Just Landed in Dominica? Your First 7 Days

Mobile coverage is good along the west coast and in the towns but patchy in the interior, mountain valleys and along the north-east. Home broadband from Flow and Marpin reaches Roseau, Portsmouth and larger villages; in remote areas mobile data or Starlink is the practical option, and many remote workers install Starlink specifically for reliability during outages.

Typical cost: Prepaid SIM around XCD 20 to 40; a monthly data or combo plan roughly XCD 60 to 120; home fibre or broadband from about XCD 100 to 200 per month; Starlink hardware is a larger one-off cost with a monthly subscription on top.

The East Caribbean Dollar is pegged at 2.70 to the US dollar, shared across the Eastern Caribbean, so prices are stable and predictable and there is no currency risk against the USD. Card acceptance is limited outside supermarkets, hotels and larger Roseau shops, so cash dominates everyday life and you should never rely on plastic alone.

Opening an account: National Bank of Dominica and Republic Bank are the most foreigner-friendly, with the CIBM/local branches also present. Opening an account typically requires your passport, proof of address, a reference and sometimes proof of income or a letter of introduction. Residents and CBI citizens are served, but expect several in-person visits and slow processing measured in weeks, not days.

Cash: Buses, market vendors, roadside stalls, small shops and many services are cash only. Withdraw XCD in advance, as ATMs are concentrated in Roseau and Portsmouth, can run empty over weekends and public holidays, and inland towns may have none. Keep a stash of small notes for daily transport and the market.

Tipping: Tipping is modest and not obligatory. Restaurants often add a 10% service charge, in which case no extra is expected; where none is added, around 10% is appreciated for good service. For taxis and porters, round up or give a small fixed amount rather than a strict percentage.

Dominica has no mandatory municipal address-registration system for new arrivals, so there is no town hall to sign in with and no residence-card queue on arrival. Immigration status is handled centrally: visitors receive a stamp on entry, while residence-permit holders and Citizenship-by-Investment citizens deal with the Immigration Division and the CBI Unit respectively. Practically, this means your obligations are about maintaining valid status and any permit extensions, not registering where you live. Separately, it is sensible to register with your home-country embassy or high commission, most of which cover Dominica from Barbados, Trinidad or elsewhere in the region, so they can reach you during hurricanes or other emergencies.

Where: Immigration Division, Bath Estate, Roseau (for residence permits and permit extensions); CBI Unit for citizenship matters

Public transport is a network of privately owned minibuses (identified by an 'H' or 'HA' number plate) running fixed routes between Roseau and the villages, mainly on weekday mornings and afternoons. There is no formal timetable, buses fill up and leave when full, service thins in the evenings and on Sundays, and there is no service to remote areas after dark. Because of this, most expats end up renting or buying a car and treating minibuses as a backup.

From the airport: From Douglas-Charles Airport (DOM) on the north-east coast, a shared airport taxi to Roseau costs around XCD 80 to 100 per person, or roughly XCD 200 to 220 for a private vehicle. The drive takes 45 to 75 minutes over winding mountain roads. There is no train or scheduled airport bus, and arranging your transfer before landing avoids being stranded after an evening flight.

Most rentals are found by word of mouth, local Facebook groups (search for Dominica rentals and expat pages), community noticeboards and real-estate agents rather than big international portals. Furnished apartments and houses cluster around Roseau, Canefield, Portsmouth and the west-coast villages, with the Ross University area near Portsmouth having its own student-driven rental market. Long-term supply is thin, so booking a short stay first and searching on the ground almost always beats trying to lock something in from abroad.

Typical rent: A modest one-bedroom runs roughly XCD 800 to 1,500 per month; a furnished two- to three-bedroom house aimed at expats typically XCD 2,000 to 4,000, with sea-view, gated or luxury properties higher again. Unfurnished long-term rentals in villages can be considerably cheaper if you are willing to furnish and commit.

Deposit norm: Expect one month's rent as a security deposit plus the first month upfront; some landlords ask for two months' deposit. Leases are often informal or handshake-based, so insist on written terms covering rent, deposit, who pays utilities and notice periods, and photograph the property's condition at move-in.

Dominica has a public system centred on the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital in Roseau, plus regional hospitals in Portsmouth and Marigot and a network of village health centres. Routine and emergency stabilisation are handled locally, but specialist care and complex surgery are limited, and serious cases are frequently referred overseas to Barbados, Martinique, Guadeloupe or the US. Private clinics and pharmacies in Roseau cover most everyday needs.

How to access it: For emergencies, call 999 (911 also connects) or go directly to the emergency department of the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital in Roseau. For routine care, visit a private GP, a health centre or a private clinic; walk-ins are common and appointments informal. Pharmacies in Roseau, such as Jolly's, stock common medicines, but bring an adequate personal supply of any specialist or long-term prescription, as specific brands can be unavailable.

Insurance: There is no comprehensive free healthcare scheme for foreigners, so private health insurance with international medical-evacuation cover is strongly advised. Because serious cases are flown off-island, an unplanned evacuation to a better-equipped hospital can cost tens of thousands of US dollars without cover; treat evacuation insurance as essential, not optional.

• Greet people before getting to business; a friendly 'good morning' or 'good afternoon' is expected when you enter shops, buses, offices and even someone's yard, and skipping it reads as rude.
• Dress modestly away from the beach; beachwear in town, shops or churches is frowned upon, and Dominicans generally present neatly in public.
• Respect the slow pace and 'island time'; appointments, repairs and deliveries often run late, so build in flexibility rather than showing visible frustration.
• Ask before photographing people, especially in villages, at markets and at cultural or church events.
• Take Sunday and church seriously; many businesses close, noise is kept down, and it is treated as a genuine day of rest and worship.
• Learn and use a few words of Kwéyòl; even a simple greeting is warmly received and signals respect for local culture.
• Support local: buy from the market and small shops, be patient with staff, and remember the island is small enough that reputations travel fast.

• Driving is on the LEFT; roads are narrow, steep and winding with sheer drops, blind corners and the occasional landslip, so drive slowly and use your horn on tight bends.
• Hurricane season runs June to November; know your property's plan, keep an emergency kit and monitor advisories, as Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017 and the threat is real.
• Power and water outages happen with little warning; keep torches, a charged power bank, bottled water and some cash ready at all times.
• Rivers and flash floods can rise fast after heavy rain; do not cross flooded fords, and take official flood and landslide warnings seriously.
• The sun, sea currents and remote hiking trails are genuinely dangerous; respect ocean conditions at places like Scotts Head and never hike remote trails alone without telling someone.