Backpacking In Dominica: Visiting Jacko FallsIn The Heart Of The GreenIsland

“All along the waterfall with you; my brown eyed girl” – Van Morrison.

As of 2025, I have officially been fource (four times) to The Caribbean, if I’m counting islands only (2011, 2014, 2021, 2022) and two of those were both over Christmas and New Year when COVID began. It became a thing to go to The Caribbean at Christmas to relax on beaches as well as to go backpacking through many and various islands and island countries that I had wildly neglected before that pandemic. Dominica was a nice surprise. It is known as the Nature Island, or the Green Island and that sentiment rings true.

Getting Into Dominica

What might surprise you was that Dominica was very difficult to get into – back in December 2021 it was extremely strict. I needed a visa, a hotel booking, a flight in and out, a stringent online process, a payment of XCD$100, a PCR test in advance, 2 COVID vaccinations, another PCR test on arrival, and another one on departure. Below are only some of the protocols I had to adhere to in order to add this country to my 230 country whackpacking journey, including paying XCD$100 in advance for an Antigen test to be done on arrival.

Due to all that madness, I only focused on three places here when backpacking Dominica-

1.Jacko Falls.
2.Emerald Pool and Emerald Falls.
3.Backpacking the sights of the capital city Roseau.

If you look at the map of Dominica, Jacko Falls is slap bang right in the middle of the island. You should go here to feel you are in the heart of the country. In life, I also backpacked in São Tomé and Príncipe in 2024 to The Exact Centre Of The World at Ilheu Das Rolas – zero 0 Latitude, zero 0 Longitude on Ilehu Das Rolas, the real centre of the world and in 2025, to Boali Falls in the heart of Africa at Central African Republic.

Luckily, Jacko Falls, Emerald Pool and Emerald Falls are close to each other, so you can hire a driver or get a taxi to cover both on the same day. I needed this to save time due to having to do a wild FOUR COVID PCR tests in FIVE days. Nuts, but true. My timeline was a bit like this…

26th December – PCR test in Saint Lucia (so that I could get out of Saint Lucia and into Dominica!).
27th December – Early morning I got my negative reseult in Saint Lucia. Evening flight to Dominica. PCR test on arrival at the airport Dominica (so that I could get past immigration and actually into Dominica). That PCR test result took 45 minutes and was an instant negative.
28th December – PCR test in Roseau, Dominica (so that I could get out of Dominica and into Guadeloupe!).
29th December – Early morning I got my negative result in Dominica. Evening flight to Guadeloupe.
30th December – Flight Guadeloupe to Saint Martin / Sant Maarten and had to do a PCR test on arrival as the old one was expired and I had to backpack Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Sant Maarten and Antigua in the space of 3 days. Later that day, I went back to the PCR test hut and got my negative result.

Adding in Dominica and Saint Lucia, officially, I’d be in 6 countries in 6 days, and got to see all of them properly! You need to bear in mind that not only do I move fast, but day 1, I left Saint Lucia for Dominica, then 1 country each over 4 days (but actually it was 2 in Dominica, and a day of both Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, since those two share an island, and on day 6, I arrived in Antigua.

Once I had sussed the logistics of doing all those PCR tests and booking flights, I was finally backpacking in Dominica. Time came to see Jacko Falls.

Arrival At Jacko Falls, Dominica

I arrived at the entrance to Jacko Falls, which has a sign in 5 languages. It’s on a main road from Pond Casso / Pont Casse to Marigot.

Once you arrive at the entrance sign, there is supposed to be a ticket kiosk, a shop, a bar and a restaurant. During COVID this was all closed so the bonus was that entry was free – I didn’t need a ticket to visit, but I also couldn’t buy a beer from the bar and chill there. Actually, I had brought a beer with me in the car anyway, but I saved it for later. On the other side of the road, there looked like another bar or restaurant, also closed in 2021.

To get to Jacko Falls, you walk through the entrance gate, you can clearly see above that the ticket kiosk was closed – nobody else was here. I was the only tourist. You walk through and then down the famous Jacko Flats or Jacko Steps to the waterfall and deeper forest area.

Who Is Jacko?

It is called the Jacko Falls, Jacko Flats and Jacko Steps because it was named after Jacko! Jacko was a runaway slave who was found here. He sook refuge here as an escaped slave in the 1700s. The lower part is the site of a maroon encampment of escaped slaves and this is where the magic looms.

The Walk Down To Jacko Falls, Dominica

The walk down to Jacko Falls was easy. It is about 1 mile down, 1.6 kilometres and the same back obviously. The steps are human built and not steep. There is no issue here, just take a right past the entrance gate.

At the time, the country insisted on being mask loyal in public at all times, but nobody else was here – not a soul, so when I got down I took my mask off…and then my clothes off.

The Freedom At Jacko Falls, Dominica

Nobody else was here and I felt the freedom so I went full nude here for a while, I did some writing and pondering and took a few snaps.

I posed with my Northern Ireland flag and dipped my feet in the water. I didn’t swim this time, as I had done in the Caribbean Sea and in the Emerald Pool and Emerald Falls.

I was alone and this was really magical and secluded. After a while, I headed back up the steps away from Jacko Falls and still nobody was here. My driver was waiting. My driver was Eddie Linton. Eddie is also a tour operator and taxi driver. Here are the details for booking Eddie Linton.

Eddie Linton
Linton’s Tour And Taxi Service
Reliable and Professional Service
33 Elmshall
Roseau
Dominica
Email: lintons@cwdom.dm

Office: (767) 448 2558
Cellular: (767) 235 2709

I’d also recommend staying at the Roseau Valley Hotel in Dominica – I loved it there!

Here are the details for booking a stay at the Roseau Valley Hotel in Dominica:

Roseau Valley Hotel,
Dominica
Roseau
domcopt@gmail.com
767-225-7038
Wotten Waven Road, Roseau, Saint George Parish, Dominica
https://www.facebook.com/RoseauValleyHotel

The only real regret would be that I didn’t share the magic of Jacko Falls with a girlfriend or wife. A lot of these journeys are sad non-encounters due to that.

Here are some of my videos from Visiting Jacko Falls in Dominica: