Waterfront Residences at Secret Bay, Dominica
A villa inside a working Relais & Châteaux resort on Dominica's northwest coast near Portsmouth — built to the resort's design, staffed by its people, and let by its reservations team for most of the year. It suits someone who wants a few weeks a year in a well-run Caribbean property, is content to let a management company run the commercial side, and would like Dominican citizenship folded into the same transaction. It suits an income buyer, or anyone who needs to move in for a season, far less well. I act for you, not the developer, and hold no listing agreement with the resort.
What you actually own
You get freehold title to one villa, not one of the fractional LLC shares the same resort sells by the week — so confirm the document in front of you is a purchase and sale agreement for title, not a share subscription. You are buying off-plan: nothing is standing, and every image of the waterfront villas in circulation is a developer rendering. Completion has already moved from 2025 to early 2027, and a later trade briefing put it in fall 2027. Before a deposit moves I want a contractual long-stop date with a remedy attached, written terms on who holds the deposit and what releases it, and a measured-area clause with a price adjustment if the built villa comes in smaller than sold.
The honest cost of holding it
Dominica's investment agency puts transaction costs at 2% stamp duty, 1% judicial fees, a 1% assurance fund contribution, and a solicitor's fee of 2.5% plus 15% VAT on that fee; using a lawyer is mandatory. A non-national would ordinarily also pay an alien landholding licence of 10% of market value — US$140,000 here. Advisory sites say it is waived under an approved citizenship project; I could not find that on any Dominican government page, so have your attorney confirm it in writing before you budget for it. Annually there is no national property tax and no capital gains tax, and the 1.25% municipal tax applies only in Roseau and Canefield. US citizens and green-card holders are taxed on worldwide income regardless of a second citizenship. The figure nobody publishes is the whole-ownership service charge — the advertised "no annual fees" attaches to the fractional shares, not to this. Get it in writing, with a cap.
This property qualifies for the Dominica Citizenship by Investment program.
More in Dominica.
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Jungle Bay Resort
A completed one-bedroom hotel unit at Jungle Bay Resort on Dominica's southern coast at Soufriere, held freehold and income-producing.
Residences at Secret Bay
A completed one-bedroom, one-bath hotel residence of 128 square metres at Secret Bay, the clifftop resort near Tibay on Dominica's northwest coast.
Residences at Secret Bay — Cliffside Kampesh II, Dominica
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A two-bedroom cliffside villa at the Residences at Secret Bay, on Dominica's north-west coast.
Residences at Secret Bay — Mapou Waterfront Villa IV, Dominica
A one-bedroom waterfront villa at the Residences at Secret Bay, Dominica — the accessible entry into a Relais & Châteaux community.
Interested in Waterfront Residences at Secret Bay, Dominica?
Book a private call with Dan to explore availability, ownership options and eligibility.
Book a Private CallDan Merriam & Associates acts for the buyer. Our advice is independent, not contingent on any sale, and we hold no brokerage or developer mandate.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rent it out?
Only through the resort's managed rental pool. The developer publishes 10 to 24 weeks of personal use a year for whole-villa owners, with the balance let by the resort; the management agreement, not the deed, decides which end of that range you get and whether those weeks are yours by right or on request. Rental income paid to a non-resident is subject to 15% withholding tax at source.
What return should I expect?
The operator reports cumulative owner distributions past US$5.4 million since late 2019 and average annual returns described as in the 3-4% range, while stating plainly that it guarantees no specific return. Those are its own figures, from a program dominated by fractional interests in villas that already trade, and the waterfront villas have no operating history. Ask for audited statements on comparable existing villas before you price any income into this.
Does it qualify for citizenship?
Yes. The project is on the Citizenship by Investment Unit's approved list, and the route requires a minimum of US$200,000 in an approved project, which this purchase clears many times over. Government fees are additional and are not reduced by paying more for the property: US$75,000 for a single applicant or US$100,000 for a main applicant with up to three dependants, plus processing and due diligence. The property must be held for three years from the grant of citizenship, or five if your onward buyer is also a citizenship applicant.
What is the catch?
The European Commission has asked Dominica and the four other Caribbean citizenship states to phase out their programs by 1 June 2028, and the no-visit model is already going: a 30-day physical-presence rule was agreed in September 2025, and in June 2026 Dominica announced applicants must travel there to collect and renew passports. The passport covers 145 destinations visa-free or visa-on-arrival, not the United States or Canada. If the program winds down, the most likely resale buyer for this villa is exactly the applicant pool that thins out, so buy it because you want the villa.