Village of Labadie Haiti

Approaching Labadie Village

A nice surprise near (1 hr walk) from Cormier Plage is the Haitian village of Labadie. Moto or walk up the curvy paved road from the hotel (away from Cap) and you’ll reach the top of the hill that overlooks the private cruiseship Labadee Resort. The guard let me in to look at birds and take pictures. Then walk downhill and you’ll follow a high fence on the right to keep guests in the resort, and a nice wooded area on the left where you can do some birding. Keep walking to the water taxis, little boats that will take you to the actual village of Labadie. I think it cost around 100gd to hire one privately to take the 2 of us to the village. On the way back we waited for the boat to fill with other travelers and it was much cheaper. There were some larger motor boats too – perhaps they can be rented to go to some nearby islands.

Water taxis to go to Labadie Village

Labadie is a small quiet fishing village tucked into the forested hillside. I walked around with a friend to look at birds, but we didn’t eat or linger long. It would be a nice place to spend a morning or afternoon. If you are comfortable eating Haitian street food you could eat and drink there and hang out by the water. I didn’t see any other foreigners and kids were eager to say hi. Some people have kayaks so perhaps you could rent one. There seemed to be 2 hotels along the hillside between the village and mainland taxi stop. Here is another blogger's post about Labadee/ie.

A small cave!

The mainland taxi station.

Water project in Labadie Village funded by the Royal Caribbean Cruiseships

Hotel Cormier Plage Cap Haitien Haiti

My favorite place to stay in Cap Haitien is Cormier Plage, whose beautiful grounds have a variety of birds, plants, and reptiles, and sit along a clean swimmable beach. Bring snorkel gear! There is a small reef where you can see sea urchins and colorful fish, and next door is a coral restoration group Amiga Island that also offers snorkeling trips at a nearby island. The paved road to the hotel follows the north coast out of Cap – watch for signs for forts.

Someone's anchor

The hotel room had a ceiling fan and AC and patio. I didn’t notice hot water (I forgot to check since I don’t have it at home). The room electricity is off during the day which I think is great for conservation. You can charge electronics at the restaurant/bar right along the beach where you should be anyway. The room price included a breakfast of coffee, juices, bread, and fruit, as well as a selection of eggs, oatmeal, and other food from a menu. Lunch and dinner ranges from pricey to cheaper sandwiches, and even omelettes (which took a while to make!). Try the rhum banana for dessert! Avoid the conch (lambi) which is over harvested and avoid lobster during the reproductive season (March - June), or there won’t be any more next year! 

A 40 minute walk up hill on the main road you’ll come to an overlook of the private Labadee cruise ship port – complete with roller coaster and zipline for resort guests. Turn left and walk downhill to get to water taxis that will take you to the actual village of Labadie (see this post for more).

Gate from main road

View from balcony

Breakfast before I knew we could also choose from a menu!

Just one page of the large lunch and dinner menu.