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Caribbean’s Nature Island, Dominica draws adventure seekers

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By Jill K. Robinson

Published 3:00 pm, Thursday, July 9, 2015




  • Fire is among the guides who lead rowboat tours of Dominicas Indian River. Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle

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Fire is among the guides who lead rowboat tours of Dominica’s Indian River.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


A hummingbird rests in the trees alongside the Waitukubuli National Trail.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


The hike to the Boiling Lake in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park ranks as one of Dominica’s most demanding trails.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


A picturesque swimming beach at Secret Bay is an ideal leisure adventure.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


An oceanfront porch at Rosalie Bay Resort, a boutique property with 28 rooms and suites that is set on a black sand beach where turtles safely nest. During nesting season, guests can wake in the middle of the night to watch leatherback turtle activity.


Photo: Rosalie Bay Resort


Rosalie Bay’s black sand beach is home to annual nests of green, hawksbill and leatherback turtles. Guests can be awakened to assist in late-night collection of data on the turtles.


Photo: Marine Creatures


The Indian River, the setting for parts of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” is one of the many rivers on the island.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


Watch your step in Dominica. Land crabs cross at will.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


A slow pace on Dominica allows you to dial back your speed, too. Its isolation has allowed the indigenous culture to flourish.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


Dominica’s second-largest town, Portsmouth, which lies on the Indian River, has luxury accommodations with swimming beaches.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


Rosalie Bay’s black sand beach is home to annual nests of green, hawksbill and leatherback turtles.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


A picturesque swimming beach at Secret Bay is an ideal leisure adventure.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


The Caribbean’s first long-distance walking trail, the Waitukubuli National Trail stretches for 115 miles from the extreme north to the southern edge of Dominica.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle


Volcanic activity in Dominica has changed the Valley of Desolation’s once-forested area into a strange, rocky landscape.


Photo: Jill K. Robinson, Special To The Chronicle



The car follows a twisting road through rain forest and between jagged mountains. My hands grip the dashboard — not because the driver is reckless but because the vehicle is rarely level on this journey.

“You see, the island is mountainous,” the guide, Zahir, says. “When you’re not going up, you’re going down.”

In fact, the Kalinago people who predated Columbus’ “discovery” of Dominica in 1493 called their island home Waitukubuli — meaning, “tall is her body.”

Geologically speaking, Dominica is the youngest of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean, and the volcanic forces that created it are still at work, inspiring a variety of landscapes: volcanoes, rivers, waterfalls, deep gorges and the world’s second-largest fumarole. Even underwater, where curtains of bubbles rise up from the sea floor as gases escape subterranean vents, evidence of volcanic life is ever present.

The topography is one reason Dominica lags behind its neighbors in number of residents as well as visitors. It was the last Caribbean island to be colonized (in 1763, by the British). The interior and eastern coast were difficult to traverse, allowing the Kalinago (also known as Carib) and Creole peoples to retain much of their distinct culture. The Ministry of Tourism didn’t even exist until the late 20th century.

Many know Dominica as the Nature Island because of its volcanic physique and diversity of natural features — which lure adventure seekers, although not the traditional Caribbean tourist, due to the lack of all-inclusive resorts, swim-up bars and lounge-chair-studded beaches.

Here, hikers and divers abound, and they’re perfectly happy to keep the natural beauty and hot springs to themselves. It’s the kind of place where your best souvenir doesn’t come from a shop, but from experiencing the natural resources of the island itself.

There aren’t many shops, anyway.

Trails and turtles

Only a few minutes on the Waitukubuli National Trail, and the rain forest closes in around me. In exchange for the sounds of people and cars, the air is filled with birdsong. Like a gang of teenagers interrupting a symphony, the squawks of native sisserou and jaco parrots temporarily take over.

The sisserou, the country’s national bird, is featured on Dominica’s flag. Two of the parrots are hanging upside down about 10 feet above me, distracted by ripe fruit. Their colors remind me of a child’s indulgent crayon scribbles: deep green and vivid purple feathers tipped in black, vermilion and turquoise wingtip streaks, and an orange iris.

Tropical rain forests cover two-thirds of the island, and one of the best ways to get a look at much of it is to hike the Waitukubuli National Trail. The Caribbean’s first long-distance walking trail, it stretches for 115 miles from the extreme north to the southern edge of Dominica. The trail is marked in segments for those who don’t want to hike its entire length.

My current choice, Segment 10, runs from Colihaut Heights to Syndicate. It’s a short distance (just under 4 miles) and cuts through a region that’s home to the parrots, purple-throated Carib hummingbirds and the occasional land crab scuttling across the trail.

This segment, a reclaimed agricultural road, was once used heavily for transporting produce from the rugged interior to the coast. Today along the entire route, I see no other human.

Later that evening, I go to bed earlier than usual, with the promise that someone will knock on my door if turtles are spied on Rosalie Bay’s black sand beach. The Rosalie Sea Turtle Initiative includes night patrol during nesting season, beach cleanup, education programs and data collection. In 2003, there were only seven leatherback nests. By 2010, there were 69 nests of three species of sea turtles (green, hawksbill and leatherback).

The knock comes, and I quickly pull clothes on in the dark and walk down the beach with my flashlight. There are three female leatherbacks laboring at digging their nests, and while they’re busy, I help workers take their measurements. My fingers graze the turtles’ skin, which feels like wet rubber and looks like the night sky scattered with stars.

It takes hours. I stay with the turtles until they turn back toward the sea. When the last one is gone, I shuffle across the dark sand, back to my cottage.

Up the Indian River

My boat captain’s name is Fire. He sits in the bow of the brightly painted rowboat, his dreadlocks twisting in a dozen directions. Fire points out a stand of wild cane, known as roseau reeds, and explains they’re the reason Dominica’s capital city was named Roseau.

“The Caribs used that cane for fishing pots,” he explains. “The Indian River was named after them. They lived, fished and traveled by boat here.”

Gnarled tree roots plunge into the ghostly green water. When I look closely, I spy land crabs hiding among the nooks created by the buttress roots. Perched above, a green-backed heron eyes the crustaceans. Most of them are nearly as large as the bird. The only sounds we hear are the splash of the oars in the river.

Portions of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” were filmed along the Indian River, as the remote location of Tia Dalma’s shack. Fire says he knows exactly where, but we miss the spot among the trees the first time, and after backtracking, he’s sure that this, yes this, is really where the shack stood before being dismantled.

We disembark upriver, at the Indian River Bush Bar, for a brief rest before traveling back. The chalkboard menu lists two rum punches of the day: passion fruit punch, and something called Dynamite. Its explosive name begs a taste.

“What’s in the Dynamite?” I ask the bartender.

“Rum,” he answers, and shrugs. “The rest is surprise.”

The resulting mix of lime, passion fruit, gooseberry, cinnamon and local cask rum deserves its name. I have two.

Before we leave, I buy a coconut shell bracelet made by a man named JohnI. After I choose the right one, he wraps it gently in a leaf and hands it to me.

“When someone asks you where you got it,” he says, “that’s when the good vibes come: the memory of the Nature Island.”

Journey to Boiling Lake

Back in the car with Zahir the next morning, we traverse a “broken piece” of road — a dry riverbed where there is no asphalt. Zahir explains that today’s hike will be dirty and difficult, but promises that we’ll make a stop for a refreshing drink afterward.

A six-hour round trip over challenging terrain, the hike to the Boiling Lake in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park ranks as one of Dominica’s most demanding trails. The first hour meanders through rain forest and rises gradually from 1,690 feet to 2,260 feet before dropping toward the Trois Pitons River, called the Breakfast River because it’s often the first stop for a snack. Because the sky is gray and it’s already begun to rain lightly, Zahir and I continue without stopping.

We follow a ridge as the vegetation changes from rain forest to montane forest. At 3,160 feet is a lookout with views across the national park, but mist descends along the trail and I can only see pieces of the emerald peaks, until they are shrouded in fog.

The trail then dips into the Valley of Desolation. Volcanic activity in Dominica has changed this once-forested area into a strange, rocky landscape of gray and gold, dotted with grasses, mosses and lichens.

Silvery streams of varying temperatures meander through the area. I take turns dipping my muddy feet into a warm stream, and then a cool one. Just a few feet away, bubbling sounds suggest I might try an even hotter water source, but it wouldn’t be a smart choice.

A flooded fumarole, the Boiling Lake appears at the end of the trail like a cauldron of gray-blue water enveloped in a veil of vapor, until a breeze comes along to blow the cloud away. While chatter abounds on the trail, all hikers are quiet near the water, as if straining to hear the bubbling sound.

A few hours later, after our return hike, Zahir and I sit in a bar with bottles of Dominican Kubuli beer. On the label is a map of the island, which looks somewhat like a person standing up. My finger traces through the condensation on the label, along the map of the ground I’ve covered on my adventures, from the black sand beach to the Waitukubuli National Trail to the Indian River and the Boiling Lake.

Tall is her body, indeed.

Jill K. Robinson is a freelance writer in Half Moon Bay. E-mail: travel@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dangerjr

If you go

Getting there

Flights from San Francisco to Dominica cost about $1,600 and can take up to 14 hours, depending on connections.

Where to stay

Rosalie Bay Resort: Rosalie Bay. (800) 831-9249, www.rosaliebay.com. This boutique resort with 28 rooms and suites is set on a black sand beach where turtles safely nest. During nesting season, guests can wake in the middle of the night to watch leatherback turtle activity. Room rates start at $225.

Secret Bay: Portsmouth. (767) 445-4444, www.secretbay.dm. Luxury resort with villas and bungalows situated on cliffs overlook two swimming beaches where you’ll likely spend plenty of time. Room rates start at $452.

Where to eat

8 Castle Street: 8 Castle St., Roseau. (767) 317-1703. This intimate grill, wine bar and cafe is located in Roseau’s old French Quarter. Stay for the live music. $2-14

Zamaan Restaurant: Rosalie Bay. (800) 831-9249. Open-air restaurant at the Rosalie Bay Resort serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and focuses on healthy cuisine and Dominican favorites. Dinner entrees, $13-40.

What to do

Champagne Reef: Champagne Reef Dive Snorkel, on the beach at Champagne Reef. www.champagnereef.com, (767) 440-5085. Swim through columns of bubbles that rise up from the sea floor on a 1.5-hour snorkel excursion. $19 per person.

Indian River Tour: Cobra Tours, Portsmouth. www.cobratours.dm, (767) 245-6332. Two-hour guided rowboat tours travel up the Indian River to the Bush Bar and back to Portsmouth. Taste the Dynamite — it’s a rite of passage. Tours start at $15 per person.

Boiling Lake Hike: Rosalie Bay Resort. (800) 831-9249, www.rosaliebay.com. Guests of the resort (and others, too) can take a full-day guided hike to Dominica’s Boiling Lake. Lunch included. $140 per person.

More Information

Discover Dominica Authority: www.dominica.dm.

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