Dining in Dominica

We enjoyed some excellent meals during our five nights in Dominica and some of them were accompanied by incredible views and atmosphere. The seafood entrees we tried were particularly memorable, but we also had some really good pork-based meals. I highlight some of the places at which we ate in Dominica in this post.

Infinity Restaurant

We ate dinner at Infinity Restaurant on our first night in Dominica after a very long and stressful day getting to the Nature Island. This welcome dinner was when the trip really started to turn around.

Like many restaurants in Dominica, there was no formal menu to browse. We simply needed to choose the entree (protein) that we wanted and the sides being served that night were served along with it. This can be seen in the photographs above and below this paragraph. One entree was shrimp and the other was lobster and the sides were excellent.

Because of its proximity to where we were staying (Kootney Resort in Picard, Portsmouth) and because we enjoyed it so much the first night, we ate dinner at Infinity Restaurant twice out of the five nights we were on the island.

One of the entrees that could be selected on this second night we visited was shrimp-stuffed mahi mahi. We both wanted that and so we got the same entree and it and the sides were again excellent.

Keepin' It Real

One of the restaurants in the northwestern corner of Dominica that we read about in multiple positive reviews was Keepin' It Real, which has a fantastic location on Toucari Beach.

We arrived for dinner as the sun was setting and enjoyed these spectacular views with our dinner.

This was another typical Dominica restaurant in which we selected the desired entree and the sides were the same for any selected entree. The food was tasty and eating it with the sunset view of Toucari Beach made it even more special.

We returned to snorkel in Toucari Bay during the day and the next photograph shows Keepin' It Real (building on left with red roof) from the small pier in Toucari Bay.

Riverside Restaurant

We ate dinner one night at Riverside Restaurant, which is associated with the Riverside Hotel in Picard (next door to Infinity Restaurant).

This was the largest (most capacity) restaurant that we ate dinner at (many Dominican restaurants are much smaller in size) and had a large traditional menu like you'd expect in hotel restaurants in other parts of the world.

C & D Beachfront Bar & Grill

Our final dinner in Dominica was at C & D Beachfront Bar & Grill in Picard (Portsmouth) and also very close to where we were staying.

We enjoyed the food (entrees of fish and pork) with tasty sides (particularly the peppers).

None of the restaurants at which we had dinner in the Picard, Portsmouth, area were very busy, but we had this restaurant with its gorgeous view to ourselves.

It was another incredible dinner with a gorgeous view.

C & D Beachfront Bar & Grill did not accept credit cards, so we paid with Eastern Caribbean Dollars.

The Palisades Restaurant at Fort Young Hotel

We ate dinner at restaurants in the Picard area near where we were staying (Kootney Resort), but we had lunches wherever we were on the island during the day. On one of our days in Roseau, we ate lunch at The Palisades Restaurant that is associated with the Fort Young Hotel on the end of the Roseau seafront wharf area.

We enjoyed a prix fixe menu that included a choice of sides. We also enejoyed the view of the Roseau waterfront from the large outdoor deck area and then looked at the waterfall area of the hotel and restaurant.

Le Petit Paris Roseau

On our first full day in Dominica, we had an afternoon snorkeling excursion scheduled from the Ferry Terminal in Roseau, so we drove to Roseau and decided to have lunch near the Ferry Terminal.

Le Petit Paris Roseau is across the street from the Ferry Terminal, so we decided to try it for lunch.

This small restaurant was close to full capacity most of the time we ate lunch. The food was prepared below and brought to a small window behind the cashier area.

BJ's Eggs Plus

We stayed in the Portsmouth area on the day that a large cruise ship was scheduled to be in Roseau's port. That day, we ate lunch at BJ's Eggs Plus on the aptly named Sandwich Street.

The outdoor seating was pleasant and there was plenty of seating space for the few people there having lunch.

We ordered a hamburger and a chicken breast burger. They were unremarkable but satisfying and we got our first change to try the Jamaican patties we had seen advertised in several local restaurants.

Brunch and Munch

We were looking for somewhere for lunch on the day we went to Titou Gorge and Papilotte Tropical Gardens (also near Trafalgar Falls) and our mobile devices pointed us to Brunch and Munch and we are glad that they did.

This small restaurant is another that provides the same Dominican sides for the day and the diner chooses the entree to go with those sides. We tried the fish and the ribs and both were excellent and the sides were very flavorful.

There is a small indoor seating area with a bar with stools on the outside balcony. We sat on the balcony and enjoyed the fresh air and views. The balcony can be seen in this photograph of Brunch and Munch.

We grabbed a business card as we were leaving and scanned that in to post here with contact information for Brunch and Munch.

Here are those same details in text that can be copied/pasted:

Brunch & Munch Restaurant
Upper Village, Trafalgar
TEL: 1767 6175912
     1767 2459680

Coral Reef Restaurant

We ate lunch at Coral Reef Restaurant in Calibishie on our way to the airport to depart Dominica. Trish at Kootney Resort recommended it to us when she heard we were driving back to the airport and would be there around lunch time. We're happy that she recommended it to us because we found the town of Calibishie to be charming and well situated near Batiste Chocolate Factory, Batibou Bay, and Red Rocks.

We really enjoyed the food (shrimp for one entree and ribs for the other entree), including the sides, at Coral Reef Restaurant.

Besides the good food, we enjoyed the incredible views of the pretty beach, dazzingly clear water, and the Red Rocks area.

The GPS on the mobile devices pointed us at the correct location of the Coral Reef Restaurant, but it did not seem correct at first. The Coral Reef Restaurant is "hidden" behind a small grocery/general store (see this post for more specific directions). The sign for that store is small as well. You walk through the small store to get to the restaurant behind it, which is essentially a bar and covered deck area looking over the gorgeous views shown in the previous photographs.

Conclusion

We enjoyed dining in Dominica. The prices are reasonable and there are some great flavors and great scenery. We liked that the sides are often standard at a particular restaurant for a given day so that we ended up trying sides we probably wouldn't have normally ordered. In general, we were happiest with the seafood entrees and ribs or pork entrees that we had in Dominica. It was interesting to taste so many great side dishes that we had not tried. We had several salads as sides. We rarely chose a salad dressing because there was typically a default house dressing that was provided. All of these house dressings, most of which were some form of vinagrette, were excellent.

Kootney Resorts

We stayed at Kootney Resorts for the five nights we spent in Dominica and were very happy with that choice.

We rented the spacious two-bedroom cottage with two bathrooms and a full kitchen with refigerator and oven/stove.

We loved the vibrant vegetation and landscaping around the cottages.

Kootney Resorts is on Moo Cow Trail road in Picard, Portsmouth. We loved the name of that road and did see cows eating and lying on the sides of that road on several of the mornings when we left for the day and then again when we returned at night.

One of our favorite parts of staying at Kootney Resorts was listening to the tree frogs, insects, and other critters making noises at night. We had expected Kootney Resorts to be very quiet and indeed it was in terms of "human noise." We loved the feeling of quiet, peace, and solitude that was enhanced by the noises of the local non-human residents.

Kootney Resort is a certified "Safe in Nature" accommodation.

Trish owns and operates Kootney Resorts and communicated well with us before our arrival and during our stay. She referred us to the excellent nearby Infinity Restaurant and let the proprietor know we were coming on that first night when the delayed flight and long wait for arrival COVID testing at the airport led to us arriving later than anticipated. She had large bottles of water in the refrigerator waiting for us along with some other fruits and snacks, including a Valentine's Day-themed gift basket (we arrived on Valentine's Day). That excellent dinner and welcoming cottage at Kootney Resort were welcome relief after a long and stressful day and were what started a fantastic trip to Dominica!

Driving in Dominica

Driving is not listed as one of the "7 epic adventures you didn’t know were possible in Dominica," but it probably should be!

We had prearranged the rental of a vehicle via Island Car Rentals, but the rented vehicle was not available when we arrived because the previous renters had tested positive for COVID-19 on their departure test and so the vehicle could not be rented out yet. Fortunately, arrangements had been made before we got there to rent the vehicle from Bonus Car Rentals. We paid the small amount to get a Dominican drivers permit and it was written up before we departed.

The vehicle we rented was a Honda Crossroad with almost 100,000 miles on it. It was not a late model and had some scratches, but we were happy about this because it would have made us more nervous to drive a newer vehicle in Dominica where scratches seem almost inevitable.

Driving in Dominica is done on the left side of the road. Our rental vehicle had the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle. We drive a Honda at home and so the setup was what we expected, except that it was a mirror representation of what we're used to. Several times, I turned on the wipers when I meant to use the signal indicator and vice versa. This photograph shows one of the nicer sections of highway in Dominica.

One of the challenges in driving in Dominica is that there are almost never sidewalks and often no significant shoulders. This means that locals are often found walking in the street. Many try to stay to the side as much as they can, but it can still get pretty tight if someone is coming the other direction. There are also a lot of dogs wandering around on the roads adding more movement to be on the watch for. We also saw numerous chickens on the sides of the roads and sometimes on the road. Although we never saw them on the road, even iguanas are possible on the road!

In some places, the two lanes become especially narrow and in more rural areas there sometimes aren't really two full lanes.

On back roads, you can find roads that are really only one lane, such as this back road to Spanny Falls.

Driving on the left, people and dogs in the street, and narrowing roads are not the only issues one encounters when driving in Dominica. Because the lanes are so narrow, it is not uncommon for oncoming drivers to drive in the middle of the road, overlapping each lane. This is especially common around the many blind curves, so it's important to watch those curves carefully. This was the one part of night driving that was easier because the oncoming vehicle's lights warned of them coming in the unlit back areas. During the day, some drivers would use their horns to notify others they were coming around a blind corner.

Another characteristic that could make Dominica driving difficult was the deep ditches on the side of the road at some points. These could do significant damage to a vehicle and made it scarier to move to the side and away from the middle when traffic was oncoming. We did not get a photograph of these deep ditches, but some of them were deep and would be too easy to slip a tire into if one went to close to the edge of the road.

The saving grace for driving in Dominica is that there aren't really that many vehicles. If there were more vehicles on the road to watch for, it'd be more nerve wracking. A taste of what this might be like can be found in the capital city of Roseau where the vehicle density is greater and the streets are really narrow. Even in Portsmouth, but especially in Roseau, people would stop their vehicles in the middle of the lane while they went into the business or shop near where they parked. This meant that all traffic going in the same direction had to wait for no oncoming traffic to use that oncoming lane to get around the parked car. There were also vehicles such as garbage trucks and construction trucks that would also do this because they had no where else to park. There were times when an especially large truck was coming the other way in Roseau and all of us who were going the other direction had to go as far left as we could without going into the ditch and only had inches to spare between the oncoming truck and us.

It also rains a lot in Dominica. We were there in the "dry" season and had intermittent and sometimes heavy showers on each of the days we were there. This makes the paved roads wet and the rural roads muddy.

We did notice that the driving in Dominica became less harrowing as we got used to it. We drove more slowly when we needed to, pulled over to let faster moving vehicles pass us when the relatively rare chance to do so presented itself, slowed down to let passing vehicles back in our lane instead of running into oncoming traffic, etc. By far, the most important driving practice in Dominica is to be distraction-free and able to fully concentrate on the many things going on around the vehicle (oncoming vehicles, narrowing lanes, missing middle lines, deep ditches on either side, people and animals in the street, cars parked in the only lane in your direction, no lights in rural area for night driving, wet or muddy roads, roads with only one true lane, etc.) With full concentration and a little practice driving in Dominica, it does become less stressful, especially when outside of Roseau.

There are not a lot of signs on Dominican streets. We rarely saw street signs or speed limit signs.

Summarized Tips Regarding Vehicle Rental and Driving in Dominica

Here are summarized tips related to renting a vehicle and driving in Dominica:

• Rent all-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive vehicle.
• Rent smallest possible vehicle that suits needs to deal with narrow lanes and difficulty parking.
• Have car insurance either through credit card used to rent vehicle or purchased as part of rental.
• Concentrate fully on driving and what's happenung around you at all times!
• Expect people, chickens, dogs, cats, iguanas, and other animals and items to be in the road at any time.
• Expect vehicles in front of you, especially taxis (which are often white sports utility vehicles and vans), to stop at any moment to pick up passengers.
• Expect vehicles to be stopped in the lane even where there is only one lane each way and busy traffic in both directions.
• Expect oncoming drivers to be in middle of road, especially coming around turns. Use horn (and lights at night) to warn oncoming drivers when you're approaching a turn.
• Be aware of no or few street lights in areas away from the cities and towns.
• Beware deep drainage ditchs alongside the road.
• Beware pot holes.
• Beware large speed bumps in cities and towns.
• Beware of wet roads with frequent rain in Dominica.
• Be aware that there are relatively few street signs (speed limit signs, names of streets, etc.) in Dominica.
• When parking alongside road, pull in mirrors.

Conclusion

Driving in Dominica is certainly not something for new drivers. We saw a "student driver" in Roseau driving incredibly slow, but we couldn't blame them and felt for them having to learn to drive in Roseau! Although the driving could be a bit scary at times, it allowed us to visit so much more in Dominica than we could have without a car. We were glad that we did rent a car while in Dominica and now view driving in Dominica as another of the adventures we experienced on the Nature Island.

Others' Quotes on Driving in Dominica

Here are what others have written about driving in Dominica:

• World Nomads's "Driving in Dominica: How Safe is Road Travel?"
  • "With narrow winding roads, steep drops-off and limited traffic signs, driving in Dominica is a challenge."
  • "Driving on the island of Dominica is not for the faint of heart."
• U.S. News & World Report: "Getting Around Dominica"
  • "Traveling by car is the most efficient way to get around Dominica, but should only be attempted by the most confident drivers."
• TripAdvisor Forum: "Dominica- Is Driving really that much of a problem."
  • "Driving in Dominica was scary and exciting at the same time. I agree something that you should be prepared for and no excuses for complaints. Took about a day to get my fingernails from embedded in the seat. We stayed up in the mountains, so had to descend everyday to explore and once we conquered the one way roads in Roseau, it was smooth sailing."
• Discover Dominica: "10 tips for your trip to Dominica, the Caribbean's Nature Island"
  • "Driving in Dominica isn’t a walk in the park—at least at first. You’ll be driving on the left, navigating narrow lanes, cement drainage ditches, and drop-offs into the ocean. "
• Matador Network's "The ultimate road trip guide to Dominica"
  • "'Lanes' are often a suggestion, and you may see impatient drivers getting creative on the wrong side of the road."
• Bradt Guides: "Health and safety on Dominica"
  • "Without doubt the riskiest part of any visit to Dominica is when driving. Some of the roads are challenging, oft en narrow with pot-holes, deep drainage gutters and sharp corners but it is Dominican driving practices that present the greatest potential hazard. There appears to be no happy medium when it comes to the way local people drive and you should simply expect the unexpected."
• Traveler Mike's Driving in Dominica
  • "Driving in Dominica is demanding, unpredictable, unnerving, and undeniably dangerous."
  • "But regardless of your level of experience, driving in Dominica remains treacherous. You cannot take your attention off the road ahead of you for a moment or you risk a lethal accident."
  • "Roseau is much more congested with motor vehicles, pedestrians, noise, and assorted lunacy than other areas of Dominica."
• Dave's Travel Corner: "How to Spend a Few Days in Dominica"
  • "Driving is challenging."
  • "Often roads have a fairly deep ditch with a vertical drop off directly next to the pavement."
  • "Roads are often not striped in the center."
  • "Roads are steep, narrow, curvy and often there will be vehicles parked on the road taking up half of the road."
• Dominica Living's Driving on Dominica
  • "Driving On Dominica is not for the faint-of-heart and demands serious attention and concentration. Bottom-line, driving is treacherous."

Flying To and From Dominica

We have wanted to visit Dominica since seeing the "Nature Island" episode of Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin in early 2018.

When we saw that American Airlines added a reasonably priced direct flight from Miami to Dominica, we jumped at the opportunity to visit the "Nature Island" of the Caribbean.

Previously, there had been no direct flights from the United States to Dominica.

The flight from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Dominica's Douglas-Charles Airport (DOM) is approximately 3 1/2 hours in length.

The American Eagle flight to Dominica was full (approximately 70 passengers).

The runway was seemed fairly short for the size of the airplane, but the pilots managed to land us safely and without incident.

We were toward the back of the airplane, which meant we were toward the end of the line to receive the on-arrival COVID-19 antigen test administered in the small airport. Our temperatures were taken by a machine as we entered the airport extension area and we were asked to sanitize our hands.

This lengthy line and associated wait meant that we ended up being at the airport for well over two hours waiting in line and then waiting for the results of our test. It was really warm when we first stood in line, but they turned on a huge ceiling fan and that made it more comfortable.

The long wait in line allowed plenty of time to look at some of the artwork.

The airport employees seemed like they had not seen this many people at one time as they kept changing how the chains were structured and moving people in the lines around to try to get the lines to show paperwork to not go through the lines waiting for the antigen tests. After some confusion, it was eventually sorted.

By the time we were tested and our test results were available, the people in front of us were all gone and so it was relatively easy to show our passports to enter the main part of the small airport to claim our luggage. Most people walked out of that area to waiting transportation, but we had rented a vehicle, so we walked down the road to the small row of rental car agencies to pick up our rental vehicle.

Our flight out of Miami had been delayed for 2 hours while they figured out that the plane we originally boarded was not equipped for Dominica and had us board a different airplane. That 2 hour delay, combined with over 2 hours at the airport waiting to be tested and for test results, meant that we ended up driving in the dark to the Portsmouth area where we were staying. I had hoped to drive while there was still sunlight, but 4 hours of delays runied those plans.

The flight from Dominica back to Miami was less stressful, though we were not able to check in until after our departure COVID test results were available and so lost our originally selected seats. I also had the dreaded "SSSS" (Secondary Security Screening Selection) on my boarding pass, which meant that I could not check in until I got to the airport and that I got "special treatment" at the airport (pat-down search and searches of my carry-in and checked luggage).

We had a relatively long layover in Miami, which turned out to be a good thing because there was a lengthy TSA line to enter the Miami Airport from the baggage claim area in the international arrivals section. We saw some people who needed to go rebook their connecting flights due to the slow-moving TSA line.

The direct flight between Miami and Dominica is more convenient than the former ways to getting to Dominica, but it still seems a little bit more difficult to get to Dominica than to some other Caribbean locations such as Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, but it was worth it!

What We Missed in Dominica

We spent five nights in Dominica and had about 4 1/2 days to participate in its many available activities. Although we were able to do a lot in that time, there are still several things on our list of potential activities that we did not have time to do and they are listed here.

• Boiling Lake
  • This is one of Dominica's most famous attractions and we decided against hiking it because it would take the better part of one of our precious days on the island. We instead did several much shorter hikes.
• Batibou Bay
  • We actually did see Batibou Bay, but we were on the way to the airport when we saw it and did not have time to enjoy it. It looks like it would be fabulous to experience more fully.
    
• Hot Springs at Wotten Waven
  • Our GPS got confused when we tried to find Wotten Waven and we gave up and decided to head to Mero Beach instead (partly because we had already enjoyed Bubble Beach Spa)
• Secret Beach
  • It looks like the easiest way to experience this would be to stay at the Secret Bay resort.
• Canyoning
  • This is one of Dominica's most famous activities and one we'd probably have done if we had one more day there.
• Snorkeling at Cabrits National Park
  • We visited Fort Shirley at Cabrits National Park, but did not get to snorkel there. However, we loved our alternative of snorkeling at Toucari Beach!
• Diving
  • We are not certified, but Dominica's quick, steep ocean floor drop-offs would make for some excellent diving.
• Kalinago Territory
  • We didn't do anything on the eastern/Atlantic side of Dominica except for flying into and out of the airport.

The above items were on our list of potential things to do in Dominica, but were dropped as we prioritized what to do with our limited time. Other potentially interesting activities in Dominica include Freshwater Lake, Sari-Sari Waterfall, Salton Falls, Syndicate (or Milton) Falls (for sale!), The Dominica Museum, and numerous other beaches.

Dominica During COVID

Any travel, and particularly international travel, is more complicated during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. We did experience additional travel stress because of COVID-19 during our visit to Dominica. This post talks about traveling to Dominica and provides tips for reducing the anxiety and stress of traveling to Dominica during COVID-19.

WARNING: With COVID, things are changing constantly and it is recommended that Dominica's latest requirements be reviewed before planning any travel to Dominica.

Dominica's Travel Restrictions and Entry Requirements During COVID-19

Information on travel requirements and restrictions related to COVID-19 and travel to Dominica can be found at the site "Travel Advisory for Dominica." At the time of our trip (and of this writing), Dominica had different travel protocols for vaccinated travelers than for unvaccinated travelers. Because of this distinction, it is important to read the protocols for one's COVID vaccination status and try to keep those details separate from the protocol details for tourists with a different vaccination status. All vaccinated visitors who travel to Dominica through the United States only also enjoy easier pre-travel COVID test requirements.

Dominica currently offers a "Safe in Nature" managed tourism experience that unvaccinated travelers must participate in for the "first 5-7 days of arriving to Dominica." This program includes certified lodging accomdations, tour operators, and transportation.

Vaccinated travelers do not need to participate in the "Safe in Nature" experience, assuming they meet all other requirements related to COVID.

Health Questionnaire

Dominica currently requires that a health questionnaire be submitted in advance of travel to the country. Although we had filled out similar forms for travel to Puerto Rico and Greece and Italy during COVID without significant incident, this one almost cost us our trip to Dominica and was a significant source of early-trip stress. I'll explain the situation here and steps to take to reduce the likelihood of this being such a negative and stressful issue.

We submitted our health questionnaires electronically a couple days before our trip, but our PCR COVID test results had not come back yet and we could not attach them to the questionnaire. We almost immediately received an email message saying the questionnaires had been received. Because we received these confirmation email messages, we made the mistake of assuming that future email messages would also go to our inbox. However, the e-mail messages denying travel due to no test results being attached went to our "Spam" folders instead of our "Inbox." The Dominican web site does warn that this is a possibility, but we mistakenly assumed that because we got the confirmation email in our Inbox, we'd similarly get the approval or denial email in our Inbox. Because we did not check our "Spam" folder until we were at the airport, we almost failed to get approval to travel to Dominica in time to board the flight!

Pre-Travel COVID Tests

A common challenge for travel during COVID-19 is getting a pre-travel test done in time to have the results before traveling without taking the test too far in advance. Many destinations require the test to be taken 72 hours or less before expected arrival at the destination, but it can sometimes take 2-3 days to get test results (especially PCR). This makes the timing tricky. We had good luck getting free Walgreens PCR tests in time for our trips to Puerto Rico and Europe, but we could see that was likely not going to be the case for Dominica. We ended up paying quite a bit more (nearly $160 USD each) to get a same-day COVID-19 antigen test from a Denver-area urgent care facility. If we hadn't paid that, we'd have not gotten our results in time and would not have been allowed to board the flight from Miami to Dominica. Fortunately for us, we were able to use an antigen test (rather than a PCR test) for this pre-travel test because we were traveling to Dominica from the United States. We got our free Walgreens PCR COVID-19 test results while waiting in the Dominica airport to have our arrival COVID tests administered. It is likely that we would have had the test results from the free Walgreens test in time if we had taken the antigen test rather than the PCR test.

Arrival COVID Test in Dominica

All individuals arriving in Dominica, vaccinated or not, must take an antigen COVID-19 test at the Dominica airport. With approximately 70 passengers on our American Airlines flight from Miam to Dominica, this ended up in a bit of chaos and long waits at the airport. We had prepaid for this arrival test online ($100 EC), which simplified matters a bit, but we were still at the airport for well over two hours waiting in lines to answer questions about our stay, to get tested for COVID, and to wait for the results of those tests.

We had not paid the extra to sit further in front in the airplane because the flight from Miami to Dominica did not seem long enough to justify the extra cost. However, had I realized how much longer the wait for testing at the Dominica Airport would be for those in the back of its line, I'd have likely paid the extra to sit closer to the front and be well farther forward in the line in the airport. I suspect that being in the first several rows of that airplane would have saved us 60-75 minutes in the airport! The line and wait were so long at the airport that the thought crossed my mind whether the trip to Dominica was worth this. It turned out it was!

Departure COVID Test in Dominica

The United States requires a COVID test be taken no more than one day before departure for the United States and Dominica offers this in Roseau (Roseau Health Center) and Portsmouth (Portsmouth Hospital). It can be prepaid online ($100 EC). We were told that the car rental row at the Dominica Airport also has a facility for taking a pre-departure COVID test.

American Airlines Check-in Not Allowed Until COVID Test Results are Available

When we traveled to Europe, Lufthansa Airlines allowed us to reserver our seats before official check-in to accomodate later-arriving COVID test results. American Airlines, on the other hand, did not allow us to check in or reserve seats until our COVID-19 test results were available. We had taken the test the morning before our depature, but did not get the results until the morning of our departure. By the time we could check in (after uploading our test results via the VeriFLY app), we did not have any real choice of seats and had been moved away from our originally ticketed seats. This was another source of stress, but that turned out much better than we anticipated because the airplane was not as full as check-in had indicated and we were able to sit in the aisle and window seats with an empty middle seat.

Dominica During COVID

Once we got through the long line and wait for the arrival COVID test at the Dominica Airport, our Dominica experience during COVID began to improve dramatically. For the remainder of the trip, COVID-19 did not present any challenges different from what we'd have experienced at home (wearing masks when indoors in public areas unless eating and drinking). Dominica is a great destination (once you're through the airport!) during COVID-19 because it's relatively uncrowded and so many of its highlights are outdoor activities.

Tips Summarized

Here are some summarized tips for reducing the stress associated with flying to Dominica during COVID-19:

• Take pre-travel COVID test as early as possible in the 72-hour window before arrival in Dominica and either have (usually faster) antigen test administered (if it is allowed for your situation) or pay higher test costs to have a more rapid PCR test administered.
• Prepay for arrival and departure COVID tests in Dominica online using credit card with no foreign transaction fee ($100 EC per test will be charged).
• Select seats as close to front of airplane heading to Dominica as possible to be earlier in line in Dominica Airport for arrival COVID testing. This could save you a lot of time!
• Check your "Spam" or similar folder/label in your email for messages from Dominica regarding your submitted health questionnaire even when you've successfully received earlier email messages from them.
• Consider (heavily) travel insurance and purchasing airfare, lodging, and tours that are either refundable or at least "changeable."
• Have backup/contingency plans for situations such as not getting COVID tests back in time to travel or testing positive for COVID.

Conclusion

When we were waiting in line in the Dominica Airport amidst the confusion and chaos after our arrival, I could not help but ask myself if it it was going to be worth it. It turned out that visiting Dominica did end up justifying the stress we went through to get there. Sharing the gorgeous Nature Island with only a tiny number of other tourists was fantastic experience that was due in part to the challenges of getting there. The direct American Airlines flight from Miami to Dominica makes getting there without a cruise ship far easier that it would have been formerly.

Dominica!

We were able to escape the winter cold for several days in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic) in mid-February and it was a welcome respite.

Located in the Lesser Antilles, Dominica is part of The Commonwealth and its primary language is English.

Dominica also shares its currency, the Eastern Carribean Dollar (XCD or $EC), with nearby island nations that are also in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (all except British Virgin Islands, which uses the U.S. dollar). The U.S. dollar is also widely accepted in Dominica.

U.S. News and World Report calls Dominica "the Caribbean's best kept secret." It sure felt like a secret when we were able to enjoy some of its most well-known attractions either by ourselves or with only a small number of other people. Our experience was the opposite of that written about in Disappointed in Dominica and I believe that's because we did not travel to Dominica via cruise. In fact, we intentionally avoided the most well-known sites on the day with the largest cruise ship in Roseau's port.

We flew into and out of Dominica (with connections in Miami) via the Douglas-Charles International Airport (airport code DOM and formerly known as Melville Hall Airport) in northeastern Dominica.

Indeed, the availability of a direct flight from Miami to Dominica was one of the reasons we decided to go to Dominica after being interested in it for several years (since seeing it featured in Ocean Treks "Nature Island" episode with Jeff Corwin).

Specific details of our visits to attractions in Dominica (offically called Commonwealth of Dominica) are discussed in these individual blog posts:

• Snorkeling at Champagne Reef
• Snorkeling at Scott's Head
• Bubble Beach Spa
• Whale Watching
• Morne Bruce Viewpoint
• Cabrits National Park and Fort Shirley
• Trafalgar Falls
• Emerald Pool
• Jacko Falls
• Spanny Falls
• Indian River
• Snorkeling at Toucari Beach
• Syndicate Nature Trail
• Papillote Tropical Gardens
• Titou Gorge
• Mero Beach
• Dominica Botanical Gardens
• Batibou Beach
• Pointe Batiste Estate Chocolate Factory
• Red Rocks
• Flying To and From Dominica
• Driving in Dominica
• Dining in Dominica
• Kootney Resort
• Dominica During COVID
• What We Missed in Dominica
• Dominica Travel Tips

By flying to Dominica and staying for several days, we were able to experience the "Nature Island" on very intimate terms. It was an amazing experience due to its natural beauty, its welcoming and helpful residents, and the feeling of having all of the benefits of this beautiful island shared only by the residents and ourselves (and a very small number of fellow tourists). Other than the airport, there were no lines, no waiting for another group of tourists, and many opportunities to speak with the locals in an unhurried manner.