The sights in Dominica are almost entirely natural. The island sits atop a volcanic hotspot and the landscape is accordingly dramatic: ridges and valleys covered in old-growth rainforest, rivers that drop into gorges, hot springs you can bathe in, and a boiling lake that bubbles and steams at the end of a serious hike.
Morne Trois Pitons National Park is the centrepiece and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains the Boiling Lake, the Valley of Desolation, the Emerald Pool, and Trafalgar Falls — two waterfalls dropping into a pool fed by warm volcanic water. The park is vast and the trails range from a short walk to the falls to a gruelling seven-hour return hike to the Boiling Lake. Hire a guide for the Boiling Lake trail; the path through the Valley of Desolation is disorienting and conditions can change fast.
Kalinago Territory occupies 3,700 acres on the island's northeast coast and is home to around 3,000 Kalinago people. This is not a museum exhibit — people live and work here. Visitors can watch basket weaving, canoe building from gommier trees, and cassava bread making. The Kalinago Barana Aute cultural village offers organised tours. The Kalinago are welcoming but this is their home; respect the space.
Cabrits National Park in the northwest encloses the restored Fort Shirley, an 18th-century British garrison with ocean views, and a peninsula of dry forest and wetlands. The mangrove lagoons nearby are good for kayaking.
Champagne Reef, just south of Roseau near Pointe Michel, is one of the island's most accessible dive and snorkel sites. Geothermal vents on the seafloor create a constant stream of warm bubbles — hence the name. The reef itself is healthy and the water visibility is usually good.
Dominica's waters are among the best in the Caribbean for diving: sperm whales are resident year-round and humpbacks pass through from January to March. Seahorses, frogfish, and giant barrel sponges are common. The Soufrière Scotts Head Marine Reserve in the south is a wall-dive site worth the trip.