If seeing more of the island is on your agenda, see reviews and prices for this tour that will take you to both the French and Dutch sides, including a Maho Beach visit. Check below for the current schedule of planes landing at our Princess … Welcome to Maho Beach Find yourself with toes in sand by the world famous Sunset Beach Bar and get blown away by the breathtaking views of arriving and departing planes soaring right above your head. Fortunately, the Sunset Bar and Grill was nearly empty. Camera is motion activated. We’re working to support our habit. It SHOULD go without saying, but I still kinda want to do it…. Everyone who comes to Maho Beach is there to see the planes. These are a few of my favourite things! Definitely worth visiting, tho don’t expect wide-bodies there. To see Maho Beach and visit Orient Beach, too, consider this half-day tour. As we’re getting closer to Christmas, the airport will get very busy with an incredible number of business jets and probably Abramovich private 767. No. But some intrepid souls decide to ride the fence to get the force of the blast. Until recently, the major attraction was the landing of KLM’s regular 747 flights. Planes! Earn 85,000 Membership Reward®Â points | Terms Apply. ... Nice beach and clean. I can’t believe the progress that has apparently been made. Reminder: OMAAT comments are changing soon. #boeing #b757 #delta #airlines #landing #sxmairport #sxm #mahobeach #maho #tncm #boeing757 #photografy #picture #caribbean #clouds #sunsetbar #planespotting. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. Some posts on this site contain affiliate links, meaning if you book or buy something through one of these links, we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). The beach was actually surprisingly small (much smaller than it looked in photos and videos I had seen online), but that was actually part of its charm. Maho Beach: planes! Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners. Watching the planes land at St Maarten airport beach is a popular activity. But this runway is really, really close to the beach. The beach was not crowded at any stage during the day – this was as packed as it got…. And because the runway is a reasonably short 2,141 metres/7,000 feet, the larger planes hit the runway pretty early, meaning you can almost touch them from the beach as they fly overhead. @ Ray – you’ll be about 25 years too late to catch Pan Am ; ). When you’re deciding where to sit, consider how long you plan to stay at the beach, your tolerance for crowds, and whether you plan to eat or drink. What Could Biden’s New International Travel Restrictions Be? If you’re planning to eat lunch, consider ordering before you’re really hungry in case it takes awhile for the food to arrive. Just came through HKT the other week and I didn’t realise the end of that runway also has a beach under it, and there was a crowd watching our Malaysian flight coming in. Visit Maho Beach without the hassle of navigating on a day trip with pick-up and drop-off from the Philipsburg cruise terminal. Take-offs get a lot of attention, too. Maho Beach Jumbo jets appear to photobomb holidaymakers as they lounge on the beach at this tropical resort Maho Beach planes: Jets come into land just metres above beachgoers' heads The highlight of the day was the Air France wide body, and while it was a fantastic atmosphere, I would say I enjoyed the smaller 737 and 757 jets landing just as much. It is irresponsible to not mention deaths have occurred in this “thrill seeking” behavior. This is bucket list for me too, but wasn’t sure how recovered the island was after last year. Instead, our challenge was time. Don’t cut it too close. Taking a selfie with approaching planes at Maho Beach have become a must-do for tourists on St. Martin. Most of the day, it’s the small planes going to nearby islands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsI1jZce-64, About the only time people look forward to seeing ‘widebodies’ on a beach. We wanted to stay on the french side (which has even less hotel options) to ensure it felt a different to Aruba where we had just come from so we stayed in an airbnb near the beach. This is of course something special but the beach would be worth visiting even if there were no planes. Rather, it has much to do with the Princess Juliana International Airport directly adjacent to Maho. - See 5,412 traveler reviews, 4,141 candid photos, and great deals for Maho, St Martin / St Maarten, at Tripadvisor. Okay, but “there are plenty of airports around the world near a beach,” I hear you say. Finally a great article from you James! Coming in from St. Kitts, our ship docked just before 9am. We preferred the view and atmosphere at Sunset…. I was a kid back then but I still remember seeing her. There are just a few yards between the edge of the beach and the edge of the runway–only a two-lane road separates them. Saying it was a cool experience is an understatement. Alternatively, you can get the daily arrivals schedule easily from the chalkboard at the Sunset Bar. KLM is my favourite airline! I would alternate between the balcony of my room at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Maho Beach and Sunset Bar. by buying a drink if you need the password) if you don’t have mobile data to keep on top of the updated arrivals and departures information, If you happen to have a layover at SXM, the beach is an easy walk from the airport, I actually thought the view of the entire beach from Sunset Bar was just as good for each landing, if not better than being directly underneath the planes on the beach, When we flew out we left around midday and there were no jets at all landing (or on the ground) during that time, so avoid visiting in the mornings, SXM airport is still being rebuilt after last year’s hurricane, so don’t expect a fully functional airport if you are visiting this year — we literally had to step over ladders to get to our gate, and there were absolutely no flight status screens anywhere, If you are heading to the french side of the island, the traffic is. Tourists frequent the location, called Maho Beach, for unique views of low-flying planes as they land and take off from the airport, despite officials’ warnings about the potential dangers. Obviously, we have to plan ahead to catch the big planes landing. As a result, every time a plane takes off or lands, there is a mad dash of people across the property to get a good view. I’ve been to SXM a few times for plane spotting and Maho Beach is amazing. ST MAARTEN airport is famous for its proximity to Maho Beach and attracts hoards of tourists keen to catch a glimpse of the low flying jets. He loves great deals, exotic destinations, unique experiences and mileage redemption sweet-spots. I’ve been wondering how the island has been doing since the devastating hurricane. I especially enjoyed being only a few feet underneath an American 737 arriving from Miami. We swam out a little farther and were alone with schools of fish, sea urchins, and coral. One aspect of a day at St. Maarten’s Maho Beach that we hadn’t counted on was that plane landings aren’t the only attraction. One Mile at a Time is owned by PointsPros, Inc. By 10am, we arrived at the small beach, which was already filling up. Arriving aircraft must touch down as close as possible to the beginning of Runway 10 due to the short runway length of 2,180 meters (7,150 ft), resulting in aircraft on their final approach flying over the beach at minimal altitude. I’m currently island hopping through the Caribbean as part of my four month trip. I often play my video to remind me. Things have changed and hurricane Irma did not help too. Maho Beach: Planes, Planes, Planes !!!! - See 5,411 traveler reviews, 4,141 candid photos, and great deals for Maho, St Martin / St Maarten, at Tripadvisor. The restaurant gets particularly busy 12:30-2:00pm but is quieter at other times. Required fields are marked *. What a tragic hurricane it was that basically destroyed the island. 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