- [Ken] Dominica is an island nation in the Eastern Caribbean, nicknamed the Nature Island.

Because of its rainforest, mountains, waterfalls, and volcanic activity.

In 2011, Dominica introduced the first long distance hiking trail in the Caribbean, the Waitukubuli National Trail.

Over 110 miles in length, the trail stretches from the south to the north of the island and has 14 distinct segments.

In 2023, Dominica introduced another first of its kind in the Caribbean, the Waitukubuli Sea Trail.

Running the length of the island's Caribbean coastline, and sheltered from the power and unpredictability of the Atlantic Ocean, the Sea Trail provides both new and experienced paddlers with the opportunity to explore Dominica in a very different and beautiful way.

For the past three days, I've been exploring the southern end of the trail around the cool little town of Soufriere.

Joined by Wes and Kerry from the Soufriere Outdoor Center, we started with a paddle to Champagne Reef to snorkel in the bubbling waters created by all volcanic activity around the island.

We then battled our way back home through an impressive late afternoon storm.

The following day, we made the trip to Scotts Head to play in the rough water of the Martinique Channel, and we were joined by a number of the local kids, who Wes and Kerry have been grooming to become the next generation of sea kayaking guides.

But with 13 more segments of the trail to explore, it's time to head north and see what else the Waitukubuli Sea Trail has to offer.

Little do I know that I'm about to discover one of the most extraordinary natural playgrounds that I've ever seen.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) My name's Ken Whiting.

And for over 30 years, my life has been guided by the paddle in my hand.

This is my search for the world's most spectacular paddling destinations.

This is "Facing Waves."

(upbeat music) Funding for facing waves is provided by Discover the World.

Collette offers small group explorations, tours, destinations and local experiences designed especially for small groups.

Explorations by Collette Guided travel since 1918 Postum Instant warm beverage made with wheat, grain and molasses.

It's non-GMO and caffeine free.

Since 1895, all three flavors are available online at Postum.com and by these additional sponsors.

♪♪♪ (upbeat music) Day three in Dominica, and it's once again a hot one.

No surprise there.

We've changed things up a little.

We're a bit further north, and the mission today is we're going to the Layou River.

We should be able to get up the river a little ways and explore some of the inland waterways in Dominica.

'Cause Dominica has 365 rivers.

Let's go.

(upbeat music) Wes and Kerry mentioned that at around the halfway point on the Waitukubuli Sea Trail, there was a spot at the mouth of a river, the Layou River, that often got decent surf.

And you don't have to tell me twice.

I have loved surfing since I was a kid.

That's why I got into whitewater kayaking.

I didn't have the ocean near me, but I had the river near me.

And so when someone says there's surf nearby, I'm in.

(upbeat music) Well, our Caribbean blue water has vanished.

We've got a bit of chocolate milk going here, which means, we must be very close to the river mouth, just up ahead.

'Cause with all the rain we've had, this is not surprising.

We're gonna get some runoff.

Hope there's surf.

(upbeat music) The surf at Layou River today is a little confused, it's challenging.

And the reason for that is it just rained a ton.

And so there's a lot of runoff in the Layou River, which is why the water is pretty muddy here right now.

And you've got some strong current coming outta the river.

And that strong current is meeting these waves that are coming in from offshore and it creates this chaos right by shore.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - At the mouth of the river, we have a lot of different forces at play.

We have the water coming down, we have the waves meeting that, we have the wind coming.

You can be getting hit sometimes by two different waves at one time, here at the mouth of the Layou River, which just makes it twice as much fun, really.

(upbeat music) - [Ken] When you're sea kayaking in open water, there are hazards to be aware of.

And when you're paddling in surf, there are additional risks and hazards.

Not surprisingly, we all experience our own flipping point.

(upbeat music) - When you get on those waves, it's like some of them can be friendly, and some of them are just not so friendly.

And then there are the ones that just decide, "Oh no, I'm gonna teach you a lesson today."

And then it's man overboard.

(upbeat music) Losing a hat when you're paddling in the Caribbean is one of those things that you don't realize how valuable that piece of gear is, until you lose it.

(upbeat music) And now I'm getting thrashed by a hot Caribbean sun.

Lost my hat.

And the plan was to go explore up the Layou River.

But to be honest, with this kind of heat, and no hat, it's just not a very smart idea.

So we're gonna hop out here and go for some bakes, which I have been dying to do anyway.

(bright music) Pulling out the water and heading to Boyd's for bakes was really a great example of how unique the Waitukubuli Sea Trail is.

Exploring a wonderful natural environment, but also these cool little communities along the way.

It's a fully interactive experience.

- Good afternoon.

How you doing, Mr. Boyd?

- Very good, my boy.

- All right, nice.

- My name's Boyd.

- I hear this is the place to come for bakes.

- Yeah, man, here's the place.

- Food in Dominica is phenomenal.

One of my favorites is bakes.

It's a fried light dough, so it rises real quick.

You slice that in half.

And then there are a number of things that you can put in it.

You can put cheese, you can put tuna, you can put codfish cooked in with some other things.

- There's lots of things you should do when you come to Dominica, but bakes should definitely, definitely be on that list.

(bright music) (bright music continues) Well, we didn't get to go up the Layou River like we were hoping to, and I couldn't leave Dominica without seeing one of the 365 rivers.

And so I'm on the Indian River now.

And I'm hooking up with Cobra from Cobra Tours.

And we're going up to the legendary bush bar.

Hey, hey, hey!

- Hey buddy.

Welcome.

- So how far are we going?

- We're going up about a mile into the forest.

- So we're going up a mile.

We're going through the swamp.

The whole way?

- No.

Actually on our immediate right, this is a swamp, 58 acres of marsh.

And as you can see, the swamp ferns, which embraces on the right, these are huge golden ferns, also known as the swamp ferns.

(bright music) - So I understand, "Pirates of the Caribbean," parts of it were filmed here on this river?

- Yeah, yeah, on the river, and several other locations in Dominica.

- [Ken] Yeah?

- Yeah.

"Dead Man's Chest, Part Two."

- [Ken] Okay.

- Of "Pirates of the Caribbean," yeah, with Johnny Depp.

I understood that you paddle?

Or you've been paddling?

- I paddle, yeah.

- Okay, okay, okay.

- Yeah.

- But I imagine it's different boat to this, but this shouldn't make you panic.

'Cause once you ride a bicycle, you'll never forget.

- [Ken] Yeah.

- So maybe you wanna try this, what you think?

- Heck yeah, I'll give it a try.

- You wanna try it,?

All right.

All right.

All right.

Good.

Nice.

Oh, you are a professional.

I better give you a job.

You better come here and work with us.

- Yeah, would you give me a job?

- Yeah, man, why not?

Yeah.

- I can't believe you row this boat with eight people in it.

- Yeah.

- That's a heavy, heavy boat.

- Yeah, man.

Yeah, man.

- [Ken] Are there any other rivers like this on the island?

- Well, actually, Dominica is known for many rivers, just about 365 rivers.

But this river, the Indian River, is the only one we can do such a tour, where we row up for about a mile into the forest.

And the reason for that, it's because this area is below sea level, up to just the area where we stop the tour.

Then it elevates into rushing water, like every other river on the island.

- Right.

- Yeah.

Hence why we can do such a tour up to that distance.

- Right.

- But beyond that, we'd have to carry the boats on our shoulder.

This bush bar, the thing is, only people who come up to the Indian River get to enjoy the moments and the atmosphere at the bush bar.

So you guys are rather fortunate to be here, you know?

Yeah, man.

All right.

- Well, the idea of paddling up a river, as cool as this, is more than enough incentive for me.

But when there's a bush bar at the top of the river?

Yes, I'm sold.

Man, this place is unbelievable.

- Yeah.

This is it.

This is a long-awaited moment.

- Yeah, I'll say.

- And a beautiful garden with different flowers.

Home of the rum punch, the dynamite.

All right, so yeah, yeah, man.

We're at the bush bar and Alicia is gonna let you know what the rum punch is.

(bright music) Oh.

Ooh, that's good.

(bright music) That is good.

That was really good.

(bright music) Well, there's nothing I enjoy more than a trip up river or down river, exploring a river.

I'm so glad I got to explore a river here in Dominica.

The Indian River was awesome.

And having a bush bar at the top?

That's pretty cool too.

Although I wouldn't wanna get into the habit of doing a river trip and having dynamite punch at the other end.

But it works for this trip.

But now we have to get back home.

So it's either we head back home or maybe go for a second.

We got lots of time.

(bright music) (gentle music) Well, we're making the move from the south end of Dominica to the north end of Dominica, where there's tons more paddling, tons more coastline to explore.

But on the drive to the North end, there's lots of things to see.

And so we're making a little pit stop here at Trafalgar Falls, one of the most famous waterfalls on the island.

And there's lots of waterfalls here.

But when you're driving past a waterfall, of course you have to stop and check it out.

So here we go.

(bright music) I think you could say this has been worth the stop already.

Wow.

This is Jurassic Park!

But better!

(bright music) Well, I was told Trafalgar Falls was spectacular, and it was the most popular waterfall in Dominica.

And so I'm always a little skeptical about how pure that most popular destination's gonna be.

But wow, this is something else.

It really is.

I feel like I'm in a different world.

But this is just the beginning of today's journey.

We have a coastline coming up.

It's supposed to be equally as spectacular, and so we gotta keep moving and it's starting to heat up too.

(bright music) (upbeat music) Now the section that we're hoping to do today is actually a bit further north than the end of the Waitukubuli Sea Trail.

We're going to be subjected to the full force of the Atlantic Ocean.

And so I'm really hoping that the conditions are favorable enough so that we can actually experience it firsthand.

Now I'm ready to go, so I'm gonna get geared up and get wet, because it is hot right now.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) In typical Caribbean fashion, it's a hot and humid day.

And when it's midday, you are looking to find shade.

And it's hard to find shade along the coastline.

But Wes pointed out a river that was pouring in from the shoreline, and I thought there was enough water to get up there.

Oh, the water's nice and cool.

Oh, that's nice.

And the shade.

Getting into that little river mouth in the shade, in the jungle, it was like finding an oasis within an oasis.

And it was pretty hard to leave there.

But we also had Guadeloupe Channel just around the corner, calling our name.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) I can't think of two better guys to explore the Guadeloupe Channel with, than Wes and Freddy.

I mean, those guys, they're like me.

When they're in an environment like that, they're like kids.

They're giggling and they're just having so much fun, and wanting to explore every little spot.

At one point I saw Freddy on shore, somehow, underneath a waterfall, dancing.

Freddy is full of energy.

(upbeat music) So we are at the end of the Waitukubuli Sea Trail, right?

- [Wes] That's right.

Segment 14 from Kashacru in the south to Capuchin in the north.

- [Ken] And this is Capuchin.

- This is Capuchin right here.

Lovely.

We're about to enter the Guadeloupe Channel.

There are many days we'll come up here and we'll just take a look and we'll say, "That looks nice.

We're not going up there."

It's a notorious channel for being extremely rough.

Today, I think we have a good opportunity to go around the corner, take a look.

- [Ken] Yeah.

- And I think you're gonna be pleasantly surprised with the remoteness and majestic cliffs of the Guadeloupe Channel.

- Paddling up to that corner of Dominica, this jagged rock peninsulas sticking out.

And you can see that the water has picked up.

It's a little rougher out there, but as soon as we paddled around, it's like someone turned on the industrial fan and just picked up.

We went from a calm, pleasurable environment to a dramatic sporty environment, just like that.

(upbeat music) This Rocks!

(upbeat music continues) Guadeloupe Channel is more than just a uber dramatic coastline.

It's got these little magical micro environments that we could explore.

It had caves where swell's rolling into and smashing at the back of.

It had little channels between fallen boulders off the cliff side.

It had waterfalls pouring from way up high.

It is the ultimate paddler's playground.

What I like about paddling in rough water is, for me, I have to be very in the moment.

You just never know what the sea is going to throw at you.

You're paddling along, there may be a rogue wave.

You have to climb it.

It may be hitting at you from the side.

You've gotta throw in a nice brace.

When you're going down wind, you can't always see what's coming behind you.

Big swell may come behind you and next thing you know, you're surfing.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Well, it's sad to see the sun dropping, because that means we gotta start making our way back.

We've got a little bit of ways to go, but at least we have a tailwind.

I have to say a big thanks to Wes, Kerry, Freddy, and the guys at Soufriere Outdoor Center for showing me around.

And it's Wes and Freddy for showing me the Guadeloupe Channel today.

Well, it is very saddening to know that this marks the end of my Dominica paddling adventures.

But I really can't think of a better way to finish it.

What an epic, epic place.

And it is good to know that I will definitely be coming back here.

Probably very soon.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) Funding for facing waves is provided by Discover the World.

Collette offers small group explorations, tours, destinations and local experiences designed especially for small groups.

Explorations by Collette Guided travel since 1918 Postum Instant warm beverage made with wheat, grain and molasses.

It's non-GMO and caffeine free.

Since 1895, all three flavors are available online at Postum.com and by these additional sponsors.

♪♪♪