Things to do
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Cabana Beach
A small Atlantic bay north of Marigot set between headlands, with reef offshore taking the worst of the swell. The sand is pale by Dominican standards and the water inside the reef is calm enough to swim. A beach bar operates above it in season. The track down from the main road is short but steep and rough in places.
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Kalinago Territory
Roughly fifteen hundred hectares on the east coast, set aside in 1903 and held communally across eight hamlets under an elected chief. It is the last organised Kalinago community in the Caribbean. Basket weaving in larouman reed and dugout canoe building are still worked here, and visits run through the model village at Barana Aute with guides from the territory.
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L'Escalier Tete Chien
A solidified lava dyke runs out of the sea and up the cliff in regular blocks like a stair, and it is the territory's defining landmark. In Kalinago tradition it is the track of a great serpent that came ashore here. The descent from the road is steep and slippery, and the rocks at the bottom are washed by heavy Atlantic swell.
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La Taille Bay Beach
An open bay of dark sand on the exposed north east coast, with Atlantic surf running in and no facilities of any kind. Driftwood collects along the high water line after storms. The current is strong and the shelf drops away quickly, so the bay is better walked than swum, and it is usually empty.
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Middle Bay Beach
A pocket beach on the north east coast reached down a track from the main road, sheltered by rock at both ends. It carries almost no development, and the swell breaks outside a fringing reef before it reaches the sand. There is no shade beyond the treeline and nothing sold here, so anything needed has to be carried in.
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Pagua Bay House
Cabanas on a cliff top above Pagua Bay, on the windward coast where the Atlantic runs in hard below. The property is small, with a handful of rooms and a bar and restaurant open to passing traffic. It is the best regarded stay on this side of the island, and the beach below is for walking, since the surf rules out swimming.
