Day tour to Haiti from DR

I'm going to the Dominican Republic for a week and a half in January - booked an all-inclusive trip, but my intentions are more to explore the country than lay on the beach - was just cheaper to get a package holiday. Anyway,I know there are day trips from DR to Haiti that visit some of the countryside and villages along the border. I'm really considering doing one, but I'm worried that the situation in Haiti isn't stable enough for even a short day trip there. Would I be a complete idiot to go there right now? There isn't a lot of imformation on the net for this topic at the moment...

Let me first say that Haiti is a very hard to stomach basket case. If you have seen misery elsewhere, you ain't seen nothing!
A one or two day trip to Cap-Haitien might be safe enough. And Cap Haitien has two, only two, hotels you might stay at comfortably and safely: the very nice Roi Christophe and a swanky hotel at the top of the bluff, over the city (I can't remember the name but it is easy to find.)The rest of the city is quite fallen apart and disgusting.
From Cap Haitien, it is only 30 minutes to the village of Milot and the Citadelle, a huge fortress perched on a mountain top and one of the wonders of the world. It contains the world's largest collection of ancient maritime cannons from the British, French and Spanish navies.
Milot is a well kept and clean village where you can eat and sleep safely.Just don't go anywhere near Port-Au-Prince and enjoy your trip.
On the other side of Cap-Haitien, there is a resort-like beach enclave called Labadie. But I didn't make it that far.

A relatively safe day trip to Haiti is crossing the border in Dajabon, northwest of Dominican Rep. There is a market on the Haitian side of the border not to far from the bridge. Do not venture inland since Haiti is not a safe place.

I lived on the north coast of the DR for 3 months last winter and I'm sad to say I wouldn't recommend a trip to Haiti unless you know people there, preferably with government connections. From a story I heard, you can't even cross the border into Haiti in a rental car-- the officials know it won't make it back.

I'm afraid Louisghiker is right-- Haiti is a disaster. All you have to do is see all the Haitians who sneak across the border to work in the DR, which itself is a pretty poor country, to know how desperate things are in Haiti. I'd react similarly if you suggested a day trip to Somalia or Rwanda,except I think Haiti is poorer.

Lucky for you, there are so many great towns in the DR, which is a heck of a lot safer than the all-inclusives will lead you to believe, so long as you're street-smart at night, which includes not wandering around drunk and alone.

I'd check out the whole north coast, especially sosua and cabrera (cabarete is great too, but more resort-like). You can find adventure just about everywhere. I'd also suggest driving the mountain road from Puerto Plata to Santiago, and taking the scenic route to Santo Domingo-- just do it in good weather.

Good luck!