Jacmel travel guide

The run-down port of Jacmel is Haiti’s prettiest city at the head of a 3 km wide horseshoe bay. The name Jacmel derives from an Indian word meaning ‘rich land’. A quiet place, Jacmel has changed little since the late 19th century, when it was a booming coffee port and its wealthy merchants built New Orleans-style mansions using cast-iron pillars and balconies imported from France or the United States. Its charming Victorian streets wind down three small hills to a palm-fringed, black-sand beach. A hurricane swallowed up most of Jacmel’s beach and what is left is dirty, with pigs rooting around in the debris.

The best views are from the south-facing houses on rue d’Orléans. The main square is pleasant and busy with vendors; the Hôtel de la Place restaurant is a good place to have lunch and watch the world go by. One block to the east opposite the church is an iron market built in 1895. Saturday is market day. The street below rue d’Orléans, rue Seymour Pradel, has an art gallery called Salubria-Brictson Galleries. Owner Bob Brictson is in residence only a few months of the year, but if you knock you will be shown his collection of worldwide art. Closer to the beach, on rue du Commerce, 19th-century homes have been turned into galleries or handicraft stores. The Boucard family residence at the corner of Grand’ Rue and Commerce, is especially fine. At the other end of rue du Commerce, near the wharf, note the Vital family warehouse dating from 1865. The nearby prison was built in the 18th century. Jacmel’s handicraft speciality are objects painted with colourful parrots or flowers. There are lots of artists painting and selling their work along Portail Léogâne.

A 12-km track into the hills west of Jacmel leads to Bassin Bleu, a series of natural pools and waterfalls descending a limestone gorge in tiers. The biggest, deep, blue-green pool is framed by smooth rocks and draped with creeper and maidenhair fern. Jump in for a cool swim. It takes 1½-two hours each way on foot or horseback (horses for hire in Jacmel or in the village up the hill on the other side of the river from Jacmel, about US$6-7, depending on the quality). Take a guide, fixing a price in advance, and water to drink. If it has not rained, the road is fine for a 4WD for three-quarters of the way. The Jacmel guide hands over to a local guide for the last kilometre which is a rough path and, at one point, requires the aid of a rope. This means an additional small fee. Guides here can be a problem, only one with the rope is needed, but you will find that you may be accompanied by others who will later demand payment. The diver who plunges from the uppermost rock into the pool also expects to be paid for his ‘show’. In sum, this is a very rewarding excursion and highly recommended, but you need deep pockets with lots of small change for tips.

A good dirt road leads east to fine white-sand beaches. The first is Cyvadier, a tiny cove down a side road at Km 7. The shade around the beach prevents much sunbathing, but the water is clean and pleasant, although the surf can be rough at times. Fishermen cast their nets from the beach. At Km 15, just before Cayes Jacmel, is Raymond-les-Bains, a beach alongside the road. No facilities except showers. Just after Cayes Jacmel, at Ti Mouillage, the road runs beside two beaches. The first has a basic restaurant. From Marigot, a pretty coastal village 10 km further on, a 4WD can climb a rough trail to the village of Seguin and Parc La Visite ....read more