Cap-Haïtien travel guide

Cap-Haïtien (Okap or Kapayisyen in Kréyòl) is a city of about 130,000 people on the north coast of Haiti. It is the capital of the Nord department. Founded during French colonial rule, the city was originally named Cap-Français. It adopted its present name following the country's independence in 1804.
Due to its proximity to wide Caribbean beaches to its northwest, Cap-Haïtien has traditionally been a resort and vacation destination for Haïti's upper classes comparable to that of Pétionville. Recently, Cap-Haïtien has enjoyed a recent increase in tourist activity due to the rather unstable political situation in the capital Port-au-Prince.
The central area of the city is located between the Bay of Cap-Haïtien to the east, and nearby mountainsides to the west, which are increasingly dominated by flimsy urban slums. The streets are generally narrow and arranged in grids. As a legacy of the U.S. occupation of Haïti from 1915-1934, Cap-Haïtien's north-south streets were renamed as single letters (beginning with Rue A, a major avenue), and its east-west streets with numbers. This system breaks down outside of the central city, which is itself dominated by numerous markets, churches, and low-rise apartment buildings (3-4 floors each) constructed primarily before and during the U.S. occupation. Many such buildings have balconies on the upper floors which overlook the narrow streets below, creating an intimate communal atmosphere during the Haitian dinner hours. (...) more....

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