OCEAN STRIDER YACHT PROJECTS LIMITED

Things We Did:

The following experiences are the things we did whilst visiting Dominica, on our electric sailboat Ocean Strider. Anchored in Portsmouth Harbour, during the period 11-23 May 22.

National Parks:

Note, to visit heritage sites and National Parks, you have to purchase a National Park pass. You can pay for a day or purchase a week’s pass. Once you have a pass, you can enter most National sites of interest until the pass runs out. A week’s pass is more economical, so organise your trips accordingly. Most sites sell the passes and in addition, the garage in Portsmouth town also sells them.

The Town of Portsmouth:

A walk into the centre of town from PAYS takes about 20-30mins. Life in the town is abundant and busy on both sides of the road with cafes, bars, private homes, all manner of shops, restaurants and street side stalls. The stalls sell anything from street food, bric a brac, fruit & veggies and a lot more besides. Most will ask if you want to buy their wares, but no one hassles you if you’re not interested and politely say no.

In the centre of town, is a large green area called Benjamin’s Park. It is so named as a colonial named Benjamin (not sure of his sur name) gifted the area to the town for recreational use. It’s an area for the local kids to participate in a variety of sports from football, cricket, athletics and tennis. The park is there but I’m unsure of its official name.

Indian River:

The amazing Indian River with mangrove trees, roots & all.

You must be accompanied by an official guide to enter the Indian River by boat, but you can walk there as we did. The river meanders to the sea through some incredible accent mangroves. Private boats or dinghies are not allowed entry, in order to preserve the mangroves and riverbanks.

Ask a local tour guide or a PAYS agent for more information and to organise a cruise on the river.

Indian River Bar:

Me dying of thirst at the Indian River Bar.

As you travel up the river into the mangroves, you come to a very seclude restaurant and bar. The Indian River Bar serves alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages and food, here you leave the boat and explore on foot. Beyond the bar is a river path, as the river is too shallow for boats. The Indian River trip starts from approx. 30ECD pp, but please check the price with the guide.

Island Tour:

We took an Island Tour with PAYS for 100US $ per person. The tour started at 8am by minibus, accompanied and driven by our PAYS tour guide, Michael, or better known at Boudah. He’s a qualified botanist and his knowledge of the island’s fruit and fauna was phenomenal and ultimately made the tour so much more interesting. The bus would stop regularly for Boudah to point out various plants or get you to sample fresh fruit or spices straight off the trees.

Worthy of note, if you go on tour with Boudah, take a spare carrier bag, to fill with Dominica’s natural goodies. Collected for you with the help of our wonderful tour guide, including fruit and herbs. In addition to all this, the tour included visits to:

We had an incredible day with Boudah, (a very passionate and proud PAYS agent). The day was worth every US $.

• The local bat caves
• Various beaches
• Red Rocks
• Chocolate factory
• A lunch stop of the group’s choice, with Boudah recommendation of course  
• Fresh river steams where you could go for a refreshing swim if desired
• A hilltop rum bar to taste the local specialties
• Roadside huts selling fruit, veg and cassava bread at the best local island prices
• Emerald Pool, waterfalls where you can swim in the refreshing freshwater pool – if you do not have a National Parks Pass, you can purchase one here.

Cabrits National Park Fort Shirley:

The well-preserved Fort Shirley at Portsmouth Harbour, Dominica.

On the doorstep of Portsmouth Harbour is Fort Shirley in the Cabrits National Park. It’s situated on the northern end of the bay, with observation outposts that overlook the Caribbean Sea in all directions.

To get to the fort, head left out of the PAYS yard and follow the road. We passed a large hotel on the sea front that looked like it’d been built a while ago but had never opened, which seemed sad. After about a mile or so, you come to the park’s security post. They will direct you to the ticket booth. Remember you will need a National Park Pass, which you can purchase here.

Follow the cobblestone path to the fort.

We followed the cobblestone path, climbing up the hill, then walked left up to the main fort. The impressive, well-preserved ramparts, with requisite historic old cannons, overlook the bay. Noticed boards are placed all around to give the background of each building. Beautiful green lawns lead to the main building, standing centre stage in the grounds. The day we were there, a wedding was being hosted inside and we could hear beautiful hymns being sung by the congregation.

Further back beyond the building, you can find a path going up to one of the lookout points. It’s a steady climb for approximately 30mins on a well-trodden path. Halfway there’s is a bench-seat to take a pew, catch your breath and take in the views. When we reached the top, we found a lone cannon looking out over Caribbean Sea in a semi-circle area. There was no shade there, so we didn’t stop long as the sun was beating down upon us. We hope the soldiers in colonial times had something rigged up, else it’d be sure hot on stage.

The main track separates:

We returned down the same route and headed right at the top of the cobblestone path. Here the main track brakes into several different routes on the north-east side of the hill, taking you to more outposts.

The trek to the top was longer this time. The start point takes you up the left-hand side, of the remains of the Commanding Officer’s house. You’re about two thirds of the way up when you hit a hair pin bend. Theirs a fabulous view point out to sea and a great place to take a breather, before you tackle the final ascent. This will take you to a fairly large, ruined building which once sat proudly overlooking Douglas Bay. However, it is now overgrown, with its ruined low walls decaying or scattered in the undergrowth. Look out for a steep set of steps that take you up into the heart of the building’s footprint. The decent was a lot easier on the lungs, and overall, all the trekking we did up and down was worth it.

Beaches:

Dominica isn’t about the beaches, but they do have them, and this is by no means the best.

Portsmouth bay near PAYS, has a lovely beach used extensively by the locals. With several beach bars situated along its front, it is a popular area, especially at weekends. Whole families will turn up with picnics or BBQs to enjoy quality time together.

Alternatively, we took a 20min walk along the road left out of PAYS, which bends to the right around the corner. It took us into the large, wide, sweeping cove of Douglas Bay. The beach here is also used by families but seemed less busy. It had good snorkeling areas at the northern end. Watch out for the sea snakes, which surprised Les. Not to be meddled with so leave well alone. There are roadside restaurants here to grab some food or something cold to drink.

We also noted along this road a horse-riding ranch. We saw people riding into the sea on the horses, which must be a great experience.

Walk into the Hills:

Dominica is the perfect Caribbean Island for wild scenery and nature.

To take a walk into the hills, head into town and down Grandby St. This is the road that takes you past the sports park and out of town. It’s a fair walk on the road to start with, which then bears right. Not far along, on the right-hand side, you will see telegraph post number DI5535. Just after that, and before a large industrial site with tin roofed buildings, turn right down a path between planted fields. These are the fields that run along most of the right-hand side of the road out of town. But no shortcuts as we viewed many warning signs not to trespass.

Take the path for about 15mins till you come to a bridge over a river. We met a local guy coming out of the thick dense woods, as he had been picking wild mangoes to sell. We turned left at the bridge along a small track for a short distance to where there was a small pool of fresh flowing water. Les took a quick dip to refresh himself.

We then returned to the track and started to climb upwards. It got a bit muddy in places where water coursing down the mountain side found its way across the track. We also crossed a few small streams which were easy to step over and great for cleaning muddy feet. All the way up we saw various trees heavy with fruit. Unfortunately, most were out of our reach. We also passed through a pig farm. There were half a dozen stalls with dozing occupants.

A magnificent view looking out to sea:

Eventually we climbed out of the trees to witness a magnificent view looking back down the valley and out to sea. You can clearly see the bay and town of Portsmouth and think “I have to walk all the way back down there!” But it was worth the walk-through Mother Nature. Don’t forget to take plenty of water as no stalls on the hillside. We found the track is pretty well laid, as local trucks are used on this route, so hiking boots are not necessary.

For more information on our voyage click here!