Where Should You Stay at Secret Bay? A Guide to Secret Bay’s 27 Villas and Six Enclaves
The fifth in an editorial series of nine stories marking Secret Bay’s 15th anniversary. Previous stories covered how Secret Bay to be, the luxury of time & space, the country we call home, and a story of love and art.
Secret Bay is situated on a stretch of Dominica’s northwest coast. It runs from the Caribbean Sea up through the rainforest, along both sides of the Cario River, and back down to a second shoreline, Coconut Beach, that’s farther north.
Six resort enclaves are set into this land, each shaped by the ground on which they reside. After more than 15 years of slow development, four Secret Bay enclaves are fully operating and account for the 27 villas that welcome guests today. The resort’s low building density, with villas spread across 50 acres, ensures each villa is ensconced in privacy. Two new enclaves are under construction: the Waterfront, the largest single addition in the resort’s history, and Cliffside, Phase 7, the final stage of evolution. When Phase 7 is complete, Secret Bay will hold 42 villas in all. Each enclave is far removed from the others, meaning guests will not encounter construction during their stay. As much privacy as a guest desires is theirs to take.
No two stays at Secret Bay are alike. Whether you’re planning an escape, a wellness retreat, or a honeymoon, each enclave offers a distinct way to experience the property.
The Peninsula Enclave
The peninsula is where Secret Bay began. The land reaches west into the Caribbean as two slim promontories, with Secret Beach below one and Tibay Beach below the other. The original villa, a Zabuco drawn by Sandra’s father, renowned Venezuelan architect Fruto Vivas, as a wedding gift, stood at the tip of one promontory. After Gregor and Sandra reconsidered the mark a single large house would leave on the land, Fruto reworked the drawings into something smaller. The villa that resulted became the template for everything built since.
Today, the peninsula holds three Zabuco villas, two Ylang Ylang villas, and one Ti-Fèy. It’s also the closest enclave to the Gommier Spa overlooking Tibay Beach and the seasonal Zing Zing restaurant. Most guests who walk the peninsula never see the whole thing. The villas are placed for privacy, and the trails between them wind through a dense enough forest that one villa is invisible from the next.
The Hillside Enclave
A short walk inland, the land climbs through rainforest above the Cario River. The Hillside is home to the resort’s largest group of Ti-Fèy and Ti-Fèy+ villas, built into the slope as two- and three-story structures with floor-to-ceiling glass that rises above the canopy. The views run from jungle to ocean, with the river below.
Ti-Fèy and Ti-Fèy+ villas are configured with one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half bedrooms and two or three baths, suited to a couple, a small family of one or two children, or friends sharing a stay. They range from 1,686 to 2,799 square feet of combined indoor and outdoor space.
The Clifftop Enclave
Across from the peninsula, on a second promontory 200 feet above the sea, sits the Clifftop. It holds six Zabuco villas, three Ti-Fèy villas, and a Mapou Cottage. The villas share the peninsula’s western view over the Caribbean, but sit higher, enveloped by the rainforest. Two of the Zabuco villas are wheelchair-accessible, with two bedrooms and two en suite bathrooms, ramps and a wheelchair lift between the main floor and pool deck level. Guests reach the enclave by funicular, the longest in the Caribbean, which climbs 300 feet from the Mouben Welcome House up through the canopy.
The welcome house is also where the resort’s shared spaces gather along the Cario River: the Bwa Denn food, art, and kombucha brewery across the water, the Gwiyavye lap pool and bar among the guava trees, and the Botanica organic garden and chef’s table at the river’s edge.
The Summit Enclave
At the plateau that crowns the property, the Summit is a two-villa compound with 360-degree views across Dominica to Morne Diablotins, the island’s tallest peak. It includes a two-bedroom Zabuco villa and a one-bedroom Mapou villa, which can be booked together as a private estate or separately as a couple’s hideaway. The Zabuco villa is wheelchair-accessible, with an elevator between its two levels and an EV charging station, and the enclave connects to the rest of the resort by funicular. The Summit is also where Secret Bay’s two newest spa pavilions, Loryé and Sitwon, are taking shape, adding a dedicated wellness destination at the top of the property.
These four enclaves, the Peninsula, Hillside, Clifftop, and Summit, account for the 27 villas operating today.
The Waterfront Enclave
The largest recent Secret Bay addition is the Waterfront enclave, with construction currently underway. Down the coast to the north, the land opens onto Coconut Beach, and the Waterfront enclave runs alongside it. Plans call for nine Mapou villas, each at or near sea level, designed as bungalow-style suspended structures with floor-to-ceiling glass that opens directly onto the ocean. A new restaurant, Papai, along with a pool and bar, will sit at the edge of the same beach. Mapou villas run 1,220 square feet and are the smallest single-villa category on the property.
The Cliffside Enclave (Phase 7)
The Cliffside enclave is the final phase of development at Secret Bay, expected to finish in 2029. It will extend the Ti-Fèy+ category into the most dramatic siting on the property to date, and introduce Kampech, a new villa type named for the Caribbean kampech tree and the last new villa type Secret Bay will ever release. The Cliffside Enclave will enjoy sea views over Coconut Beach. More details are to be released when these are officially unveiled.
With the completion of Phase 7, Secret Bay will hold 42 villas across all six enclaves.
What Every Villa Has in Common
Despite the differences between enclaves, the villas share a common language of materials and craft. Each is built by hand from sustainably sourced Guyanese Greenheart hardwood, without heavy machinery, and sited to spare the mature trees around it. Interiors are furnished in Dominican Red Cedar, hand-crafted by local artisans. The architecture, by resident architect Claude Lauture, follows Fruto Vivas’s original drawings for the resort.
Inside, each villa has a full gourmet kitchen with granite counters and Siemens appliances, an espresso machine, and a wine cooler. Floor-to-ceiling glass slides open onto a private deck with a plunge pool, and an outdoor rain shower opens to the trees. Beds come with a choice of mattress and pillow. Each villa includes high-speed WiFi, a television with Apple TV and Netflix, Sonos sound, and a personal iPhone and Kindle to use during the stay. There are also board games and plenty of books to enjoy. Guests also have complimentary adventure gear, including kayaks, paddleboards, and snorkeling equipment, as well as a dedicated villa host who arranges everything from meals to excursions. Some villas have grow beds where the land allows.
Choosing Your Villa
Most guests come to Secret Bay with a type of trip in mind first and a villa type second. All villas provide guests with the luxury of time and space to disconnect from the everyday world and reconnect with nature, themselves, and their traveling companions.
Honeymoon couples book the Honeymoon Villas, a selection drawn from the resort’s most intimate one-bedroom accommodations between 1,120 and 3,303 square feet.
Families and groups of friends book Friends & Family Villas, larger configurations of 1.5 to 2.5 bedrooms that sleep more without crowding. Multi-generational families and larger parties book Multi-Villa Estates, combinations of adjacent villas operated together as private compounds of up to 6,109 square feet.
A guest can also book by villa type or by enclave. The reservations team works through all three.
The next piece in the series turns to what the property has protected over 15 years: the stewardship and sustainability work that has run in parallel with the evolution, and which has received less attention than it deserves.
