Côte des Arcadins, Haiti

Less than an hour away from Port-au-Prince, the impeccable white sand beaches, clear waters, and picturesque landscapes of La Côte des Arcadins await you. The coastline is home to 4-5 resorts, including two that I had the pleasure of visiting: Royal Decameron Indigo Resort and Wahoo Bay Beach Resort.

The Royal Decameron Indigo Resort is an all-inclusive resort with amazing views of the mountains, white sand beaches, and plenty of pools. Dining is buffet style in the dining hall but there are a few restaurants scattered around the property that you can dine in. There are unlimited alcoholic beverages, beer, wine and soft cocktails at all the bars and restaurants. They have TONS of activities and excursions which guests can participate in - such as snorkeling, Barbancourt Rum Factory tour, day trip to Sans-Souci Palace & the Citadel, day trip to Basin Bleu, and many, many, more. Many of these tours leave early in the morning so I would highly suggest booking on arrival to the resort. You can see a list of all their tours here.

While spending time on the coast, we chartered a boat with the good folks over at Haiti Excursions and spent a wonderful afternoon swimming, canoeing, partying, and relaxing at the beautiful sandbars located near Gonâve Island, a satellite island of Haiti located northwest of Port-au-Prince in the Gulf of Gonâve.

We had a great time with the Haiti Excursions and I would highly recommend them if you are ever in the area and looking for awesome water activities.

We actually had the opportunity to visit Côte des Arcadins twice on this trip. The wonderful people at Wahoo Bay Beach Resort invited us to spend the last day of our trip touring their property.

In summation, if you want the resort or beach feel on your trip to Haiti, then spending time one one of the many resorts on Côte des Arcadins is really your best bet.

Royal Decameron is great if your preference is for all-inclusive but, to me, it didn't really provide the true culturally Haitian experience I craved. The vibe was just a generalized and generic "island getaway", but this may be attributed to fact that the Decameron brand is an international presence they may just have an easy replicable model for all their resorts. Outside of a few decorations and souvenir shops, the resort could have really been any beach front. For example, while the dining options did provide a few Haitian foods, it wasn't too authentic and the food options weren't always readily available. What they called pikliz - a popular Haitian pepper sauce made of cabbage, onion, carrot, and scotch bonnet peppers - was really just onions in tobacco sauce. And the club I visited on the site for a birthday party didn't play much kompa or zouk - the traditional musical genres of the island. Now, if your preference when traveling is just to hang out on the beach and have access to your favorite foods and free alcohol, then you probably won't be bothered by this. Personally, I love cultural immersion so I would have loved to see something that was a bit more distinctly Haitian which truly honors and celebrates all aspects of the culture.

I only spent a day at Wahoo Bay so I'm not sure if I am the best judge of the property. I enjoyed the views, the beaches, and the delicious food & spirits while there. I plan to stay there for a few nights on my next trip to the island so maybe I'll have more honest words then. Angela Simmons seems to really enjoy the property whenever she visits Haiti (she usually stays there) so that could be a good sign.

Either way, no matter where you stay, don't forget to take advantage of all the beauty and fun and wonder that Haiti has to offer. The country is so slept on.

xo,

jana-lynn