Whats to do In Labadee

It has been a very long time since we have visited Labadee .The films we have seen show lots of changes .

Can we get a shuttle from the pier onto the island "

Is there shopping on the island of local native made items ?

Are there good spots for snorkeling ?

TIA for the information :)

It has been a very long time since we have visited Labadee .The films we have seen show lots of changes .

 

Can we get a shuttle from the pier onto the island "

 

Is there shopping on the island of local native made items ?

 

Are there good spots for snorkeling ?

 

TIA for the information :)

Labadee is not an Island....it is part of Haiti. There is a tram car that will take you to certain beaches...but unless you are disabled, you have to walk to the end of the pier to board them. I have not seen that many changes over the years. (other than building more and more money making cabana's) The local vendors are EXTREMELY aggressive. We do not even go near there anymore. Most of the wares are imported from China, so you are just throwing your money away.

There are actually 2 shopping areas...one is locals and they are pretty aggressive. The other is sort of thru the ship, with hired vendors...they aren't as bad as the "locals"....IMO, there is little that interested me as far as shopping.

and the snorkeling is not good at all, especially from the beaches.

Thanks for the shopping info We think that they need the money & that is why they are aggressive . We learned a long time ago to ask any vendor what they wanted in price & then replied with the words :would you accept (naming the price we would be willing to pay . Those words are non combative & saves face .The vendor then accepts or rejects our price . No hurt feelings :)

Are there any good snorkeling areas off the beaches in Labadee ? If so we will bring my DH snorkel gear on the tram

TIA

I don’t think the snorkeling is good off the beach. We did one ship excursion a few years ago on a boat and the snorkeling there was not bad. Nothing like Grand Cayman or Belize. What are your other ports?

The tram is a hop on hop off and runs all day. Go to “My cruises” and click on shore excursions. I don’t know when you have been there last but they do offer 32 excursions.

So when you walk off the pier, you are there. The tram does take you to other areas, but it is more of a golf cart type tram. It will only take about three minutes for the tram to take you to the beach areas.

There is a zip line, a roller coaster (more of a alpine slide type thing) and water park with slides. There are an assortment of water activities to book through RCI, wave runners, sea kayak and snorkeling. Check out your cruise planner, you can book most of the activities in advance!

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The Artisan Market is where we shop and got some original artwork at a good price. We did not find the vendors aggressive there.

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For our group of 10, Labadee will be day 6 of the cruise. We are using it as a rest and relax day. We booked two Bungalows on Columbus Cove. They are all the way at the end of the beach. They look quiet and relaxing. And your drink package works on Labadee....that could be dangerous.

As you walk off the pier the beach on the left side of Labadee is very rocky and you need water shoes. I feel bad for people that don’t visit Cruise critic or research Labadee before they get off the ship because if they go to those beaches a lot of times they are disappointed. If you keep walking all the way to the tip of Labadee there is Columbus Cove, the shuttles actually will take you all the way there as well. It is on the right side of Labadee. You have to walk through the local market to get there and the vendors are very aggressive just do not make eye contact. Columbus Cove is beautiful, the beach is pristine white and not Rocky at all. We love a ship that stops at Labadee because it’s a great free beach day, the ship actually brings the food into the area.

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At Christmas 2016 we rented one of the Clamshell beach shelters. They were about $45 total for the day but very much worth it. They are in a private section of the beach so if you dont have the shelter then you cant use the beach and the life guard etc. was pretty good at checking to make sure people had the appropriate stickers etc. Very quiet area and I think the first stop there was probably only about 3 of the 30 or 40 shelters being used and on the second stop (New Years Day) we were the only couple with a clamshell. Great way to spend the day and very peaceful with the whole beach to ourselves

We have been once, I wanted to do some type of activity preferably zipline to break up day, My ds just wanted to relax. We walked to Columbus Cove(you can avoid the artisan market by taking A marked path). It was very crowded and not very relaxing. I should have listened to DH and stayed on ship. We were one Allure during NY and New England Feb break. Lots of folks were taking advantage of the beach day so might not be the same on other sailings?

Thanks for all your comments .We appreciate the good information :)

We will forget about snorkeling at Labadee .Since our cruise will be going to the ABC islands ,we will do snorkeling when in Bonaire on a charter :)

We understand that Bonaire has the best snorkeling :cool:

It has been a very long time since we have visited Labadee .The films we have seen show lots of changes .

 

Can we get a shuttle from the pier onto the island "

 

Is there shopping on the island of local native made items ?

 

Are there good spots for snorkeling ?

 

TIA for the information :)

As well as the tram, you can take a ferry (seats over 100) located very close to where you disembark your ship, directly to Columbus Cove. The ferry only goes to CC and is faster than the tram. You can take the tram back from CC if so choose.