Portsmouth is Dominica’s second-biggest city after the capital Roseau, but with about 3000 inhabitants that’s not saying a lot. To us, the place felt like a slightly bigger village and honestly, that was a large part of its appeal.

The town centre itself felt a bit nondescript, but two amazing sights on the outskirts of town quickly made our list of must-see sights on the island. The Cabrits National Park contains the historic Fort Shirley and several hiking trails to some fantastic viewpoints, and the Indian River is a great place for a boat ride.

Here’s everything you need to know about exploring Dominica’s ‘second city’.

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What to See and Do in Portsmouth

All of the places below can easily be visited during a one-day stay in Portsmouth. I recommend starting with the hikes in the National Park in the morning, when it’s not too hot, moving on to Fort Shirley during noontime and taking the Indian River Boat Trip in the late afternoon.

Indian River Boat Tour

The boat tour along the beautiful Indian River was our favourite thing to do in town. There are some locals hanging around the bridge on the coastal road between Portsmouth and Picard, who will row you along the river in colourfully painted boats.

It’s the best (and really the only) way to experience this cool area and the river is a very atmospheric place, which is at times overhung by coconut palms, but at others hemmed in by bloodroot mangroves, which create a somewhat eerie half-light.

On the tour we spotted different species of kingfisher and heron as well as loads of scuttling crabs. If you’re a movie buff like us, you’ll also be interested to see a reconstruction of the hut of Tia Dalma from the second Pirates of the Caribbean Movie.

The building in the movie looks different, as it was mainly computer-generated, but the actual wooden hut left on location was used as a stand-in during filming and the surrounding forest is the one that features in the movie.

During our tour, we also stopped at the “Bush Bar”, to have a drink and a look around the area. Here, you’re actually at the edge of a swamp, and it’s another atmospheric place, with its many gnarly trees and small tributary of the Indian River slowly flowing by.

If you didn’t have a chance to visit the Kalinago Open-Air Museum, this is another chance to see some of the cool traditional Kalinago Tree Fern carvings around the bar.

The entrance fee to the Indian River itself is included in Dominica’s Ecotourism Site-Pass, which is 5$ (13.25 ECD) per day or 12$ (32.04 ECD) per week and allows you to visit as many sites as you manage in that time.

The price for the boat tour can be negotiated. We paid 100 ECD for the two of us. The boats carry a maximum of 8 passengers.

Cabrits National Park and Fort Shirley

Fort Shirley

The historic Fort Shirley, which sits on a peninsula directly north of Portsmouth, was constructed by the British in the second half of the 18^th century. It’s possible to visit the central buildings, including the guardhouse, barracks and magazine.

Some of them contain exhibitions about the geology and nature of the area. What we found most interesting were the information about the colonial history of the area, including about a revolt by disgruntled troops in 1802.

From the ramparts and batteries outside, there are some great views over Prince Rupert’s Bay and down the western coast of the island.

Cabrits National Park and Viewpoints

The entire peninsula was made into a National Park in 1986 and has since found its way on the UNESCO List of tentative World Heritage Sites. We had fun spending a couple of hours exploring different paths winding through the forest and leading to viewpoints on the two hills that dominate the area.

Both paths leading up the hills are short, but pretty steep, and end at old batteries with cannons looking out over the sea (on the western hill) and inland (on the eastern hill). It took us about 15 mins to reach each viewpoint from the ruins of the Officer’s Quarters between the two hills.

Ruins of the Officer’s Quarters

More atmospheric ruins can be found in the valley between the two hills. The walls of the former Commandant’s quarters and officer’s quarters are overgrown by gnarly trees and were a lot of fun to explore.

Considering that they’ve been abandoned since the 1850s, we thought they were still surprisingly well-preserved. Another nice viewpoint that doesn’t require you to climb one of the hills can be found slightly to the northeast of the Officer’s Quarters.

While you’re walking around the National Park, look out for snakes, lizards and birdlife. While we were there, we spotted hummingbirds and flycatchers as well as the endemic Antilles Racer Anake (which was unsettlingly large) and some Dominican ground lizards (aka. Abolos), which are endemic as well.

Entrance to the Fort and National Park is also included in the Ecotourism Site Pass (see info in the Indian River section).

Other Sights in Portsmouth

While we found it to be an altogether pleasant place, we didn’t come across any other real sights of note in Portsmouth. Purple Turtle Beach, which is located directly south of the Cabrits Peninsula, is a pretty stretch of sand backed by coconut palms and looking out over the many boats that are anchored in the bay.

We also found the small Anglican Church and slightly bigger Catholic Church worth a peek, if you’re in the neighbourhood. Both of them are located close to the North River in between Pownal and Pembroke Street.

Map of Portsmouth

All of the places mentioned above can be found in this map of Portsmouth.

Practicalities

Where to Stay in Portsmouth?

We stayed at Douglas Guest House, which is a simple, but clean and centrally located budget option at the southern end of Bay Street. They don’t have a website, but you can call them at 767-445-5253 to make a reservation. Another cheapish place would be Louislyn Apartments.

There are surprisingly few mid-range options in town. Picard Beach Cottages, which is located about 2km south of Portsmouth in the village of Picard, rents self-contained bungalows.

At the top-end – not only in the area, but the entire island – you have Secret Bay, which is Dominica’s number one luxury resort with a stellar reputation. It’s located about 5 km south of Portsmouth.

Where to Eat in Portsmouth

There are plenty of small restaurants with good, affordable food along Bay Street, which is the road that runs parallel to the coast. Otherwise, there are also some small supermarkets and grocery stores along the same road.

How to Get to Portsmouth

As Dominica’s second-biggest city, there’s no shortage of Minibuses going to Portsmouth, especially along the coastal road to Roseau. They leave from Roseau’s River Bank near the New Market and can pick you up along the way if you wave them down.

The same goes if you’re traveling from Calibishie or the Kalinago Territory in the east: just wait for a bus on the main road and signal them to take you along.

Buses to other places leave Portsmouth at different locations. If you’re going south in the direction of Roseau, they leave at the small roundabout at the southern end of the city near Douglas Guest House.

Buses going to the eastern coast (as well as Calibishie along the way) leave a little further east along Granby street near the southern edge of Benjamin’s Park Sport Stadium.

Where to Go Next

Calibishie, a beautiful village by the sea and home to the amazing Hampstead Beach

Roseau, Dominica’s small capital