MAHO BEACH - THE MOST THRILLING BEACH IN THE WORLD

No visit is complete to St.Martin without a trip to Maho beach. If you haven't considered visiting St Martin, then you need to redo your bucket list.

St Martin is beautiful but that in itself is not the reason for my excitement about visiting this country. My excitement came from the fact that St Martin is the location of Maho Beach. THE Maho Beach...the one where planes land only feet away from the beach and where visitors stand with their cameras ready to capture the enormous jets as they pass overhead.



Maho beach is located in the western part of the Dutch side of the island near the French border and right beside the Princess Juliana International Airport. The beach is separated by a two lane highway which stayed busy the entire time we were there. It also has the distinction of being one of the most dangerous airports in the world.




There is a surfboard in the adjacent bar that shows flight times but we found those times were not accurate. It showed one plane arriving while were were there and we actually saw five. We were also there on a Saturday which I was told was the best day to visit since it would have the most incoming planes.



Every time a plane takes off, you will see a line of people hanging out by the fence to experience the jet blast. Some pilots even encourage visitors to line up but it's not advised which is noted with a large DANGER sign. It is tempting to do it any way but the thought of my hair and eyes filling with sand kept me at a distance.

FINAL NOTES

Like I mentioned at the top of this post, Maho beach should be on your bucket list. It is reason enough to take any cruise stopping in St Martin or flying in as a destination. Keep in mind that the they were hit hard by Hurricane Irma and the airport has not been repaired. You can read about the hurricane damage with photos here: https://southernbluetraveler.blogspot.com/2018/05/hurricane-destruction-around-st-martin.html

The large KLM plane that you will see in a lot of photos, no longer land at this airport but you can see get some great shots.