There are aviation bucket list items, and then there is Maho Beach.
For decades, this tiny stretch of sand beside Runway 10 at Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) has become almost mythical among aviation enthusiasts. The idea of standing beneath arriving aircraft while Caribbean waves roll onto the beach sounds almost too ridiculous to be real until you actually experience it yourself.
And now, after wanting to visit for years, I finally did.
I arrived in Sint Maarten, a small eastern Caribbean island that is half Dutch and half French, by cruise ship on a Thursday, with our ship docked from 0800 to 1630. That gave us plenty of time to explore the island, grab lunch, and spend a good chunk of the afternoon at Maho Beach.
We were also lucky. We were the only cruise ship in port that day, which helped keep the island from feeling completely overrun. Word on the street is that 6-7 ships can be in port at any given time, and I don’t think I ever want to experience that.
Still, Maho Beach is Maho Beach. Even on a quieter day, it is part beach, part aviation circus, part bucket-list spectacle, and part reminder that the internet tends to make everything look a little more glamorous than it really is.
And yet, if you love airplanes, you absolutely must go.
Flexibility is Worth It!
There are a lot of ways to get to Maho Beach.
You can book a cruise line excursion, take a shared island tour, hire a private tour operator, grab a taxi, or rent your own car for the day. Each option has pros and cons, but for my family, we decided to book a private tour through Bernard’s Tours.
I promise this is not an ad. Nobody is paying me to say this. But when, not if, I return to Sint Maarten, I will 100% use Bernard’s again.
I was genuinely impressed.
Bernard’s offers several different types of excursions, including shared island tours, private tours, and packages specifically built around Maho Beach planespotting. In our case, we booked a private tour that gave us the freedom to go where we wanted, when we wanted.
That flexibility was huge.
If you want to grab lunch in Marigot, the capital of the French side of the island, then head to Maho Beach on the Dutch side of the island for the afternoon – you can. Pro Tip: Definitely try the French pastries and treats at Chez Fernand la French Bakery in Marigot. If you want to stay longer because something interesting is inbound, you can. If you want to skip something because your kid is tired or the beach is calling, you can do that, too.
For cruise passengers, especially, that flexibility is worth a lot.
Know the Flight Schedule Before You Go
If you are going to Maho Beach specifically for airplanes, do not just show up and hope for the best.
Do your homework.
I did not have internet access while I was there because I am cheap and did not want to pay for an international data plan. That meant I could not rely on flight tracking apps in real time. Fortunately, I had already researched the SXM schedule before leaving home, especially the larger aircraft arrivals.
At the time of this writing in mid-May 2026, the larger aircraft serving SXM are concentrated in the early afternoon, which is actually very convenient for cruise passengers.
Air France operates five weekly flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Flight 498 is scheduled to arrive at 1325 local time, with the outbound Flight 499 departing at 1530. The aircraft is an Airbus A330-200.
KLM also operates five weekly flights from Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday flights use the Airbus A330-200, while the Wednesday and Saturday flights use the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Flight 777, operated by the A330, is scheduled to arrive at 1300 and depart at 1420. Flight 789, operated by the 787-9, is scheduled to arrive at 1240 and depart at 1410.
One interesting detail is that KLM’s inbound flights are direct from Amsterdam, but the outbound flights make an intermediate stop before continuing on to AMS. Flight 777 stops at Port of Spain, Trinidad, while Flight 789 continues to Georgetown, Guyana.
Delta Air Lines also brings in some larger narrowbody action. The daily Atlanta flight arrives from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) at 1345 using the Boeing 757. Delta’s JFK service arrives at 1357 on Saturdays from May through September, and daily during the rest of the year. Departure times are 1520 for the Atlanta flight and 1535 for the JFK flight.
So, if you want to see the larger birds, early afternoon is your friend.
That also works well for cruisers, as the drive from Maho Beach back to the cruise terminals can take 45 to 60 minutes, depending on traffic, and many cruise ships depart Sint Maarten between 1600 and 1700.
In other words, you can catch the good stuff and still make it back to the ship, as long as you are not reckless with your timing.
A quick note about Sint Maarten’s time zone: The island operates on Atlantic Standard Time (AST) year-round and does not observe Daylight Saving Time. That means during the summer months it shares the same time as the US East Coast, but during the winter it is one hour ahead.
Use the Sunset Bar Screens If You Do Not Have Data
The open-air Sunset Bar and Grill has TV screens showing arrivals and departures at SXM.
This was extremely helpful for me since I was operating without mobile data. Instead of constantly guessing what was coming next, I could check the screens, watch the flow of arrivals and departures, and plan whether to stay in the water, move to the fence line, or grab a drink.
Would flight tracking apps have been nice? Absolutely.
Did I survive without them? Also yes.
Still, if you are serious about catching specific arrivals, research the schedule before you go. Flight tracking apps are great, but schedules, even imperfect ones, give you a solid game plan before you ever step onto the beach.
Bring a Change of Clothes
We toured the island in regular clothes, but we also wanted to swim at Maho Beach while planespotting.
Because honestly, how often do you get to float in warm Caribbean water while airliners pass over your head on short final?
If you want to do the same, bring a change of clothes.
One thing to know: Sunset Bar charges $1 to use the restroom, whether you are changing or using it for other reasons. The good news is that they give you a $1 voucher toward your bill at Sunset Bar, so it is not quite as annoying as it sounds.
And let’s be honest, you are probably going to buy something there anyway. I did. And $1 is $1, after all (remember how I said earlier that I was cheap?)
Understand What Maho Is Today
Here is where I want to be very honest.
I am so glad I went. As a lifelong avgeek, Maho Beach was a bucket list experience I had wanted to check off for years. Finally standing there, watching aircraft drop over the beach at SXM, was genuinely special. Getting to share that moment with my 8-year-old son made it even better.
But I also think the experience has been romanticized, especially in recent years, as social media and influencer culture have made Maho look like some flawless aviation fantasyland.
It is not.
It is hot. It is crowded. The beach is smaller than many people expect. The road is busy. The bar is touristy. People are everywhere with phones in the air. And depending on the day, you may spend a lot more time watching ATRs, A320s, 737s, Twin Otters, and bizjets than widebodies.
That is not a bad thing. In fact, the variety is part of the fun. I saw airlines land that I didn’t even know existed.
But if you are expecting the glory days of KLM 747s and Air France jumbos roaring over the beach, that era is gone.
Today, the biggest scheduled aircraft you are likely to see are the Air France A330-200, KLM A330-200, the occasional KLM 787-9 Dreamliner, and Delta’s 757s. Large cargo aircraft can appear, but I did not have the privilege of seeing any during my visit.
And while an A330 or 787 is certainly not small, standing at the fence line during departure just does not hit the same way it did when four-engine heavies were common.
The quadjets of yesteryear helped build the legend. Today’s Maho is still awesome, but it is different.
The Jet Blast Is Not A Joke
One word of warning: the sand hurts.
A lot.
After several departures, both my son and I felt like we had been blasted with thousands of tiny nails traveling at Mach 4.
Which, honestly, makes complete sense when you remember that sand is basically microscopic shards of glass.
The videos make it look hilarious. And yes, it kind of is. But when you are actually standing there, and the blast hits, it very quickly stops feeling like a cute little aviation-themed breeze.
Use your head.
The jet blast warnings are not decoration. People have been injured — and worse — at Maho Beach, and while the whole fence-line experience is part of the lore, there is a big difference between enjoying the power of aviation and volunteering to become a human tumbleweed.
I mean, just on the day we were there, we saw multiple shoes, bags, hats, and other items blown into the ocean.
Watch. Laugh. Take photos. But respect the engines.
Do Not Forget To Just Enjoy It
This may sound strange, but one of my biggest tips is to not spend the entire time trying to document the experience.
Yes, take photos. Yes, shoot video. Yes, get the shot of the aircraft coming in low over the beach.
But also put the phone down for a few minutes.
Listen to the spool-up. Watch the approach lights. Feel the entire beach turn toward the same aircraft at the same time. Look around at the mix of hardcore aviation nerds, curious tourists, kids, pilots, cruise passengers, and first-timers all reacting to the same absurdly wonderful thing.
That is the magic of Maho.
It is not just that the airplanes are low. It is that everyone there knows something unusual is happening.
For a few seconds, an airport approach becomes a public event.
So…is Maho Beach Worth It?
Absolutely.
Without question.
As a lifelong avgeek, visiting Maho Beach was a bucket list experience I had dreamed about for years. And finally standing there, hearing the roar of arriving aircraft over the beach, smelling jet fuel mixing with salty Caribbean air, and watching airplanes descend impossibly low over the water was genuinely special.
But it is also okay to acknowledge reality.
Maho Beach in 2026 is not perfect.
It is not as glamorous as it looks online. It is not the same place it was during the 747 era. It is hot, crowded, commercialized, and shaped by social media more than many avgeeks probably want to admit.
But it is still Maho Beach.
And if you find yourself on Sint Maarten, whether you love airplanes or not, it is something you have to experience at least once. For avgeeks, it’s basically a rite of passage.
And even now, after the social media hype, after the influencers, after the endless TikTok clips and dramatic YouTube thumbnails, a jet’s arrival still makes people stop what they are doing. The departures still rattle the beach. The engines still send sand flying. The crowd still cheers when something big rolls in. And for a few seconds at a time, the whole place feels like it belongs to the airplane overhead.
That moment never gets old.
