Maho Beach

Planning to go when we arrive on the 10/2/2016. We will probably look for the bus to take us there, but to make most of our time, we will take a cab back. The questions are. Are cabs are readily available in the area and how much time should be allowed to get back to the cruise port in the afternoon.

Thanks.

Cabs are very easy to come by at Maho as it is an extremely popular beach with cruisers. If all aboard time is 4:30 I would head back around 2 and not later than 2:30. If it's 6 I would leave by 3 as that's a busy traffic time on the island.

Please keep in mind the beach area is not the best so you might not wish to spend all day there. The only real reason for going to Maho Beach is to view low flying planes.

Please keep in mind the beach area is not the best so you might not wish to spend all day there. The only real reason for going to Maho Beach is to view low flying planes.

^ Exactly !!!

Planning to go when we arrive on the 10/2/2016. We will probably look for the bus to take us there, but to make most of our time, we will take a cab back. The questions are. Are cabs are readily available in the area and how much time should be allowed to get back to the cruise port in the afternoon.

 

Thanks.

If you do take the bus you can get dropped off at Mullet Bay beach and stay there for a while and walk back to Maho for noon or so to see the planes. It takes 15-20 minutes to walk from one beach to the other.

Agree with Karysa. That's exactly what we did and had a great day! (My review with TONS of pictures from our day at Mullet and then Maho is in my signature line if you are interested). :)

Is there a way to get a flight schedule for the day? That would help, we will be there in August and plan on going for the first time as well.

thanks,

Is there a way to get a flight schedule for the day? That would help, we will be there in August and plan on going for the first time as well.

 

thanks,

The bigger commercial airplanes mostly arrive in the afternoon. No reason to spend all morning waiting. The beach is not very good for swimming.

Is there a way to get a flight schedule for the day? That would help, we will be there in August and plan on going for the first time as well.

 

thanks,

In the summer the KLM is scheduled to arrive usually around 11:30 so if you. Are there on KLM day ( usually Tuesday and one weekend day) make sure you are there at least 1/2 hr before the scheduled time of arrival as its early sometimes. If the KLM is not in 12-3 should offer many arrivals and departures of some of the bigger planes.

If you do take the bus you can get dropped off at Mullet Bay beach and stay there for a while and walk back to Maho for noon or so to see the planes. It takes 15-20 minutes to walk from one beach to the other.

Me too I agree with this !

That's what we did on our first visit to St-Maarten and it was great.

IMO Maho is really not a beach to enjoy as a beach...it just happens to be there at the tip of the runway.

It is a GREAT place to hang out to watch the planes ( maybe the new addition to Sunset Bar and Grill will be done soon ? )

KLM is a huge plane ( saw it a couple of years ago at Maho ), but on a more regular schedule there is also Air France with a large Boeing ( saw that one a couple of weeks ago at Maho ).

When you are at Mullet Beach you are very close to the airport and still can see the planes coming in from a distance over the ocean ( you don't see them touchdown ). When we walked to Maho, once we reached the "downtown area" between Mullet and Maho the smell of jet fuel was very strong. Then we reached Maho and enjoyed a few big planes landing and the take-off of the KLM....scary...good scary...but scary !

Plenty of taxis available,

Without traffic the ride back to the pier is about 30 minutes...but the traffic can get heavy depending on how many ships are in port and the day you are there and can take as long as 1:30 from some reports here on CC.

Have fun !

.

Please keep in mind the beach area is not the best so you might not wish to spend all day there. The only real reason for going to Maho Beach is to view low flying planes.

We had a great time spending the entire day there on a Sunday in 2014. That was a Sunday and it was before the last time the beach got washed away. It was our 3rd time there and the first time we were there for the KLM 747, which by the way, its days are numbered, so go while you can.

This year I think we will spend most of the day at Orient.

We visited St. Maarten for the first time this past Sunday, on a port call. We had a great time with Bernard's Tours, which gave us about half an hour at Maho in the afternoon, at the end of the tour. I agree with others, it's not a very nice beach, not someplace you'd go for a beach day, only for a short stop to watch the planes. (We had about an hour and a half at Orient Beach and enjoyed it.)

(photo by turtles06)

Thanks for all your replies. I had internet problems just after posting hence my delay in responding. We've just returned from the cruise (our first) and had a superb time. Our reason for wanting to go to Maho was to see the planes rather than the beach. We found a local bus on Back Street in Philipsburg which took us there for 2 USD each. Really enjoyed the ride but there were frequent stops and the traffic jams were awfull, so the decision was made it would have to be a cab back.

Unfortunately we didn't see the KLM or Air France, but there were a multitude of smaller planes and a medium size twin engine jet so the day was a success.

The cab back was only 8 USD each for a shared minibus and the traffic was virtually gridlocked as we got nearer Philipsburg. Had we caught a bus I think panic would have set in about getting back in time.

Thanks again for all your replies. Much appreciated.