Summary
Haiti has appeared in the news frequently over the years because of political violence, especially in the capital of Port-au-Prince. But the way to visit Haiti is by cruise to stops such as Labadee, the beautiful private cove visited by cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara.

The eastern Caribbean country of Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic, ranks 21st in total visits, 16th in cruise visits and 27th in stopovers. Relatively few people visit Haiti for long-term stopover vacations. It is a strong cruise visit -- more than five times as many people visit by cruise than by stopover.

The Haiti we saw was lush, beautiful and mountainous, with village homes peaking out of the rain forest on mountainsides, some of the whitest sand we have seen in the Caribbean and some of the most aggressive selling of crafts by villagers we have experienced in the Caribbean.

Attractions
Because Haiti is mainly a cruise destination to privately held ports, the excursions tend to be nearby, water-based and managed by the cruise lines. Labadee has the Dragon's Breath Flight Line, the longest flight line in the word over water, that allows visitors to go 500 feet up the mountain and zip down on a cable more than 2,600 feet to the beach below at 40-50 miles an hour.

Tourism / When to Go
U.S. and Canadian tourists require passports, but cruise visitors simply need their ship IDs to exit and return to their ship.

Statistics are incomplete, but the most popular times to visit appear to be June and July, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

Weather
The average daytime temperature in Port-au-Prince is 81 degrees Fahrenheit, while mountainous areas are much cooler. Likewise, rainfall varies greatly from one place to another. The climate is tropical and semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds.

Currency / Tipping
Currency is the Haitian Gourde. We found that villagers accepted U.S. currency, but we did not see anyone using a credit card in Labadee because of the lack of credit card processing technology. Service charges typically are included on hotel and restaurant bills. The hotel room tax is 10 percent.

Culture / Geography
French and Creole are the official languages. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. It relies on agriculture as the dominant economic sector. The nation is 17,000 square miles with rough and mountainous terrain ranging from semi-arid to rain forest.

Sources / More information
U.S. State Department: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1134.html
CIA Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html
Caribbean Tourism Organization: http://www.onecaribbean.org
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov