La Plaine: Coastal Landscape and Village History

La Plaine is a historic village on Dominica’s east coast, between mountains and the Atlantic. Its geological formation also tells a story about the landscape: the village lies on a broad, gently sloping spur of a large pyroclastic flow. This formed during the eruption of the Grand Soufriere Hills behind the village and slopes down towards the coastal cliffs. La Plaine’s character thus brings together its coastal location, village history and volcanic origins. When planning a holiday, visitors who take both landforms and local history into account will find a tangible way to connect with the area.

Traces of Sugar Production

In Felicité and Laronde, sugar cane was crushed using a “Moulin Beff”: the mill was powered by cattle, including bulls and oxen. This offers a specific insight into how sugar cane was processed at the time and the technology behind it.

As sugar production declined, the owners of the Ouayanari estate allowed the Roman Catholic Church to demolish most of the factory buildings and use them to build the La Plaine Roman Catholic Church. The church’s construction is therefore directly linked to changes in the sugar economy; permission applied to most, but not all, of the factory buildings.

Ouayanari was also home to a large water-powered factory. Some of its ruins remain at the site of today’s Citrus Creek resort. Sugar cane processing, church construction and the surviving ruins offer distinct, interconnected points of reference for the village’s history.

A Historic Heritage Day

On 20 October 2024, the Government of Dominica presented a Heritage Day in La Plaine. The programme included a church service at 10 a.m., an exhibition at 12 p.m. and a cultural event at 3 p.m. The sequence of events gives a clear sense of how religious, exhibition-related and cultural activities came together that day. The date is a specific historical reference point for La Plaine.

In the Wider Destination of Saint Patrick

Access to Victoria Falls is from the village of Delices. The falls are 165 feet high and plunge into the White River, which is fed by Boiling Lake. The hike to the falls includes river crossings and climbing over small and large rocks. By factoring this activity into your travel plans, you can take account not only of the destination but also of the route’s described features. This information relates to the wider destination of Saint Patrick.

Delices is also part of this wider regional context: cassava and bay leaves are processed there. Along with Victoria Falls, these are distinct natural and cultural attractions of Saint Patrick that extend the focus beyond La Plaine’s village history and coastal landscape.

Choose the Right Place to Stay

When looking for a holiday rental in La Plaine, the east coast location, geological formation and sugar cane history may be deciding factors if these themes are important to your stay. If you are more interested in Victoria Falls, access from Delices is a separate point of interest within the wider destination of Saint Patrick.

Discover more destinations: Berekua, Rosalie, Delices

Return to the overview of the wider destination: Saint Patrick.