I worked out a small hdf5 binding using cabal and bindings-DSL and sqlite3 as my example.
I just wanted to add that I also started an HDF5 binding recently (using hsc2hs only). It does more than enough for me ATM, so I don't develop it actively, but if you want to pursue this (and I think it would be a useful addition to Hackage), we may share experience and code. My binding is part of a bigger project, but I meant to split it out anyway.
What an interesting coincidence, that makes at least three of us. Apparently it's an idea whose time has come. Mine is also an incomplete low-level binding but is currently under semi-active development and I aim to make it cover the entire hdf5.h interface. If anyone is interested in it I've put it on github at:
Bindings to the full hdf5 were supposed to be in the example set for bindings-DSL. It doesn't use pkg-config, though, and hdf5 developers didn't like the idea of adding support. I wanted reference bindings-* libraries to be free of linking problems some users might not be able to solve or understand, so I gave up. Best, Maurício