Imagine yourself lying on the beach, under the sun with your feet in the warm sand, cool beverage in hand, relaxing and gazing out at the beautiful Caribbean sea and sky.

Suddenly, an airplane is flying just above your head!

There is no other place where you can get as close to landing aircraft as you’ll find at Maho Beach in St Maarten/St. Martin. The planes are 747 jumbos that arrive from international destinations as well as smaller pleasure-craft.

The runway of the Princess Juliana International Airport (International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code is SXM) is rather short, so pilots landing aircraft must touch down at the very beginning of runway ten, otherwise they would not have enough runway to safely stop. Since Maho Beach is located right across the road from the start of the airport runway, planes making their final approach fly are so close to the beach that when you stand up, you can actually feel the whoosh from the engines!

At Cupecoy Beach Club, just a few miles away, we do not have planes flying overhead.. but we do recommend you spend at least a day at Maho Beach. It’s an unforgettable experience!