We booked this 4 hour "Waitukubuli National Trail adventure hike" with a guide. Bevin is a lovely, soft spoken, knowledgeable and attentive guide. He picked us up on time and delivered us back to the ship as promised. This was a small group excursion with only my husband and I along. The hike itself covers a mixed terrain of dirt/gravel road, broken pavement, forest path and a sidewalk that wound along the ocean front. The hike covered approx. 21,000 steps/16 km from the starting point at Rodney's Wellness Retreat to Scotts Head Beach and back then to the "Bubble Beach" natural hot spring in Soufriere. The hike is often up hill and does have some tricky downhill sections as well but It's very scenic and Bevin filled in the history, notable facts and points of interest. This would be a difficult trek to manage without a guide as it was mostly unmarked. Sadly there is still a lot of damage evident from Hurricane Maria, a category 5 that devastated a number of Caribbean Islands including Dominica in 2017. You definitely need good walking shoes, water, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. We brought our gear and did some snorkeling at Scotts Head Beach. It was a refreshing dip and there are some fish but the reef has been mostly destroyed and mounds of broken coral tell the tale. At Bubble Beach we poked our toes into some very hot water then enjoyed a cold beer. All in all a very enjoyable day and very much the island from the "local" point of view. Highly recommended.

The beauty of Dominica is on full display on this stretch of the Waitukubuli Trail. The 6.8 km hike took about 4 1/2 hours and took my wife, our host/guide Tom and I through pristine rainforest. From lizards, to birds and enormous palms to tiny flowers, this is a nature lover’s little slice of heaven. A few words of caution, bring the proper gear (pants, comfy hiking footwear, hat, more water than you think you need, a good walking stick) get a knowledgeable guide (Tom from Wanderlust Caribbean is the man), take your time and watch your footing (a couple of tricky spots that need some extra care). Don’t let any of that discourage you as the views are unmatched.