Dominica
Dominica is a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles archipelago and part of the Windward island chain. The capital Roseau is likely where you will start whether on flight or by cruise. Dominica has so much more to offer including waterfalls, geothermal activity, snorkeling, beaches, lush rainforest, and wildlife viewing. Morne Trois Pitons National Park is the jewel of the island and a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains Boiling Lake, Boeri Lake, Victoria Waterfall, Trafalgar Falls, Emerald Pool, Middleham Falls and the Titou Gorge.
Dominica Cruise stop
So, you are stopping in Dominica on your cruise, and you want to get the most out of one day on this beautiful island. There are so many options for exploration so I will give you some ideas on top things to do and tell you how we did it!
The cruise stops in Roseau the capital of Dominica. There is not much of a terminal but there are souvenir stands and little market right outside of the terminal. Here you can catch taxis or your tour group. We elected to do a tour to hit all the highlights we wanted to do. There is so much to do on this island there is no way to do it all in a day so pick your top choices and then plan to come back for another day.
top things to do
Boiling Lake
Boiling Lake is one of the most popular points of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park. It is a 63 meter wide actively boiling greenish lake.
Emerald Pool
Emerald Pool is another top attraction in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park. You can swim in the beautiful waters here.
Champagne Reef
This very unique snorkel spot not only has coral reefs but amazing geothermal bubbles that seep through the cracks warming the water and giving a sensation as if swimming through champagne.
Morne Bruce Viewpoint
Included on many tours of the island. This quick stop will give you a great view of Roseau and the cruise terminal below.
Titou Gorge
This unique experience you can cliff jump into the gorge below and then swim down the turquoise blue gorge ending in a waterfall. It is where one of the Pirates of the Caribbean moves was filmed and after swimming it you can see why!
Cabrits National Park
This peninsular national park near Portsmouth includes swamps, corals reefs, Fort Shirley, Prince Rupert Bay, and more.
Waterfalls
There are so many epic waterfalls to choose from. Victoria Waterfall, Trafalgar Falls and Middleham Falls are all a part of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park.
Beaches
There are many volcanic black sand beaches. Mero beach is one of the most popular tourist beaches and is about 25 minute drive from Roseau. Purple Turtle Beach is another popular Beach to check out.
our itinerary
When I started researching Dominica, I found there was so much I wanted to see. The tours offered through our cruise did not include all the things I wanted to do so I looked for a tour from the island. We went with BumpiingTours. They were fantastic.
We met right outside of the cruise terminal and started off on the journey! Two big tips for your stop on Dominica. I would highly recommend a waterproof camera and sturdy water shoes. This made a huge difference.
Our first stop was Champagne Reef. We put on our water shoes and headed down to the beach where the tour gave you snorkels and fins. You walk over some rocky beach and snorkel in right from the beach. This is such a unique place to snorkel because of the geothermal bubbles that come up from the ground and warm the waters.
From here we headed to Morne Bruce Viewpoint for a few minutes to catch this epic view and then we were off to Titou Gorge.
Titou Gorge is part of Morne Trois Pitons National Park and the site of the filming of one of the Pirate of the Caribbean movies. Here you can cliff jump into the gorge if you dare and then are guided down the beautiful gorge to a waterfall at the end you can walk under. It’s a little chilly so bringing a towel for the end was a lifesaver.
After this we went to Trafalgar Falls. This is also part of Morne Trois Pitons National Park. We ate a little restaurant outside of the waterfall.
The tour dropped us back in Roseau, where we were able to go to the little markets and write our postcards to send back home before hopping back on the ship for departure.
