closures. It took us two hours to withdraw some cash from the bank counter after trying all three empty ATMs in Portsmouth.
- You need good hiking shoes/sandals for exploring.
- Bring some snacks for your hikes. Restaurants in remote areas can run out of food after lunch rush. We tried three restaurants around 2pm-3pm, hoping to grab a quick lunch; all three were out of food or unwilling to cook for us.
- Dominica’s Boiling Lake, located in the UNESCO-listed Morne Trois Pitons National Park, is the world’s second-largest hot lake, measuring about 200 feet across. The grey-blue water, kept around by volcanic gases, is in a flooded fumarole.