Labadee, Private seaside resort in Cap-Haïtien Arrondissement, Haiti

Labadee is a 260-acre private resort on a peninsula at the north coast of Haiti, within the Cap-Haïtien arrondissement. It holds five beaches along a cove of turquoise water, a white concrete pier for Oasis-class ships, and a red-roofed, white-walled building near a paved terrace. Forested slopes rise behind the shore.

The bay was known as Port François in the 18th century, with the peninsula called Point de Port François. Haiti's government leased the site to Royal Caribbean in 1985 under Jean-Claude Duvalier, and the lease was later extended to 2050. In 2009 the company spent US$55 million upgrading the pier to handle Oasis-class ships.

The name Labadee adapts the French Labadie, after the Marquis de La Badie, who owned the site in the 18th century; the cruise company respells it for English speakers. A controlled group of Haitian merchants holds the exclusive right to trade inside the fenced resort, and the food served to passengers is brought from the ships.

Labadee is a fenced private resort: passengers stay inside the property and cannot leave it, and locals cannot enter. A controlled group of Haitian merchants holds the sole right to trade on site, and food for tourists is brought from the cruise ships. The pier, completed in late 2009, can berth Oasis-class ships.

Labadee's pier was upgraded in 2009 so it could berth Oasis of the Seas, then the largest cruise ship ever built. The same year Royal Caribbean spent US$55 million on the facilities. The zip-line runs over the water, and the alpine coaster descends through the wooded slope behind the beaches.