Aircraft

Spotting aircraft at Maho Beach

There can be a fine line between a travel experience that’s cool and one that is perilous. At Mahó beach, on the Dutch side of the island of St. Maarten’s, that line is about 12 meters wide. That’s the distance between the vacationers on the beach and the start of the main runway at Princess Juliana International Airport.

There are, of course, many airports with parks and observation decks close to their runways.  Yet, no other airport has plane-spotting opportunities quite like Mahó beach‡. A rare combination of four factors are at work:

  • The short runway, hemmed in by the beach on one side and the mountains on the other, forces landing planes to touch down on the tarmac as soon as possible.
  • Because of said short runway, and also because of the crosswinds, planes approach the airport at a lower altitude than is typical.
  • Maho Beach is a public Beach at the most active runway. Plus, while most airports have a buffer zone (often a grass field) between the runway and the outer security barrier, there’s virtually no such buffer at Princess Juliana.
  •  Being St. Maarten’s main airport, huge airplanes  take off and land here.

Add that all up, and beach goers on Mahó can literally enjoy a quiet swim one minute and get buzzed by a long haul aircraft the next. Landing airplanes — especially the larger ones — can fly in as low as 10 meters (32 feet) above people’s heads.

It all seems impossibly close. Photos of landing planes look like they’ve been manipulated in PhotoShop. Or that the photos are of a landing that’s gone wrong. In fact, planes routinely land on St. Maarten like this.

Airport fence surfing

As exciting as it is watching planes arrive, experiencing a departure can be even more thrilling/harrowing. Planes typically take off from the far end of runway number 10 with their engines facing Mahó Beach. When they power up for take off, the jet engines of the larger planes can shoot out warm air at more than 160 kh/h (100 mph)! Daring onlookers watch while “fence surfing” — grabbing onto the fence immediately behind the airplane and holding on for dear life.

Fence surfing is an arguably better alternative than remaining on the beach directly behind the airplane. There, the jet blast whips up the sand, creating a miniature version of the sort of storm you’d expect in the Sahara. If you find yourself here during a take off, close your eyes — and mouth — tightly.

Webcam

The Sunset Beach Bar has a webcam that depicts the current situation on Maho Beach. Click the picture to take a look.

Webcam from the Sunset Beach Bar

Live: Maho Beach cam

Photo platform

From your balcony you have a perfect view on the final approach path of the aircraft. If you want to get closer, you may use the dedicated observation platform next to the pool area. From there you have a full view on the runway. Alternatively you can watch from the Sunset Beach bar or from the beach.