Maho Beach, St. Marteen

I hope Sunday’s post piqued your curiousity. The danger sign that you saw can be found on Maho Beach on the island of St. Marteen. Maho Beach is located at the very end of the runway for the island’s airport. And when I say the end of the runway, I mean the end of the runway. The only thing between the beach and the runway is a 2-lane road. This is one of the only runways in the world where beachgoers can get this close to landing and departing aircraft.

As an airplane fan I’ve always wanted to visit this beach and see for myself if all the photos I’d seen in magazines and online were true. In 2007 we had a family cruise to the caribbean and as luck would have it, our ship docked on St. Marteen. This would be it!

Maho Beach is not a beach to tan at. The sand strip is very narrow and there are hardly any amenities. On the left-hand side of the beach is a dive of a restaurant/ bar. It’s gimmick was a broadcast of the Air Traffic Control Tower for restaurant goers. It also had the timetables for the big jets, but I found their intel a bit off. On the right-hand side of the beach is a resort hotel. Nonetheless, you don’t go here to soak up the rays. This is a beach to watch the planes fly in.

Most of the day was cloudy and rainy. Not a good day for capturing photographs, or standing outside. But as the afternoon wore on, the clouds lifted enough for us to enjoy the water for a bit until the big jets arrived. There were lots of small aircraft at first. Later came some smaller air carriers. The best jet experience came from American Airlines.

You can see from this photograph that the plane is literally right over the heads of the people on the beach. Here is another one, but of a smaller aircraft.

For an additional treat you can visit my Flickr site for a photo of a DHL plane landing AND as a special bonus, a swimmer in a very revealing, stringy bikini!

Now I know what you are thinking, I must have photoshopped these airplanes into the photo. Check out this video I found on YouTube that shows just how close these airplanes can come to you.

Yesterday’s sign spoke of danger at the beach. Despite the harrowing clip above, the dangerous part is not the landing, but the departure of aircraft. I tested it out just to be sure. When the jet engines accelerate down the runway they create a blast of air that literally knocks you over. The beach has a slab of concrete from the sand into the ocean directly behind the runway presumably to prevent erosion. The force of the jet blast is powerful. Here is another video that demonstrates how powerful the blasts can be. Fast forward to 1 minute into the clip.

A trip to Maho Beach is certainly a not-to-be-missed experience. The taxi ride is longer than most of the other beaches on the island (and subsequently will cost you a bit more), but the trip is well worth it. If you do your homework ahead of time and check the timetables for KLM, American Airlines and Air France (airport code SXM), you’ll capture some great photographs and memories. This is one of my favorite adventures.

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