Champagne Reef, Pointe Michel

Champagne Reef is Dominica’s premier snorkeling site as well as a popular scuba diving site. Caribbean Travel & Life Magazine has rated Champagne Reef as the #1 snorkel site in the Caribbean.

Named Champagne because of the volcanic geothermal fissures found in the sea floor, it is likened to snorkeling in a giant glass of Champagne with thousands of bubbles rising up all around. It is easily accessed by land, with a boardwalk extending down the beach.



The bubbles start in about six feet of water and have a temperature of about 69°C. Beyond the bubbles lies a spectacular reef teeming with life and color. Parrot fish, Trumpet fish, Queen Angels and Blue Tang are just some of the fish to be seen in abundance at Champagne. There is even a resident population of rare Hawksbill Turtles that feed on the bright yellow tube sponges. The entire reef is very accessible and with the top of the reef in relatively shallow water. For the adventurous, a swim to the back of the reef shows a dramatic drop off into about 80 feet of water.

Located at the beach is Champagne Reef Dive & Snorkel, a dive shop offering dive & snorkel tours of the reef.






The tours are led by PADI certified Dive master who instructs you on the correct use of your gear and briefs you on what you are likely to see and experience once in the water. After your tour enjoy the comfort and convenience of the center with showers, changing rooms, refreshments, and a sundeck overlooking the beautiful Caribbean Sea.

Cliffside bliss with enchanting views in Pointe Michel, Dominica

The land measures an expansive area of 3.17 acres. It is mostly flat, allowing for easy construction. The land is partly cleared and currently contains many trees such as hard wood (including red and white cedar and mahogany), avocado, mango, coconut and bay leaf.

It is well suited for an expansive and unique private residence in a serene and unspoiled environment or for an income generating eco-tourism enterprise such as exclusive cliffside cabin rentals.

The breathtaking view of the natural pool formed in the Caribbean Sea within the arch of the Scottshead peninsula, which seems almost in diving reach; in addition to the excellent view of the Atlantic Ocean line on the other side of the peninsula makes this property a valuable piece of real estate at a steal of deal.

Brief history of Pointe Michel

Pointe Michel was first inhabited by Amerindian people from South America, the last group being the Kalinago (Caribs).


Referred to, to this day, by the French word “La Pointe”, Pointe Michel was one of the first areas in Dominica settled by the French people in the early 1700s. Most of them were small farmers who were being pushed out of Martinique by the expansion of sugar production there.

The French, and later the British, established many estates in the valleys behind Pointe Michel and the village grew as a commercial and social centre for these estates. Most of them grew coffee, although some sugar was also grown, and in the early 20th century they all changed their crop to limes.

La Pointe was the landing place for French soldiers during two French attacks on the British in Dominica, one in 1778 and the other in 1805. Because the people of La Pointe were French supporters the French forces knew that they would not be challenged. From here they marched on to Roseau, but had to fight hard under the cliff at Solomon and at Loubiere.

As the estates expanded the importation of enslaved Africans into the area grew. Soon the French families were mixing with the African people and a Creole population developed in La Pointe. The languages mixed and a new culture was created in dance, song, food and dress. After Emancipation of the slaves in 1838, many people from the estates in the hills came down to settle in the village along the narrow stretch of land near to the sea.

It then became a village of fishermen and farmers. Today, hardly anyone lives in the hills and there are many ruins in the bush.

From the earliest days of French settlement the Roman Catholic faith was strong in La Pointe. At first the parish of St. Luke was served from Roseau; in 1771 a priest resided here briefly, but eventually in 1852 La Pointe got its first resident priest, Fr. J.S. Féron.

In the 20th century, changes grew apace in Pointe Michel. Water, electricity and telephones came gradually. Before proper motorable roads most La Pointe people went to Roseau by canoe, and when the roads did arrive, Roseau people came here to catch canoes to take them to Soufriere, before that road was built in the early 1960s. Health clinic, Credit Union, playing field and housing schemes were some of the other changes seen in the village. Much of the housing had to be rebuilt after Hurricane David, 29 August 1979, when Point Michel got a direct hit by the storm.

In politics, La Point people have led the way. In 1832 William Leonne was one of the first Roman Catholics in Dominica to enter the House of Assembly, following the emancipation of Roman Catholics in 1829. On May 15, 1919 a future Prime Minister, Dame Mary Eugenia Charles, was born at Point Michel, later becoming the first woman Prime Minister in the Caribbean.

In music and song children of the village have done it proud: Ophelia Olivacee Marie, First Serenade and others. The style of its women has been immortalized in the 1967 calypso "Pointe Michel Girls".


Sou rce: Lennox Honeychurch - Historian