This 290-square-mile (750 sq km) island is a must for eco-tourists, naturalists, botanists, divers and visitors seeking holiday adventure. Dominica is one of the few Caribbean islands that has truly changed very little since Columbus visited and named it 500 years ago. Known as the Nature Island of the Caribbean, Dominica has a unique micro-climate – lush rainforests, volcanic peaks, thundering waterfalls, cloud-covered hills, sulphur springs, pools of bubbling therapeutic mud and hot mineral streams. This tropical wonderland has 365 rivers, many of them providing excellent swimming. The exotic animals and plants that have been wiped out on nearby islands thrive here. Nature is spectacularly and uncontrollably rampant. When you hike through the island's forests, you are as close to nature as it is possible to get. Rich in ferns, wild orchids and giant, flowering trees, they are home to bats, iguanas, stick insects and blacksmith beetles so big they can be heard moving about on the forest floor. There are five species of snakes – none of them poisonous – and more than 160 bird species, including two endemic but endangered parrots, making Dominica a magnet for bird-watchers. Some of the island’s most dramatic sights can be seen in the 17,000-acre (69sq km) Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a designated World Natural Heritage Site. Here you’ll see mist-veiled peaks looming over the rainforest and marvel at the Boiling Lake, where sulphurous springs sizzle and steam at up to 197F (92C). Sealife off the island is equally awe-inspiring. There are excellent dive sites with peaks, sheer walls, valleys and hot springs on the seabed. In the winter breeding season – November to March – humpback, pilot whales and especially sperm whales and their calves can be seen in the deep, calm offshore waters. Whale-watching trips are very popular with visitors. Another vital aspect of Dominica is that it is now the home of 3,000 surviving descendants of the Caribs, the pre-Columbian people who gave the Caribbean its name. Although the Carib language has perished, they have their own territory, where their baskets and wood-carvings are sold to visitors and some of their traditions are maintained, such as whaling. The capital, Roseau, is the best base from which to journey into the interior. It’s a quiet town where, although English is the country’s official language, you’ll hear the French-based Creole patois spoken in the streets, markets, cafes and many rum shops. Night-life is usually calm and relaxed except, perhaps, when the island hosts the annual three-day World Creole Music Festival, attracting star singers and musicians from throughout the French-speaking Caribbean, the United States, Africa and Europe. Dominica welcomes tourists who want to see more – and help protect – its unique natural wonders.