Maho airplane expeience

[jordanaire]

We were there last April and the amount of large jets was down due to the hurricane damage. Many hotels were heavily damaged, so the tourists were not going there. Hopefully, the repairs are going strong and people are going to " Heaven on Earth". We absolutely love St. Maarten! Going there this coming April on Allure.

[phabric]

15 hours ago, jdg623 said:

We've done Bernard's Tours on previous trips and have been very pleased - they provide an excellent overall island tour. HIghly recommended. But we didn't have a lot of time at Maho with this tour - maybe 20-30 minutes. We would have liked to hang around longer. If all you're interested in is the beach and Maho, I'd really suggest just getting a taxi and going directly. If you want to see more of the island (and I recommend this if it's a first visit) then do Bernard's tour. 

 

We have Bernard’s booked for March.  

 

i don’t know if we should wear our swimsuits?

 

Is there time to go into the water?

 

Or, it really a stop to see the planes?

[hirent]

There are two regular wide body flights — a KLM service from Amsterdam, and an Air France service from Paris.

• Depending on the time of year, KL789 operates as an A330-200 service on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, landing at either 13:40 or 15:25
• AF498 also operates as either an A330 or 340 service, daily during the northern winter, landing at 14:50, and reduced during the quieter northern summer

https://onemileatatime.com/maho-beach-plane-spotting/

 

[cruiseguy1016]

1 hour ago, ObstructedView2 said:

To sit on a noisy small beach with one little beach bar & have sand blown in your face & your belongings just to watch planes land; take a taxi....

 

Different strokes for different folks, but its just not worth traveling to a beautiful island in the Caribbean with so many lovely beaches & decide to go to this small beach simply for a selfie & or video of a plane above you. Exotic St Maarten has so much more to offer. 

 

🌴

 

Different strokes for different folks for sure. There are two bars, one at each end of the beach. You only get sand blown in your face & your belongings if you're behind the runway. There is a lot of room to watch planes come and go without getting blasted by sand and jet wash. Some of us have been to exotic St. Maarten multiple times and have seen it all. Once you have found a favorite place to visit, you tend to go back to it. Maho Beach happens to be one of our favorite destinations on St. Maarten.

[ObstructedView2]

29 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

Different strokes for different folks for sure. There are two bars, one at each end of the beach. You only get sand blown in your face & your belongings if you're behind the runway. There is a lot of room to watch planes come and go without getting blasted by sand and jet wash. Some of us have been to exotic St. Maarten multiple times and have seen it all. Once you have found a favorite place to visit, you tend to go back to it. Maho Beach happens to be one of our favorite destinations on St. Maarten.

 

I've been to Maho years ago, once was certainly enough. Have been to the island multiple times as well. I'm happy you found yourself an enjoyable beach day in St Maarten.

 

🌴

Edited January 31, 2019 by ObstructedView2

[jdg623]

47 minutes ago, phabric said:

 

We have Bernard’s booked for March.  

 

i don’t know if we should wear our swimsuits?

 

Is there time to go into the water?

 

Or, it really a stop to see the planes?

 

At Maho, it was really just to see planes. We did do another beach stop (I think it was Orient Beach)  so wear your suit under your clothes. 

[jdg623]

1 hour ago, jordanaire said:

We were there last April and the amount of large jets was down due to the hurricane damage. Many hotels were heavily damaged, so the tourists were not going there. Hopefully, the repairs are going strong and people are going to " Heaven on Earth". We absolutely love St. Maarten! Going there this coming April on Allure.

We were there on a NYE cruise and it was looking good. Still some evident damage/recovery but lots of airplane activity. They now have it completely fenced off so you have to watch from the beach. No more standing near the fence. We'll be back there in April on the Oasis. 

[vacationlover_mn]

Let me preface me this by saying that I am way overly cautious about getting back to the ship on time.

 

we booked a private excursion for this.  It was lovely, however we got back to the ship an hour later than they had said we would, and I was way nervous about missing the ship.  If we do this again, I’ll book a ship excursion.

[DISFANS3]

Fun times...

[mattb31]

Was just there a few months ago and we took a cab to Mullet Bay, walked to Maho for the planes in the afternoon, and caught a taxi back. It was really easy, no need for the Royal excursion.

[cruiseguy1016]

2 hours ago, jdg623 said:

We were there on a NYE cruise and it was looking good. Still some evident damage/recovery but lots of airplane activity. They now have it completely fenced off so you have to watch from the beach. No more standing near the fence. We'll be back there in April on the Oasis. 

 

Please explain "completely fenced off". My most recent trip was last March and the fence was as it always has been. The fence was at the end of the runway, running along the road. People had to actually stand in the road to "ride the fence". There was a curb on the other side of the road and then the beach. What has changed?

[jdg623]

9 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

Please explain "completely fenced off". My most recent trip was last March and the fence was as it always has been. The fence was at the end of the runway, running along the road. People had to actually stand in the road to "ride the fence". There was a curb on the other side of the road and then the beach. What has changed?

When we were there a few years ago, there was a fence but you could climb around it and get relatively close. We even took pix in front of the "danger" sign. I'm not a natural thrill-seeker so that was a big thing for me. 😉 It's totally blocked off now. I suppose you could stand in the road but there was too much traffic when we were there so we had to go to the other side of the road where the beach is. So it changed from when we were originally there, possibly not from the time you were there.

[BillOh]

5 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

Too bad KLM discontinued the 747 to St. Maarten.  That was an experience!

 

I was fortunate enough to be there for one of the final few.  

[reverie4401]

On 1/30/2019 at 2:01 PM, Host Clarea said:

You can also do the public bus, for $1.25 per person, each way.  Catch the bus on Back St, behind the courthouse.

I just took the bus to Maho to watch the airplanes two weeks ago.    Fare was $2.  Clarea, must have been awhile since you were there.  Took about 30 minutes as traffic was slow and the bus stopped a lot.  Well worth the experience. David

[Clarea]

Just now, reverie4401 said:

I just took the bus to Maho to watch the airplanes two weeks ago.    Fare was $2.  Clarea, must have been awhile since you were there.  Took about 30 minutes as traffic was slow and the bus stopped a lot.  Well worth the experience. David

 

Thanks for the update.  It's been probably been a couple of years since we've been there.

[A2Mich]

On 1/30/2019 at 11:51 AM, Merion_Mom said:

Do it either completely on your own or with Bernard on one of his tours. 

This

 

went to Maho with Mailman of Bernard’s Tours.  

[sellwingri]

We took a private tour of the island in November and found the Dutch side to be recovering well from the hurricane.  The same can’t be said of the French side.  Very little construction going on and still a mess.

 

Maho is on the Dutch side and almost looks like it did before the hurricane.  

[PrincessBelle39]

We've booked Bernards Tours for July based on what we have read online.  It's our first time to St Maarten and we thought it was a really reasonable price for the entire tour especially with 5 in our group.  We chose SXM Island Tour II as being first time visitors we want to see a lot but also want that beach stop for swimming that it includes.   I'm sure we are going to have an amazing time.

[BirdTravels]

Great beach day. A little sand, some sun, and lots of planes. 

 

[bobmacliberty]

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Great beach day. A little sand, some sun, and lots of planes. 

 

When was this picture taken?  Looks very different from my last few visits (most recently June 2018).  There are now very large rocks/boulders where the sand meets the road, and the sand drops off quickly.  I recall reading somewhere that this was a result of a storm several years ago that took away some of the beach.  There were very few chairs and not much space to even throw down a towel.  Don't get me wrong...I still enjoy going there.  But it's all about the planes and/or the beach bars, not beach chairs, umbrellas, and the water like other beaches.  Sunset Bar and Grill has expanded significantly and was packed with people enjoying their day.

[traveler1980]

I'm looking into Bernards Tours as it is our first time to the island and I would really like to see both sides and have some beach time.  The rest of my family is much more focused on spending the afternoon at Maho as they are very into aircraft and this is a bucket list item for them to spend time there.  I definitely don't want to take away from that.  I have emailed Bernards this question, but haven't heard back and it has been several days.  Does anyone know if we could just not rejoin the tour after the Maho stop?  Could we just stay there and then make our own way back to the ship?  Any other suggestions for finding balance to see the island and also spending enough time to see multiple planes at Maho?  Thank you!