maho beach Question

are there places to rent chairs and umbrellas at this beach ???

thanks in advance

I don't recall places to rent chairs. There is a bar and restaurant at the beach which has excellent views of incoming aircraft. The bar is ideally located for viewing.

are there places to rent chairs and umbrellas at this beach ???

 

thanks in advance

We were there a couple of years ago and you could rent chairs and umbrellas from a vendor on the beach, right near the Sunset Bar. We took 2 chairs and shared an umbrella, sorry, can't remember the price right now but it worked out perfectly. We had lunch and drinks at the bar and were there to watch the 747 KLM airplane come in overhead...haha, it's my desktop picture now, such an incredible experience!! In my opinion it's a must-do for anyone to St. Maarten....lots of cabs to take you back to the ship when you're ready!

Enjoy!! we'll be there again in Feb!

The sunset bar and grill rents chairs and umbrellas. I don't remember the price but it was reasonable. We were the first ones off of the ship in May 2014 and got there around 830am. The vendor for the chairs was not there yet but we had a great breakfast at the restaurant. We had Such a great day that we are going back for 8 days over Thanksgiving and staying at the hotel on the opposite side from Sunset.

Can someone tell me what the cab fare would be for two people from the cruise port to Maho? Have not been able to find any recent posts. Thanks!

Can someone tell me what the cab fare would be for two people from the cruise port to Maho? Have not been able to find any recent posts. Thanks!

It's been a while since I've been there. Going back in a few weeks and plan to take a taxi to Maho. Best I can gather... it's approximately $18-$20 each way. Hope someone corrects me if I'm way off.

The cost of 2 loungers and an umbrella is $20 at Maho Beach.

The taxi cost for 2 people to Maho is correct $18-$20, 3 or passengers its $9 pp and 5 or more passengers in the taxi would be $7 pp. Plenty of taxis at Maho & Sunset Bar and Grill for your return to the ship. The taxis are minivans and their license plate will indicate *TAXI*.

Thank you for the info! I saw a pic on another website and didn't look like there was much beach left to lounge on but, excited about seeing the planes!

Thank you for the info! I saw a pic on another website and didn't look like there was much beach left to lounge on but, excited about seeing the planes!

There wasn't much of a beach when we were there beginning of October. I was still able to go swimming as the beach was pretty calm and no undertow at all. It did help that I had water shoes on to walk over the many rocks that were exposed on the beach. The locals at the Sunset Bar and Grill at Maho Beach told me the beach does come back within a month or two. You'll still have a good time watching the planes land and take off :)

Enjoy you day at Maho!

Thank you for the info! I saw a pic on another website and didn't look like there was much beach left to lounge on but, excited about seeing the planes!

My neighbor just came back from St. Maarten and told me that Maho Beach is back to normal, hallelujah :)

My neighbor just came back from St. Maarten and told me that Maho Beach is back to normal, hallelujah :)

Was your friend able to rent chairs and an umbrella?

I know this beach is known for the airplane sights, but is it actually a nice beach to sit, relax, and swim? I don't want to go there just to watch planes come in and out but it would be a nice perk to see as long as the beach itself is also nice.

We have an option of staying at Maho for a few hours or splitting the time between Maho and Orient. I prefer to stay at one beach so any information you can give me about Maho Beach would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

We had seen pictures from earlier this month and there was not much left of the beach at Maho - just lots of rocks next to the road. That was very disappointing because our family was really looking forward to sitting on the beach and watching the planes.

So, when we got to the port last week our plan was to go to Mullet Bay (just around the corner) to enjoy the sandy beach there in the morning, then walk over to Maho near lunch time to see some of the bigger planes. We shared a cab with another group that were going directly to Maho. The taxi went to Maho to drop off the other group first. When we got there, we were thrilled to see that the sand was back! Needless to say, we skipped Mullet Bay and stayed at Maho for the day.

We were actually pretty early, so we were able to grab a couple of lounge chairs and umbrella near the Sunset Bar. A guy from the bar (think his name was Willy) collected $20 for the set.

Regarding the question about the suitability of the beach for relaxing - I'd recommend checking the port schedule first. We were on one of four large ships with more than 14,000 passengers that day! The beach is not very long or wide, so, with all the visitors that day, the beach filled up fast and was completely packed by about 10:30am! So, no, it was not very relaxing, at least on that particular day. However, in some of the photos and youtube videos I'd seen, the beach wasn't very busy. If this was the case, I'd be happy to relax there.

We had seen pictures from earlier this month and there was not much left of the beach at Maho - just lots of rocks next to the road. That was very disappointing because our family was really looking forward to sitting on the beach and watching the planes.

 

So, when we got to the port last week our plan was to go to Mullet Bay (just around the corner) to enjoy the sandy beach there in the morning, then walk over to Maho near lunch time to see some of the bigger planes. We shared a cab with another group that were going directly to Maho. The taxi went to Maho to drop off the other group first. When we got there, we were thrilled to see that the sand was back! Needless to say, we skipped Mullet Bay and stayed at Maho for the day.

 

We were actually pretty early, so we were able to grab a couple of lounge chairs and umbrella near the Sunset Bar. A guy from the bar (think his name was Willy) collected $20 for the set.

 

Regarding the question about the suitability of the beach for relaxing - I'd recommend checking the port schedule first. We were on one of four large ships with more than 14,000 passengers that day! The beach is not very long or wide, so, with all the visitors that day, the beach filled up fast and was completely packed by about 10:30am! So, no, it was not very relaxing, at least on that particular day. However, in some of the photos and youtube videos I'd seen, the beach wasn't very busy. If this was the case, I'd be happy to relax there.

Thanks for all the great info! We will be one of 4 ships as well so I think our plan will be to cab it over there early, about 9:30. Hoping that will give us time to get chairs and a place to sit. Will stay til afternoon to see the big planes come in. Looking forward to checking this off the bucket list. :-)

There are actually 2 places to go to there. On one end you have Sunset, which is a large establishment with a deck and tables with umbrella's to eat at (along with a restroom). They also have a hose that you can wash your feet off with. This seems to be the "hopping" place that everyone goes to and it's usually crowded over there.

Then on the opposite end there is Driftwood Bar which is a small little boat shack that serves up food and drinks as well. They are cheaper than Sunset, but still good. It didn't seem as "busy" as it is over by Sunset, which can be a good thing.

I do know that Driftwood also has beach chairs, but I can't tell you if they rent them or not. The day we were there, there were plenty of beach chairs and they all were just along the sand. We didn't rent them or anything so I'm not sure if they were for rent or just for the people that were at Driftwood. They never ask us to move or pay for them, but we were buying plenty of drinks and food the entire time we were there. :D

As you can tell, the first time we were there, there was tons of rocks and not much sand. The second time, there was plenty of sand. :)

Thanks Mitsugirly for the updated info and pics...we'll be there in Feb and wanted to go back after we enjoyed ourselves so much a few years back. The latest pics from earlier this year didn't look encouraging so I'm glad to see it's all back to normal!

Cathy

We too went to Guy's Driftwood Boat Bar and it was awesome!! Hardly anyone there compared to Sunset, which we throroughly enjoyed. Just us, and a couple of locals. Met some great people, had some awesome pizzas made in the van in the sand! Porta-potty was the only drawback, but worth the character, low prices and free chairs. We sat at a huge table that was under a giant unbrella (or was is a canopy...can't remember), but it was nice. There were lounge chairs there for us to use as well.

We walked down to Sunset in the late afternoon to catch our cab, and it was so crowded that we were really happy we spent the afternnoon on the other side of the beach. :)

Yeah for Guy's Driftwood Boat Bar, our favorite at Maho.

Yes, they have a Porta-Potty, but the prices, beach and views are great.

gary

 

We walked down to Sunset in the late afternoon to catch our cab, and it was so crowded that we were really happy we spent the afternnoon on the other side of the beach. :)

I just wanted to add...not sure if this was the norm or it was just the day we were there, but we stayed right there at Driftwood and there were plenty of cabs pulling up to take us back. No need to even walk down to Sunset and get in the crowd fighting for a cab. We even had a cab give us a better deal than the normal prices and we told him we were walking back in to the little town (headed back toward Mullet) to do some shopping and gave him a time and where to pick us up and he was right on time. :D

I just wanted to add...not sure if this was the norm or it was just the day we were there, but we stayed right there at Driftwood and there were plenty of cabs pulling up to take us back. No need to even walk down to Sunset and get in the crowd fighting for a cab. We even had a cab give us a better deal than the normal prices and we told him we were walking back in to the little town (headed back toward Mullet) to do some shopping and gave him a time and where to pick us up and he was right on time. :D

Yes, this is true. We had a specific driver scheduled to pick the same group up that went out there together. Most went to Sunset, we went to Guy's, so we just opted to walk over and get picked up. Taxi's will drive right past Guy's to go to Sunset. :)

Yes, this is true. We had a specific driver scheduled to pick the same group up that went out there together. Most went to Sunset, we went to Guy's, so we just opted to walk over and get picked up. Taxi's will drive right past Guy's to go to Sunset. :)

Maybe you misunderstood. The cabs were all stopping AT Driftwood to see if passengers wanted a ride back to the port. They weren't passing it up and heading down to Sunset (hence the reason I said we didn't need to head down there). The comment I made about having the driver pick us up at a certain place at a certain time was for one of the random drivers that stopped at Driftwood and ask if we needed a ride back. That's when we told him we were heading back into town and he could pick us up there. We didn't have the driver scheduled to pick us back up that dropped us off originally. :)

We love to walk the beach. Is there room at Moho to walk a distance along the water? If so how far?

We love to walk the beach. Is there room at Moho to walk a distance along the water? If so how far?

This is just my opinion, but it's not really the type of beach you go strolling down. It's on a kinda steep decline into the water (and the decline continues quickly once you're in the water as well). The beach itself is small in my opinion. The way the beach looks can vary as well from sandy to very rocky, so it's hard to tell what it will be like depending on when you go.

The following picture was taken over at Driftwood and you can see how far it is over to Sunset (the yellow umbrellas)...not very far.

Maho is great for plane watching and people watching. Nearby Simpson Bay beach is probably my faviorite beach for a long beach walk. It would take 45 minutes to an hours walk from one end of that beach to the other.

We love to walk the beach. Is there room at Moho to walk a distance along the water? If so how far?

It's as wide as a typical airport runway!! There are lots of people walking at/near the water line.