Maho Beach with Airplanes?

[FlKittyKat]

While on our honeymoon (4/23-30), I am hoping to surprise my soon-to-be hubby with a trip over the the beach where the planes seem to land right on it! He has plane photos all over his computer and he enjoys the photos of that beach the most. (He really wants to go the bar right next to the beach.) I have read that Maho Beach has the airport right next to it. Does anyone have information regarding this? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[kal]

Landings of large jet aircraft (e.g. 757's) occurs from about noon to 2:30. The highlight is the Air France Jumbo jet which usually lands between 1:45-2:30.

 

For take-off the MAJOR event is the departure of the Air France jumbo at about 1.5 to 2 hours after landing. Generally it lifts off at about 3:45-4:15p.

 

You'll just have to plan your schedule accordingly. Maybe go to Mullet Beach for awhile, then to Sunset Beach Bar (e.g. Maho Beach) for landings, back to Mullet then again to Sunset for the Air France take off.

 

Be VERY careful for the jumbo take off and DO NOT stand behind the aircraft before it powers up. 100+ MPH winds, sand blast, and extremely hot exhaust gas is not a good combination. It WILL toss you into the ocean with a high chance of broken bones. Even then it'll take a week to get the sand out of every possible body orifice.

 

Note - The times mentioned here are during US daylight savings time.

[TrentS]

Keep the time in mind as Maho Beach is a long ways from the pier. It can take as little as 20-30 minutes to get there or get back from there, but if traffic is REALLY bad as it can be at times it can take well over an hour.

 

Air France flies an A340 in and KLM flies a 747-400 in, but they don't fly EVERYday so you need to check the schedules. There are also various other jets from the US and Caribbean.

 

What I usually do is go online on the morning of arrival and go to this webpage... http://www.flytecomm.com/cgi-bin/trackflight

 

Type TNCM as the Arrival Airport in the Advanced Users section and click GO. That will give you a list of the flight arrival times.

 

Today for example the Air France flight arrived at 2:39pm, and the KLM flight arrived at 2:57pm. Those times are local, ATLANTIC standard time.

 

Sunset Beach Bar is a lot of fun and has great burgers... http://www.sunsetbeachbar.com/

 

They also have a surfboard with the flight times on it.

 

Some people like to make arrangements with their driver to pick them up at a certain time, but I've been lucky with getting a cab at the Maho Beach hotel. It's a big yellow building with "Sonesta" on top... http://www.mahobeach.com/home.htm

[gtaylor]

Excellent information, Trent.

[FlKittyKat]

Thank you all so much for the information! I can't wait to surprise him with this little part of our honeymoon. I know he will love it! And I will be sure to watch where we stand while the plane are gearing up for take-off. :p

[kal]

He'll like THIS

[FlKittyKat]

Thanks Kal, he loved it. I am so excited to take him to watch the airplanes.

[kal]

You know the way to a man's heart - big airplanes and loud noise! What a SWEET BRIDE!!

 

BTW, when will you be in St. Maarten?

[FlKittyKat]

We will be there on April 27. This is a Wednesday, so I am not sure if the big planes will be arriving that day. I would assume weekends are busier for the large planes.

[TrentS]

It's not just the weekends, there are some everyday. Some days there are more than others, and there's not a 747 everyday, but it's fine through the week. Check the schedule as I explained above on a Wednesday to give you some idea of what to expect.

[kal]

We will be there on April 27. This is a Wednesday, so I am not sure if the big planes will be arriving that day. I would assume weekends are busier for the large planes.

 

Go to this thread for a schedule. There will be lots of action for your hubby on April 27th!

 

Whatever you do, make sure you don't miss the Air France Jumbo.