Môle-Saint-Nicolas
Haiti · Nord-Ouest · 19 m
Description
Columbus came ashore here on the sixth of December 1492 and named the anchorage after the saint of the day, and it was his first landfall on the island he called Hispaniola. The bay behind its rocky headlands is deep, wide and sheltered from every wind, which is why the French, the British and later the Americans all wanted it. Frederick Douglass was sent in 1889 to lease it as a coaling station and Haiti refused. Colonial batteries and magazines still stand around the shore above beaches of fine white sand. Around four thousand people live in the town and twenty thousand more in the countryside around it.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 4 days (optimal 3 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: December – April
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- The sheltered bay and its white beaches
- Columbus's landfall of December 1492
- Fort Georges above the harbour
- Batteries de Vallières
- Ruine Poudrière, a magazine of the 1750s
- Snorkelling on the corals in the bay
- Le Fort Allemand and Les Ramparts
- Sea caves along the shore
- Fishing fleet moored under the headlands
- Frederick Douglass and the naval base that never was