Sint Maarten · SX

Maho Beach

Imagine lying on warm white sand, sunglasses on, a cocktail sweating in the breeze — and then the shadow of a Boeing 737 glides over you close enough to read the registration number on its belly. That is Maho Beach, the tiny sliver of Caribbean shoreline where Princess Juliana International Airport's runway spills directly into the sea, separated from the waves by nothing more than a narrow road and a chain-link fence. Airliners on final approach skim less than thirty metres above the beach, making this one of the few places on Earth where you can stand beneath the flight path of a jumbo jet and feel the thunder of its engines rattle your chest. Maho Beach sits on the Dutch side of the island of Saint Martin in Sint Maarten, and it has earned its reputation as the world's most thrilling plane-spotting beach honestly. The spectacle is constant during daylight hours — large international jets arrive and depart every few minutes, and the afternoon departures to Amsterdam and Paris bring the biggest and loudest machines. Between the planes, the bay itself is a genuinely beautiful swimming beach with deep blue water and soft sand, and the surrounding Maho Village area means you never have to leave for dinner or a nightcap. A visit here pairs perfectly with a day of island exploring: spend the morning at a quieter beach, swing through Philipsburg for shopping, and save the afternoon and evening for the drama overhead.