Labadee Questions

[will work to cruise]

How long is the walk from the tender dock to Hideaway beach? How far is Hideaway beach from the food and restrooms? TIA

[Homebody]

The walk to hide-away beach is 5 minutes tops. There is a food area and restrooms right there. Hide away beach is a great spot, get there early to get your lounges under one of thatched shelters. You will be glad for the shade as the day wears on.

[will work to cruise]

Thanks Homebody!

[FreewayFortune]

Enjoy Labadee it's a beautiful spot:)

[Sue L]

Here is the easy way to show you distances.

 

 

 

[TPKeller]

This google based satellite map of Labadee has many of the points of interest marked and a scale showing distance in the lower left hand corner. You can zoom in and drag the map around to get a closer look.

 

Cruise map of Labadee, Haiti

 

Theron

[Kathy130]

Walked the 5 minutes to Hideaway Beach last year. Got there early and was able to secure a thatched "umbrella shelter". The cafe and restrooms were right there. Had a spectacular day there.

[adomatic]

We got the first tender off the boat. I think they said it would be at 8:30am but we were off the boat by 8 and the first ones on Hideaway beach! We set up under the thatched roof with hammocks and had lounge chairs in the sun as well. I had heard the snorkeling wasn't so good there, but we saw tons of fish. Food and bathroom were nearby. And of course as the day went on, the beach got more crowded. But not as packed as the beaches next to the tender.

 

Enjoy!

[castcore]

Walked the 5 minutes to Hideaway Beach last year. Got there early and was able to secure a thatched "umbrella shelter". The cafe and restrooms were right there. Had a spectacular day there.

 

Are there any Jet Skis there to rent or just mats? Also is there a charge for Hideaway beach?

[castcore]

So is there any snorkeling or any water actvities at Labadee? And where is the cruise lunch served?

[GJClay]

So is there any snorkeling or any water actvities at Labadee? And where is the cruise lunch served?

 

I don't recall what all of the excursion choices were, but I do know that by the time we attempted to book our excursion on the ship, our first picks were sold out. We ended up doing the kayak excursion. It was "okay", and pretty cheap. Basically, all we did was kayak to the other side of Labadee where we were forced to view vendor's crafts. It was kind of odd.

 

However, it did get us off of the ship first and back to the main part of the island early enough that we had access to the best of the chairs on the beach.

 

The view of the island from the kayaks was BEAUTIFUL; however, I was a little turned off by the fact that it seemed the primary activity of the excursion was to look at the merchandise of the VERY AGGRESSIVE vendors. I stay away from straw markets, typically, because I certainly can't afford to buy from all of them and they never stop soliciting. I feel for these people, because I know they are very poor, and we were told on the kayak excursion that the vendors at our stop see no other tourists but those on this excursion and must feed their families solely on that income.

 

Once I bought a very overpriced necklace from one guy, I continued to be harrassed by other vendors with the stories of how many children they had to feed, etc. I, too, have children to feed, and their merchandise was not too great and quite expensive. Just a warning on that one!

 

There is a really fun dance show after lunch on Labadee (lunch is held in a covered picnic are centrally located; food is "okay"; hamburgers, hotdogs, coleslaw).

 

Everything on this island is within short walking distance (except the kayak stop). There is also a straw market on the main part of the island, but you can stay away from it if these are not your thing. You don't really see any of the real Haiti, other than the gorgeous moutains and water, which I guess may be a good thing; I don't know.

[Kellie Poodle]

So is there any snorkeling or any water actvities at Labadee? And where is the cruise lunch served?

 

Others answered about most of the post. If you have never done parasailing before, Labadee is a great place to try it. It's done off the back of a boat and they reel you back in so you don't have to do anything but enjoy the experience and the view. It's a little pricey and the ride is short, but I recommend it as a first-timer's experience. It's tandem, so you can go up with another person. We are senior citizens with some medical issues and the ride was a piece of cake, so don't be afraid of it.

 

We hadn't signed up for any of the excursions but there was no problem getting a slot for the parasailing. You can walk up to the booths which are to the right from the tender. The beach is to the left. Interesting rock formations along that stretch of beach.

 

I enjoyed just sitting in a lounge chair on the beach at Labadee. I even took a picture of the view of the ocean from between my toes. :)

 

The lunch was surprisingly good. The shopping, if you want to call 50 or so vendors with the same tourist-bait, shopping, was not very interesting for me, though if one really looked, there was some evidence of craftsmanship among geegaws.

 

I was not swimming because of a medical condition at the time, but our friends said the snorkeling was good.

 

We were there in late January 2007. It was the first stop on an 11 day Panama Canal cruise.