Maho Beach: When to Go and What to Know

Why people come

Princess Juliana's runway begins a few metres behind the beach, so arriving aircraft cross the sand at a height that does not look survivable until you have watched several.

It is genuinely extraordinary and there is nowhere else quite like it. The photographs are as good as everyone says.

The one thing that decides your day

The landing schedule.

The big arrivals bank runs roughly 12:30 to 3:30, when the North American and European flights come in together. That is when you get the widebodies and the sequence of aircraft that makes the place what it is.

Outside that, particularly in the morning, Maho is a fairly ordinary beach with a steep shore break, no shade and a lot of bars.

The day's schedule is chalked up on boards at the beach bars. Check it, or ask us before you go — we will know what is coming in.

The jet blast

At the runway end there is a fence, and behind it aircraft run up their engines before departure. The signs warning about it are not decorative.

People are injured there most years, thrown into the road or across the sand by the blast from a departing aircraft while holding onto the fence. It has been fatal.

The arrivals are the spectacular part and they are entirely safe to watch from the beach. There is no version of the departure stunt that is worth it.

Parking

There is a free lot that fills early — usually by mid-morning in season — and paid parking behind the bars along the road.

On a heavy day, circling for a space is a real part of the Maho experience and not a good one. Being dropped off and collected removes it, which is why a fair number of people do exactly that.

What is there

Bars and restaurants along the road behind the sand, chairs and umbrellas for hire, and public toilets at the bar end.

No shade on the beach itself. In the middle of the afternoon that is the difference between a good three hours and a long two.

The better plan

Two hours at Maho during the arrivals bank, and the rest of the day somewhere with better water.

Mullet Bay is ten minutes west and is the best swimming beach on this end of the island — real sand, gentler water and actual shade at the back. Simpson Bay is ten minutes east with restaurants and a calmer swim.

Sitting at Maho all day is a common mistake and it is why people come away thinking the beach itself was underwhelming. It was; the aircraft were not.

From a cruise ship

Eighteen to twenty-five minutes from the terminal, and comfortable on any normal port call. The full timing, with the all-aboard maths worked through, is on cruise port to Maho Beach.