Dominica is a truly genuine and unspoiled island. It does not have any marinas or charter companies, hence the sailing scene here is quite different from the other islands we have visited lately.
We started our exploration of Dominica just South of Roseau, which is the capital. Most of Dominica’s coastline is quite steep, and the island does not have many beaches. The island is known to be a great destination for diving, and most of the hotels cater to that need.
With few beaches often comes a rugged coastline…. The anchorage we were at had a very steep “beach” consisting mainly of rocks. Here, we experienced every sailor’s worst nightmare… Our boat dragged while we were not there! Meaning that the anchor lost its holding, and our boat started drifting out of control.
Luckily, an alert former tug boat captain was at his house right on the beach. He noticed that Noxoma was dragging, and alerted some sailors on a neighbor boat as well as two local fishermen, and they took action. They were able to maneuver our boat onto a nearby buoy, and when we returned from our brief visit to town, we found Noxoma there.
Kudos to everyone involved who took action! It does take quite a lot of courage to go aboard someone else’s boat for this kind of rescue mission. To us, it was an unpleasant experience returning to the boat, only to find her at a different location. We have certainly learned our lesson; no anchoring in steep areas where the anchor can slide off, especially if there are fall winds from the mountains, as was the situation here.
The Southern part of Dominica has a protected marine reserve, called Scotts Head Marine Park, with several amazing dive sites. You have to use a local dive guide to dive there. We went with Donny from Donny’s Water Sports at Champagne Beach. Interesting intell – your dive guide does not always follow you underwater here in the Caribbean. We experienced this both in Martinique and again in Dominica. Rather, they explain the dive to you, and wait in the boat. We already knew up front that Donny couldn’t dive due to a cold, though.
We did two dives in Scottshead Marine Park, the first was L’abym Wall. It is a wall that goes to 1,500 feet, with lots of gorges to explore. It truly felt like we were flying as we made our descent.
The second dive was Champagne Beach, which had bubbles coming up from the seabed, due to volcanic activity. Sitting at the bottom, just watching the bubbles rise around us, was pretty awesome. The water is also a tad warmer, which really adds to the experience of diving in volcanic waters.
The before-mentioned tug boat captain, Dave, has an informal place where sailors hang out and meet at his beach house. It is called “Drop Your Anchor” and is marked in Doyle Guides (the Bible for sailors, giving info about everything from anchorages to onshore activities across most Caribbean Islands), and also where the sailors who rescued our boat hung out.
We were fortunate that Dave arranged one of his beach BBQs while we were there, and he truly is a great cook. We had lots of yummy food! Also, he had great help from a couple of young ladies making their way through the Caribbean hitchhiking on sailboats. Thank you for a great evening, Dave, Paola and Carla!
After three nights moving places between buoys and anchorages in the South, we decided it was time to go for a quieter and more secure area. The main anchorage for sailors in Dominica is in the North, a bay called Prince Rupert Bay. It is a large bay with lots of room to anchor, or one can also take a buoy. The bay has some fall winds from the surrounding mountains, but certainly not as bad as we experienced in the South.
The boat boys in Prince Rupert Bay have done something really smart, which makes it very enjoyable and easy for sailors to work with them. They have organized themselves, and all represent The Portsmouth Association of Yacht and Sailing (PAYS). We were met on the approach by one of the boat boys on duty that day, Bonto. From then on, he was the one we turned to if we needed anything, really.
We took a tour with him up the Indian River, a swamp and mangrove forest nearby, he took us to shore and brought us back to the boat the two days we rented a car, and willingly offered advice and information about everything local we wondered about.
The two days we rented a car, we spent the first day in the Southern part of the island, where you have some of the most famous sites. As Bruse twisted his ankle hiking in Martinique, we focused on easily accessible sites and particularly waterfalls as well as a few smaller towns.
The second day with the rental car was spent in the Northern part of the island. Even though the South has the most famous sites, we enjoyed our drive in the Northern part even more. You come even closer to views of scenic places with gorges, mountains, etc along the road, and there is much less traffic, making it easier to stop.
We stopped at a couple of waterfalls, saw the iconic red rocks as well as visiting a beautiful beach, Batibou Beach. We met the lovely sisters who own the whole area, and one of them, Irma, is an excellent chef. Carine tried the best ice cream she has ever had, that Irma made. Passion fruit sorbet with bits of chocolate cheese cake. YUM!!!! If you find an ice cream sign along the road – make sure you stop.
On Sundays, PAYS arranges a BBQ for all of the sailors. It was really great to meet so many other sailors and share experiences. Most of the people we met had spent the season in the Northern part of the Caribbean, and were on their way South to either Grenada or Trinidad, to get their boat in a safe location before hurricane season officially starts on June 1st.
We received some great tips on anchorages on Guadeloupe, which is our next stop, and the furthest North we will get before we head South again. Bonto stopped by our boat just before we left to say our goodbyes, and gave us a great deal of local fruit; bananas, mangos, papayas and passion fruit. WOW!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
We are truly impressed with Dominica – the nature is amazing and so accessible – both above and below water, it is a rather unspoiled island where it is easy to get in touch with the locals and the organization of the boat boys in Portsmouth Bay makes it a very pleasant experience as a sailor.
We highly recommend everyone to stop by and explore on their own. And, say hi to Bonto from us!
