As Haiti shares the same island (Hispaniola) with the Dominican Republic, we planned to cross the border from the Dominican Republic to Haiti via land.
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Post updated Dec, 2023
Haiti was to be our final country to see in the Caribbean to help us reach our goal of visiting every country in the world.
The situation in Haiti isn’t so good at the moment and most governments warn travellers not to travel here due to crime and civil unrest. Most of the problems in the country are happening in and around the capital of Port Au Prince, so we planned to avoid travelling here for safety reasons.
We were told that Cap Haitien in the North of the country was safe to visit and that it also had some great sites to see.
Our border crossing from the Dominican Republic to Haiti took place in May 2019.
We used a bus service to help us with the border crossing from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Here’s all the information you need to take this journey too.
Border crossing from the Dominican Republic to Haiti:
Table of Contents
How do I get to Haiti?
Air: Use Skyscanner to book a cheap flight to Aeroport International Toussaint Louverture (PAP) located in Port Au Prince, Haiti’s capital of Haiti or to Cap Haitian Airport (CAP).
You can fly in internationally or also on a flight from the Dominican Republic to Haiti with Sunrise Airways.
Land: Fly direct to Santiago or Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Take an Uber or taxi to Caribe Bus Tours terminals in Santiago or Santo Domingo and catch the bus to Haiti. This is the most common border crossing from the Dominican Republic to Haiti.
We took a bus to the city of Cap Haitien. You can’t book this ticket online or in advance. The receptionist at our fantastic hotel in Santo Domingo told us to arrive at least an hour before the bus departure to get our tickets.
Sometimes the bus station is extremely busy, so it may take a little time.
The journey will take about 6 hours which includes clearing immigration in both countries.
Sea: Join a cruise. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line or Celebrity Cruises stop at a port in Labadee Beach in Haiti only a 12 km drive from Cap Haitien.
Where to buy a ticket?
We started our border crossing day from the Hotel Class Colonial in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This hotel was located right in the centre of the Old Town. Our double room costs USD 30 per night, which includes a great breakfast.
We caught an Uber taxi from this hotel for around USD 2. It’s located about 3-4 km from the hotel. Head to Caribe Bus Tours Terminal in Santo Domingo; it’s easy to find using Google Maps.
Our bus was scheduled to depart at 09:00 am, so we arrived at 08:00 am when the office opened. It was already quite busy at the station and took us about 35 min to queue and purchase the tickets.
Our plan was to travel from the Dominican Republic to Haiti in a day by bus as it was much more affordable than the flight.
Cost of the bus ticket from the Dominican Republic to Haiti
The price for one ticket from the Dominican Republic to Haiti is 1500 DOP (USD $15 ) and you must also pay USD $27 departure tax at the same time (this must be paid in USD or DOP currency).
There are no facilities to pay for your ticket using a card.
Be sure to have your passport handy as the cashier needs this to process your ticket. She will keep your passport until the bus departs the station and it is given back to you onboard the coach just before departure.
There will be a coach driver and another assistant who facilitates paying taxes at the immigration and is there to make the journey as smooth as possible.
More about the actual border crossing between the Dominican Republic and Haiti below.
Our coach was quite empty on this day, but it was clean and comfortable and had the A/C on max! It’s a good idea to take something warm to wear on the coach.
We left on time (09:00 am), so this was a good sign. Once we reached Santiago at about 11.30 am to pick up more passengers, a hot lunch was given to us.
This included rice & beans, eggplant/tomato stew and pasta salad. You also get a bottle of water.
Recommended posts about Dominican Republic, Haiti
How easy is the border crossing from the Dominican Republic to Haiti?
We reached the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti at 2.30 pm. The coach assistant on the bus directed us where to go.
We handed our passport over and filled in a departure form from the Dominican Republic and we were stamped out.
Only two minutes later, we filled in an arrival form and entered Haiti. It was all very straightforward. It seemed a little quieter than I expected at the border today, I expected more chaos.
Entering Haiti – First Impressions
Once we jumped back onto the bus, straight away there is visually lots of trash and signs of poverty as we crossed the border.
Immediately there are tin shack houses, farming, kids pumping water from wells, mango trees everywhere and lots of dust. We were stopped two times for officers to do a customs check of the luggage under the coach.
My first impression is that Haiti looks very much like West Africa. There is lots of garbage on the streets and flattened plastic bottles squashed into the dirt. Most houses have laundry hung out front on fences or over trees to dry.
There are goats running about and most houses had a small coal stove with big stone pots cooking in the front yard.
The French colonised Haiti, as they colonised much of West Africa, and this is why there are so many similarities. There are many other things you probably didn’t know about Haiti.
Old yellow school buses drive by loaded with locals and then the more popular taxi cars called ‘tap-tap’. The reason for this? When somebody reaches their stop, they tap twice on the side of the car to alert the driver they want to get out.
Women can be seen washing clothes and bathing in open rivers. There are many banana trees and endless mango trees here.
If you are wondering about the food read our blog here What to Eat in Haiti – 10 Best Foods to Try.
Arriving at Cap Haitien
There is no denying it, you’ll see an incredible amount of garbage along the water coming into Cap Haitien. As I mentioned, this is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and it has endured too many natural disasters to count.
This image looked similar to many of the countries in West Africa that we travelled through recently when we talk about the amount of garbage. I didn’t notice any bins or areas to put the trash and even if there were, who would clear it away?
RELATED POST – 17 Things to Know Before Travelling to West Africa
This city has loads of character, colour and life.
As we made our way through the bustling streets, I really took a liking to this crumbling colonial city. There are women cooking fried dough snacks on the side of roads and motorbikes whizzing by.
Small shops were painted in bright colours and covered in illustrations and cute pictures (so very West African). It reminded me of our recent visit to the small French colonial city of Saint Louis in Senegal.
Our coach arrived at the Caribe Bus Tours station at 4.30 pm. We had previously arranged a pick-up from the station with the hotel we’d previously reserved.
Within minutes of getting off the bus, our driver appears to take us to our hotel in Cap Haitien.
Where to Stay in Cap Haitien?
There are not many options for decent hotels to stay at in Cap Haitien. And it’s really important to book a hotel with good security. We booked a room at Hotel Des Lauriers as a few friends who had travelled here highly recommended it to us.
Hotel Des Lauriers is located on a hill that overlooks the city of Cap Haitien. The city is located next to a beach (I wouldn’t recommend swimming here, yet Labadee Beach is ok), which curves around into a large bay. Such fantastic views from here!
The rate was USD 54 p/n for a budget room with a good breakfast. The hotel also has standard rooms from $60 (single) and $110 (double).
Book here for the best rates at this hotel.
The property has an infinity pool and a great wifi connection. There is a restaurant on site that serves good food and super cold local beers.
It’s the perfect place to sit after a long hot day of exploring the sites to see in Cap Haitien.
The Canadian owner here is very helpful and can make arrangements for anything you need.
From booking guides, trusted taxi drivers to get around or just to offer useful advice for the independent travellers who are happy to explore on their own.
Check out our complete guide about the best things to see and do in Cap Haitien.
I hope you enjoyed our post on border crossing from the Dominican Republic to Haiti.
Travel Tips for the Caribbean
You might also enjoy reading our post about the 11 Caribbean Islands Best Beaches to visit.
We travelled through many countries in 2019, around forty of them to be exact. We visited many Caribbean Island nations that year, and you can read our recap of the Caribbean islands and countries visited in 2019.
Before we visited all of the island nations, we had no idea that the food was going to be so good! Our favourite foods in the Caribbean include these 10 popular foods in the Bahamas, and 10 delicious dishes in Haiti that you must try!
For future travels, don’t miss our Top 6 Travel Hacks to Save You Money and this Ultimate Packing List for Travellers. And you may learn a few great tips after reading our Expert Travel Tips After 20+ Years Of Travel.
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10 Comments. Leave new
Tnx for the tips Rach…..any more tips where to travel in Haiti besides Cap Haitien? tnx
Thank you so much for this blog, this helps me a lot. One thing on your future blogs, if you could give us the date when you traveled to these places that would be GREAT, for example, “It was the summer of 2019 when I went to …..”
Hi Phil,
That’s a great suggestion and thanks for the feedback. We generally publish new blog posts like this one soon after travelling to the destination. We travelled to Haiti in April 2019, so all details/costs etc are relative to this date. Thanks again 😉
Hey! Enjoyed this, really informative and well written 🙂 Sadly Covid means some of the rules won’t make it as simple to cross… So I need to work that out (if you have any tips on PCR tests required at land borders or know someone who might – would be really helpful too [chancing it, I know]). However I wanted to ask about security – how dangerous is it in country and as a solo traveller, going alone – any tips on how to make sure a trip to Haiti is happy and uneventful?
Hello!
Thanks for your message. We can’t really offer any tips on what PCR tests are required to enter Haiti at the moment and things are always rapidly changing these days. Perhaps check your government website for more details before you decide to travel there, and maybe Facebook forums or groups are sometimes helpful. Our visit to Haiti (a couple of years ago now) was a good experience, however we explored Cap Haitien and surrounds (and did quite a bit of research about where to stay, how we’d move around etc..which are all details you can find in the blog (link below). https://www.veryhungrynomads.com/things-to-see-and-do-in-cap-haitien-haiti/
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Port Au Prince at the time for safety reasons.
Thank you so much for this blog, this helps me a lot. Good information sharing u.
Hello, my name is Cristóbal from Spain and I woul like to do this trip to Cap Haitien like you dit it. Do you know if it’s possible currently (I would like to go next summer)? I mean, is the border open these days? Do you now if the covid situation has changed?
Thank you very much for your help.
Hi Cristobal,
Yes, we have friends who recently did this border crossing (in April 2023), so it’s open. They didn’t mention anything about ‘The Covid situation’, so we assume there are no regulations.
Hi, I am travelling from London to Cap Hatien on the 21st this month. My flight lands in Punta Cana Airport.
Today, I called Caribe Tours in Santo Domingo to find out if they still travelled to Haiti. They said, NO, they don’t. Because of the troubles, Caribe tours currently does not operate between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Based on your experience, can you recommend how I can get to Cap-Haiten from either Santa Domingo or Punta-Cana. Thanks!
Hi Henry,
Thank you for the update, although, it’s disappointing to hear that Caribe no longer run this service. Did they tell you how long they expect to terminate this service for? Hopefully this is just a temporary thing, and we’d expect that there must be another bus company or provider that is operating this service. In saying that, if there is, we are not aware of it.