Dominica walking travel guide

You need to be able to get one big word under your tongue before thinking about a trekking or walking holiday on this luscious island of Dominica: Waitukubuli. It’s the name of their prestigious long distance walking trail that travels the length of the country and it comes from the original indigenous name for the island, meaning ‘Tall is her body’. And tall she is, the Waitukubuli National Trail, spanning 185km from Scott’s Head in the south to Cabrits National Park in the north. Walking holidays here dip in and out of it, with plenty of hikes around it too of course, or you can take on the whole thing over two weeks.

This Dominica walking holidays travel guide takes you through some of Dominica’s walking highlights, some volcanic, some rainforest, some waterfall rich, some coastal. Some fine for independent hiking and others full on jungle treks that you need a guide for. But wherever you go, you will discover a wonderful, wild Waitukubuli.

The WNT really varies according to each segment. In the north, segments 10 and 11, for example, are completely contrasting. Segment 10 is considered an easy 6.4km hike, with a few hours strolling around the foothills of Morne Diablotins, Dominica's tallest mountain, with views out across the west coast. Segment 11 may only be a few more kilometers, but it takes you through the steep, jagged mountainous terrain of the Morne Diablotins National Park. This is bird watchers’ bliss though.

In the south, you have an easy start to the WNT at Scotts Head, with 7km of littoral loveliness that includes a trek alongside an ancient volcanic crater, through some overgrown plantations and ending at the Soufriere Sulphur Springs. But a few segments later, still in the south, you are trekking through full on rainforest of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, where challenges such as the valley of Desolation, Titou Gorge, and river scrambling await. Along with the 50m-wide, lava heated Boiling Lake. It’s as if the movie set just changed from a beach romance to Raiders of the Lost Ark. That’s the WNT for you. It keeps you on your toes.

Most walking holidays in Dominica involve staying in several accommodations and taking either day walks from there, or walking from one lovely locally owned village inn to another along the WNT. With your bags being transferred for you by car. And because this is a Caribbean country that is very much switched on to sustainability, there is also an impressive range of eco aware places to stay en route. It’s a small island so they know how to source food locally, they also favour natural air conditioning with no shortage of sea breezes to flow through strategically built houses. Swimming tends to be in sea water pools, nearby waterfalls or – for something warmer – a dip in a volcanic hot spring. Accommodation hot water sources are often geothermal too. If it’s five star, cultureless resorts you are after, you are on the wrong island. Dominica does things the Dominican way, and it’s a green and gorgeous way.

Michael Eugene, founder of our supplier Jungle Trekking Adventures and Safaris tells us one of his best times to go walking in Dominica: “Planning a walking holiday around the World Creole Music Festival (end October) affords a special dose of local culture that can be blended with hiking and other less-cultural centered activities. The hiking festival, Hike Fest, is also a great time to visit. If you are hiking in May you have long days but it does get hot and humid. Along the trail there are only two directions – up and down. And so added to that the heat and humidity, we have seen experienced hikers have difficulty. So May and June’s hot period can be a challenge. But you just need to be careful. However, May is hugely beneficial to local communities as it is generally a period of low income.”