Amani-y is the closest swimming beach to Saint-Marc and one of the more accessible stretches of coast between Port-au-Prince and Gonaïves. The sand is grey-brown rather than postcard white, but the water is calm and shallow, and on weekends it fills up with families from the capital who come for the day. Small concrete-block restaurants line the back of the beach grilling fish and serving cold Prestige.
There is nothing fancy here. The appeal is exactly that — a working beach in a country where leisure infrastructure is thin on the ground, with a few hours of sun and the sound of compas on a cheap speaker.