Dominica is an absolute gem, (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, which is a completely different place), and a visit to Titou Gorge is one of the best things to do on the stunning ‘Nature Island’ of the Caribbean. Just be aware that the only way to see the waterfall at the end, is to plunge into the icy cold water and swim upriver through the gorge to reach it.
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Swimming in Titou Gorge
- What is Titou Gorge?
- Ti Tou Gorge and the Pirates of the Caribbean
- Swimming to the waterfall
- Do you have to book in advance to visit Titou Gorge?
- What’s the best way to visit Titou Gorge- taxis and excursion guide
- When is the best time to visit?
- Is it always possible to swim in Titou Gorge?
What is Titou Gorge?
Dominica is a volcanic island, covered in tropical rainforest and abundant with fruit and spices. Waterfalls cascade over the mountains across the entire landscape, but one of the most well-known of them all is the waterfall at the end of Titou Gorge. The stunning gorge was formed when molten lava flowed down from the mountain top, before cooling and eventually cracking apart. Fresh water cascaded over the rocks and through the gorge, creating one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the Caribbean islands.
Ti Tou Gorge and the Pirates of the Caribbean
It’s actually thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies that the gorge is now so accessible; only a few years ago the Titou Gorge was only reachable via a long hike through humid forest, following the path of a large pipeline made of oak which runs overground like a giant python. So when Disney decided that Titou Gorge was the perfect location to film at, they ran into a problem. Transporting film equipment and crew halfway up a rainforest enshrouded mountain, was almost impossible: so, they built a road.
If you’re curious about where in Pirates of the Caribbean you can find Titou Gorge scenes, watch the second movie in the franchise- Dead Man’s Chest. Captain Jack Sparrow himself tumbles down the gorge in a cage made of vines.
More Caribbean waterfalls: here’s my guide to Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica.
Swimming to the waterfall
After strapping some big pieces of foam around our waists- for safety and sexiness- we stepped tentatively into a freshwater pool at the open end of the gorge. I’ll get straight to it: the water was so cold that it felt almost icy, but after a while our bodies somehow grew acclimatised to it. Then, it was into the gorge itself.
What a stunning and stunningly cold swim. Wim Hof would be proud.
The cliffs rise steeply on either side of the narrow channel- dark volcanic rock which looks as if it’s been crudely carved with a hammer and chisel. Beams of sunlight shone through in places, bouncing off of leaves and vines growing around the opening in the rocks. Closer to the water’s edge, shiny freshwater crabs scuttled in and out of cracks in the walls, and spiders sat watching from their webs. (I watched the spiders in return, just to make sure they didn’t go anywhere.) As we ploughed forwards against the current, we could hear the roar of the waterfall getting louder and louder.
The swim itself only took about ten minutes at a leisurely pace, although it would have been more difficult if there had been more rain in the days leading up to our visit. At the end of the gorge, we scrambled up some rocks and into a little pool where water was falling dramatically into from high up above. The force of the water is almighty, and as people were helped one by one underneath the extreme power shower experience, it took a fair amount of strength to hang onto the edge of the boulders so it didn’t wash us all away. When one of my (very tiny) colleagues went underneath, our lovely guide called out- “Hold onto her!! She is small!!” It made sense; if you relaxed your muscles even a little bit, we could very easily have been swept back downriver.
A Guide to Roseau, Dominica’s Capital
After our swim back to the mouth of the gorge, the cold was beginning to settle back in. My teeth were chattering like a tap dancer in the twenties, and my lips were turning a beguiling shade of blue.
But. Dominica is rife with geothermal activity. Two pipes carry water down from the Boiling Lake which is situated much higher up in the mountains, depositing the water like a kettle into a cold bath. The Boiling Lake really is that boiling; it’s even possible to boil eggs in it. By the time the water reaches Titou Gorge it’s warm but not scalding, so we threw ourselves under the pipes to try and warm back up again.
Do you have to book in advance to visit Titou Gorge?
No way Jose, it is absolutely not necessary to book in advance to visit the Titou Gorge. There’s also no official charge to visit the gorge, although there is a $5USD charge to hire swimming ‘aids’- flotation devices which are strapped around your waist. If you visit as part of an excursion, this will very likely be included in the price.
What’s the best way to get to Titou Gorge?
The roads away from Roseau and through the little community of Laudat are so steep that the drive to the gorge is an adventure in itself; and the views across green valleys peppered with rainbows and colourful rooftops are breathtaking.
The first time I went to Titou Gorge it was as part of a crew excursion from the cruise ship I worked on. So; if you’re arriving in Dominica by cruise ship, there will definitely be excursions bookable through your cruise operator. However, it is also completely possible to arrange for yourself, and I’d always rather go with a local option to make sure that the locals are getting the maximum benefit from the tourism trade.
There are plenty of taxis at the cruise port in Roseau. Be prepared to haggle a bit on price, and depending on how many people are in your group you should be able to get a taxi from Roseau to Titou Gorge for anywhere between $10-$30 USD per person.
If you’d rather pre-book an excursion with a local tour operator, check out this tour to Middleham Falls and Titou Gorge. It’s one of the highest rated on Viator, thanks to the brilliant guides as well as the stunnng destinations.
When is the best time to visit Titou Gorge?
Early afternoon is the best time to visit, mainly because the water doesn’t get a lot of sun. First thing in the morning, the water is completely in shade, but later in the afternoon the mouth of the gorge gets some light.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that we always arrived in Dominica on Sundays, and were always the only ship in port; so on the several times I’ve visited the gorge, it’s always been very quiet. However, I’ve read reviews which say that it can get super crowded on busy port days.
Is it always possible to swim in Titou Gorge?
Spoiler alert: if you come to the Caribbean expecting pure sunshine and cloudless skies, you are likely to be sorely disappointed.
The sun is strong, the temperature is warm, but it rains often. Sometimes it rains for three minutes, and then the sun reappears. At other times, the sky can be thick with black rainclouds for hours at a time, and on one of the days that I visited Titou Gorge, we weren’t able to swim because of this.
The rain that morning had been on a Biblical scale, and even though it had stopped by the afternoon, the water in the narrow gorge had risen considerably; it would have been dangerous to try and swim against the current and near enough impossible to reach the waterfall at the end. Even the pool at the mouth of the gorge was significantly higher than usual and there’s a big drop over the edge and down the mountain side.
Opting out of a potentially life-threatening swim down the waterfalls, we headed on to the far tamer hot springs in Wotten Waven. Which was a very relaxing experience all around! Even if you can swim at Titou Gorge, I’d recommend heading on to a hot spring anyway just to experience a rainforest chill-out.
Discover Dominica’s hot springs.
I loved visiting Titou Gorge; in fact as I was lucky enough to be spending five whole months in the Caribbean, I even revisited it when I had time. The island of Dominica is in my opinion one of the most beautiful of the Caribbean islands, and is perfect for adventure lovers. But even if you’re not the biggest adrenaline seeker, Titou Gorge is an easy adventure to get started with.