Maho Beach - Airplanes

Can you still experience the low flying planes and the jet wash from take off at the airport? If so what is the cost of getting to Maho from the dock by taxi?

We are headed there next week so can't report first hand.

But check out this thread on the St Mart Page

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2601360

Can you still experience the low flying planes and the jet wash from take off at the airport? If so what is the cost of getting to Maho from the dock by taxi?

It cost someone their life last year.

It cost someone their life last year.

There have been score of injuries too over the years. All the warning signs are there for a reason.

Can you still experience the low flying planes and the jet wash from take off at the airport? If so what is the cost of getting to Maho from the dock by taxi?

Yes...but best to view from the Sunset Bar at Maho.

We were a family of 7 and our round trip from taxi stand (large van type) at the pier and back again with a drop off in town was $16.00pp.

Yes. We were just there in early February. Maho isn’t what it used to be after the hurricane but there is still Beach to sit on. Agree with Ashland about the sunset bar. It’s the best place. Although the airport is operational, it’s not like it used to be. Significantly less jet traffic and no more 747 arrivals/departures. You’ll still get a good mix of private planes and turboprops

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Mullet bay beach just down the road from Maho,is a much nicer,larger beach and you can still see the planes take off.

Yes. We were just there in early February. Maho isn’t what it used to be after the hurricane but there is still Beach to sit on. Agree with Ashland about the sunset bar. It’s the best place. Although the airport is operational, it’s not like it used to be. Significantly less jet traffic and no more 747 arrivals/departures. You’ll still get a good mix of private planes and turboprops

 

 

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Jet Blue flies their Airbus A321, it’s not a four engine jet but is still impressive!

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I think KLM flew their 747 in October of 2016 the last time.

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The bigger airplanes fly in during the afternoon, I have heard of a catamaran that takes people out their to watch the airplanes.

Their is a website that lists the daily flights, I think you have to pay a fee for the daily services.

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There was a "leased" Air France 747 that landed early this February. Still fun to watch.

Try this site: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airports/sxm/arrivals

Visited Maho Beach two times / ways during our 2/11/18 Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Silhouette. We took an early morning double decker tour of the island, including a stop at Maho Beach, in the morning. The driver said that a good chunk of Maho Beach was "reclaimed" by the ocean during the hurricanes - so it's not the same as it used to be. We did the catamaran excursion in the afternoon to visit Maho Beach and see the island. There are a number of small planes coming and going, but we only saw 1 Jet Blue plane taking off in the afternoon. From the catamaran, it wasn't that impressive, as it's taking off away from you. There is a significant amount of damage to the Maho Beach area, very little to no tourists staying - as from what I hear there are only a handful of hotels open.... so no plane traffic as such. You may be disappointed if you're expecting the plane traffic from the past.

We were in St. Marten 2/7/18 on Eclipse. We did the boat tour with Captain Bob. In the afternoon, we were at Maho Beach and watched the Jet Blue plane come in.

In the background you can see the hotel is still devastated. I think it is the Sonesta Beach Resort.

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There have been score of injuries too over the years. All the warning signs are there for a reason.

Agree! - and that is relative to standing directly behind the jets at the fence (in particular) or beach during take off. For those experiences it clearly is best to be well off to the sides.

Other than any concerns with an aircraft approaching too low, there is no jet blast concern with those planes landing and being located off the end of the runway.

And to the OP, to confirm as others have posted, on our last visit there the R/T pp taxi fare was $16.00

We were in St. Marten 2/7/18 on Eclipse. We did the boat tour with Captain Bob. In the afternoon, we were at Maho Beach and watched the Jet Blue plane come in.

 

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In the background you can see the hotel is still devastated. I think it is the Sonesta Beach Resort.

 

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Thanks for this. We are doing a tour with Captain Bob at the end of the month and were hoping that Maho Beach would still be on the itinerary.

As far as the Sunset Bar, all ladies sitting topless at the bar drink for free !!

We will just post a very friendly warning. Anyone who has been involved in the USAF or Navy Aviation knows all about "FOD" which means foreign object debris." The military (and civilian airports) go to great pains to avoid FOD. On Navy Aircraft Carriers it is not unusual for large groups of sailers to "walk the deck" with heads down looking for any foreign objects. The reason is very simple. Even a small piece of debris can cause an aircraft to crash...or kill, maim, or severely injure anyone working on the deck or flight line.

At Maho there is no such FOD patrol. While we would be fine with standing on Maho during a flight arrival...there is no way we want to be anywhere behind a jet when it is taking off. The thrust from even a small jet can send a small pellet flying...similar to a bullet. If you get hit, you can die, be blinded, etc. Those folks that would hold onto the fence are just rolling the dice (and a young lady died last year when she got craps). The authorities on St Maarten have talked about ending the tradition (of people standing behind jet engines) but apparently have little interest in the safety of their visitors. So their answer is to put up some warning signs.

Hank

We were in St. Marten 2/7/18 on Eclipse. We did the boat tour with Captain Bob. In the afternoon, we were at Maho Beach and watched the Jet Blue plane come in.

 

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In the background you can see the hotel is still devastated. I think it is the Sonesta Beach Resort.

 

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Wow. I think that's the quietest, bordering on deserted, I have ever seen Maho. Have tourists not returned yet? That is crazy to me. I've been 5 times and every single time, it was basically person to person especially when the planes are coming in. So weird.

As far as the Sunset Bar, all ladies sitting topless at the bar drink for free !!

Yeah and to be fair, it is not necessarily as uhhhh, enticing as the above sentence makes it sound. LOL now I am a straight woman so what do I know but let's just say it isn't all 22 year olds looking for free drinks. ;p

We were there last week. Had been there about 4 years ago when air traffic was heavy-lots of planes. Was there about 2 hours this time and only saw a few planes. On the way there it only cost us 3 dollars each-it was a minivan but I guess it was public transportation. On the way back to the ship it cost $20 because we took a private taxi.

Tourism is still in recovery mode. It’ll be a long time before the destruction from the hurricanes is rebuilt.