southern boating

Perhaps had Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson
studied up on Caribbean history a little more, he might have
chosen Dominica as the setting for his classic tale Treasure
Island. Hidden somewhere among the sea caves or stashed
behind a waterfall is one of the famed lost treasures of the
Spanish Main. Treasure hunting or not, cruisers will find
one of the least known and most beautiful islands in the
Lesser Antilles, an island so famously rugged that in 1493
when Queen Isabelle asked Columbus to describe it he
supposedly crumpled up a parchment, letting the crinkled
paper speak of the island’s topography.
Dominica sits within easy striking distance of the more
popular cruising grounds around Guadeloupe’s Les
Saintes islands. Just 25 miles south of Guadeloupe and
25 miles north of Martinique, the island is the largest and
most northerly of the Windwards. While cruise ships are
increasingly calling on the rambling capital port of Roseau
and nearby Portsmouth, on non-cruise days it’s easy to
explore an island that seems unchanged in the last few
centuries.
Dominica’s coast is mostly rugged sea cliffs with the
occasional sweeps of black volcanic sand; even finding

flat enough ground to build the international airport was

a challenge. Four miles south of Roseau in Soufriere Bay

is Champagne Beach, one of the island’s most peculiar

strands. The thrill here comes not from sand—there isn’t any,

only rough cobblestone shore—but from swimming through

plumes of 110-degree bubbles. Dominica is home to nine

volcanoes, including the caldera beneath Soufriere (Sulfur)

Bay. For the Robinson Crusoe feel, head to the remote

east coast and L’Anse Tortue (Turtle Bay). The golden sand

beach is exposed to the fury of the open Atlantic (be careful

swimming) and nearly always deserted.

Though barely 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, Dominica

is almost entirely dominated by mountains, some of which

crown at nearly 4,700 feet. It wasn’t until 1957 that the

first vehicle roads penetrated the island’s torturous interior,

and even today they’re little more than spaghetti swirls of

endless switchbacks; driving is slow and tricky. It was this

combination of wild mountains and rugged coasts that drew

Hollywood scouts here while searching for backdrops in the

Pirates of the Caribbean series—much of the second and

third films were shot here.

The steep topography is a bonus for sailors and scuba

MARCH 2016 s SOUTHERNBOATING.COM s 85

Explore the wild side of Dominica—home to boiling lakes,

waters that fizz like champagne, the last of the Carib Indians,

and more than $3 million in lost Spanish gold.

Words & photos by Jad Davenport