Discover Dominica

Dominica is an island country of 750 square kilometres and 71,293 people at the 2011 census, in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles between the French departments of Guadeloupe, 48 kilometres north, and Martinique, 40 south. It is 47 kilometres long and 29 wide, the youngest island in the chain and still volcanically alive: Morne Diablotins rises to 1,447 metres, the Boiling Lake in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park is the world's second-largest hot lake, the coastal plain is nowhere wider than two kilometres, and there are, by the island's own count, 365 rivers. The rain that feeds them falls hardest inland on mountain rainforest; the west coast is drier, and the average day runs from 26 degrees in January to 32 in June. Roseau, the capital, has 14,725 people on the sheltered south-west coast; Portsmouth Ferry Dock and the Cabrits headland are in the north.

The Arawak came from South America in the fifth century and the Kalinago displaced them; Christopher Columbus passed on 3 November 1493; the Spanish never settled; the French and English agreed in 1660 to leave the island to the Kalinago and then did not; France held it from 1715 to 1763, Britain from 1763 to 1978, and by 1838 it was the only British West Indian colony with a Black-controlled legislature. Independence came on 3 November 1978; Hurricane David followed in 1979 and Maria, a Category 5, on the night of 18 September 2017, with losses put at 226 per cent of the economy. English is official, Kwéyòl is spoken, about 61 per cent of the population is Catholic, and more than 3,000 Kalinago live in eight villages of the Territory granted in 1903, the last such community in the eastern Caribbean.

For the visitor Dominica is the Caribbean's walking island: the 184-kilometre Waitukubuli National Trail in fourteen segments from Scotts Head to the Cabrits, the six-hour Boiling Lake hike through the Valley of Desolation, the Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls, the Indian River by rowing boat, sperm whales resident offshore, and the Sisserou parrot, of which perhaps 50 mature birds remain. Non-residents pay US$8 a site, US$20 a day or US$50 a week to enter the parks and US$12 a day on the trail; the East Caribbean dollar is pegged at 2.70 to the US dollar; 999 is the emergency number; and both advisories rate the island as needing only normal precautions.

Do I need a visa?

Most visitors do not; a stay of up to six months is granted on arrival with a passport valid six months beyond the date and a return or onward ticket.

Which airport?

Douglas–Charles on the north-east coast, about an hour from Roseau, with nonstop flights from Miami and connections through the neighbouring islands; Canefield, fifteen minutes from the capital, takes small aircraft only.

Can I come by ferry?

Yes, FRS Express des Îles from Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia to the Roseau Ferry Terminal.

What do the parks cost?

For non-residents US$8 a site, US$20 for a day pass or US$50 for a week; the Waitukubuli National Trail is separate at US$12 a day or US$40 for fifteen days.

How hard is the Boiling Lake?

Thirteen kilometres and about six hours return from Laudat through the Valley of Desolation, with a guide, starting early; swimming in the lake is prohibited.

What currency?

The East Caribbean dollar, pegged at 2.70 to the US dollar; US dollars are accepted everywhere and the park fees are quoted in them.

Which side of the road?

The left, with a 30-day temporary permit bought at the airport or from the rental firm.

What is the emergency number?

999.