There are no direct flights from Martinique to Dominica, and fortunately there happened to be a ferry (Express des Iles) that ran on the day we wanted. Booking tickets online for Express des Iles was very difficult - we finally ended up using a travel agent in Dominica (Whitchurch (more...)

We stayed at the Ma Bass Gues House in Roseau, which was one of the few affordable options in the middle of town. The location was great. Arriving was a little difficult - it was 7pm and dark and there (more...)

Renting a car in Dominica proved to be a little difficult. The only international agency that actually answered the phone was Budget, and they explained to me that at Christmas time, (more...)

Driving in Dominica was very challenging - perhaps some of the most challenging driving we’ve ever seen in 50 countries. In fact, later on, our taxi driver in St. Martin said she refused to drive when she visited Dominica. Although there really (more...)

Roseau is not the nicest city and isn’t representative of Dominica- when we were there, there was a lot of drunks and vagrants always wandering around. The city is fairly easy to navigate - it has a simple grid system. There are no sights as such in Roseau except for the farmers market, although it makes a good base for exploring the surrounding area, and hotel prices are a lot better here then elsewhere in the island. We did check out the farmers market and picked up some good fruit there, but there wasn’t anything in the way of souvenirs.

We didn’t have much luck with restaurants in Roseau. We tried a local sports bar/restaurant that was recommended to us called Garage Bar and Grill, but the food was pretty bad, and the service was horrible. We ended up eating a couple of meals at a Chinese restaurant and bar on Independence Street at the corner with Kennedy, across from the Subway (does anyone know the name? Please leave a comment). The food here was very good, but pretty expensive. Wendy finally enjoyed some good vegetarian food - a rare find in the Caribbean. The restaurants keep strange hours during the holidays, and we didn’t have much choice. There was also a KFC in town.

When we visited Costa Rica, we enjoyed the Aerial Tram, which is a tram that slowly glides through the canopy and floor of the forest. The company that operates that tram ride also operates one in Dominica, so we decided to check (more...)

About 20 minutes south of Roseau (an easy drive), there is a park called “Champagne”. It’s actually just a small strip of land and boardwalk bordering the ocean. The attraction here is (more...)

We went on a whale watching trip with Dive Dominica. There are a couple of operators on the island, and we chose Dive Dominica because they had a better web site and we could book by email. They are located about a 10 minute drive south of Roseau. (more...)

The next day we checked out of Roseau and went on a driving tour of the island. Our first stop was Emerald Pool, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Morne Trois Pitons. These are the most accesible falls in Dominica. On cruise ship days, I’m sure it’s very busy, but we were lucky enough to visit on a non-cruise-ship day and so there was only a couple of other people. There is about a 15 minute easy walk from the parking lot (with a restaurant, souvenir stands, and toilets) to the falls themselvs. The falls empty into a pool of water, which begs to be jumped into.

We avoided the temptation to take a dip as we were worried about bilharzaia / schistosomiasis, but a Canadian doctor we met later who teaches at the medical school in Portsmouth assured us it wouldn’t have been an issue.