A Visit To Labadee In Haiti

The first port for our Royal Caribbean cruise of the western Caribbean was Labadee, Hispaniola which is actually a part of Haiti. This specific port is leased out to Royal Caribbean so only their cruiseships come here. Labadee is actually a peninsula with several beaches. Getting to land from the cruiseship is by tender side.


There is a small section for kids with floating fake icebergs to climb and water slides but they charge an admission fee. Flotation mattresses are also available for rental for those who just want to float in the ocean. There are also locals who help with getting beach chairs for you but have limbs. Things here are just a screenshot of money. The cruiseship was optional trips for diving, parasailing, waverunner and kayaking tours but we thought they were too expensive. Most passengers just spent the day relaxed around the beach.

The area around Labadee was pleasant enough but the beaches and it was quite rocky so underpins the sandals that they wear in the water would be advised. Royal Caribbean had organized a beach BBQ at ease outdoor picnic that was acceptable but nothing special. There is a market there consisting of two buildings. One is a store where the souvenirs and items have marked prices and the other building is like your typical market where locals try to rush him to the business. The locals inside the market were aggressive but polite. If you do not mind haggling, you could get some pretty good deals but if you dislike this kind of aggressive atmosphere, then you best avoid the market except for fixed price store.

A big difference between this port compared to others is that since it is being used as a beautiful private beach, the locals will not bother him. Vendors who come around with drinks at the beach locations are really Royal Caribbean staff so if one wants to buy a drink, the cruiseship passcard are all that are required. As for concerns about being in Haiti given the poverty and political situation, Labadee was not a problem because the entire site is enclosed by a high steel fence. Other passengers later told us that they wandered around the perimeter of the site and saw many Haitians along the fence and leaflets calling for food. The fencing was mostly concealed in the distance from the main tourist areas.

We found Labadee in general to be a bit of a waste of time for us. The beaches were too rocky and we had no access to inexpensive activities since everything was run with the real Caribbean. If you wanted to just go lie on the beach all day and not much, then Labadee would be a convenient place. For those who want to experience some culture, do water sports without going through the cruiseship, or shop duty free, Labadee would not be the place to go. We decided to stay on board the ship after the BBQ lunch for the rest of the afternoon. I like Royal Caribbean and finally cross through it again but I would not go on an itinerary that included Labadee in the future.