I checked orbitz and it seems like a lot of trouble to get to Dominica?? Lots of hops lots of waiting time between flights before we get to the place? Is there an easy way to get to the island? Maybe fly direct to somewhere and take a ferry?? We want to stay near

morne trois pitons national park

in Febuary

Check out either apple vacations or USA 3000 airlines. I think that have direct charter flights directly to Punta Cana.

Kim

Try Chicago to San Juan to Dominica on American Airlines.

If there are ferries to Dominica, they're likely from nearby islands Martinique and Guadeloupe... and those 2 islands are a pain to get to from the U.S... so I don't know that it's really an option for you. The islands are also not that close. I bet the ferry ride would be well over an hour.

dear caribtraveler

thanks for the help, looks like a plan. I think stll would like to take a ferry if possible. It just seems a great way to ease into the island spirit. Coming from Chicago we have a tendency to rush rush rush and when others, who don't see the need to do this, seem slow, then the holiday could start out on the wrong foot. I always think a little time on the water gives you pause for thought.

thanks again for you help.

Dear knlaw

great info and will do.

St. Lucia used to be on the ferry route that connects Dominica with Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Anyway you look at the routes, it's difficult to get to Dominica from Chicago, and you will almost certainly have to spend at least one night en route in both directions if you go on the ferry. Be aware that the ferry doesn't go every day, and doesn't stop at the same islands every day (and can be affected by rough seas).

Your best bet is to fly nonstop to San Juan, Antigua and then get on a smaller plane (AA from San Juan, Liat from Antigua), but there are flights from other airports, though no nonstops from the US. If you fly all the way, you'll likely arrive in late afternoon in the best case.

hey Doug

I agree non stop to San Juan is the best choice for me I think. We'll probably stay over night in PR and take the ferry to Dominica in the am. We will take your advice and figure out the ferry schedule though the only one we have found is in French and we can't get it to switch to english. We'll also check out small plane service. Our goal is to spend 7 days in PR and 7 days in Dominca. I'll ask around in the HUGE Pr community in Chicago and see if I can get any help.

thanks for you help lots of great info, please keep it coming.

i believe american eagle flies sju to dominica on wed, thur, fri departing at 1pm.
i couldn't get the ferry site to switch to english either despite clicking on the brit flag numerous times. i'm pretty sure you can't ferry from pr to dominica though.

majorkong: Post the ferry link here and I'll translate it for you. I also would be surprised if you can ferry from PR.

friends got sick from food in Dominica

laplaya,
Dominica and the Dominican Republic are two different places. You have said on multiple posts that your friends got sick in The Dominican Republic.

Sorry, they got sick in Dominican Rep.

All right. I figured out which ferry line. L'Express des Iles, right?

With it, you can only go to Dominica from Sainte Lucie (St. Lucia) or Fort-de-France (Martinique) or Pointe-a-Pitre (Guadeloupe).

Click on this link:
http://www.express-des-iles.com
Then click on "destinations" at top of the page
Then click on "La Dominique" (Dominica)
Then on the left side under "La Dominique", click on "Horaires" (which means schedules). They have schedules through December '08. The ride times vary between 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes.

To figure out the return trip, go back to the main page, click on destinations, then click on the island you'll be returning to and click on "horaires".

I was considering a trip from Chicago to Dominica for this spring and I found the easiest way to get there was to fly to San Juan, stay overnight in San Juan and then take American Eagle to Dominica the next afternoon. Getting home was just the reverse with another overnight stay in San Juan. Since I was going to use AA FF miles, there was no way to get to San Juan early enough to catch the American Eagle flight to Dominica.

To get to Dominica you will need to fly in to Antigua or St Lucia or Barbados (Antigua is close to Dom, Barbados is furthest away). Then take either LIAT or CaribAviation flight to Dominica. Dominica has 2 airports, Melville Hall is the bigger one, Canfield is just outside of the capital, Roseau, but only takes small planes. Sorry, no ferries.
You won't regret the extra effort to get to Dominica. Fabulous island.
You might find some more useful info at www.destinationcaribbean.net
Enjoy.
PS. ONLY go hiking with a registered guide. Flash floods do occur and are very dangerous.

Has anyone had any experiences with Liat airlines? Have read some reviews on other sites.
We are going to be doing some interisland travel in Dec.