Maho Beach is a beach on the Dutch side of
the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, in the country of Sint Maarten. It is
famous for the Princess Juliana International Airport adjacent to the beach.
Arriving aircraft must touch down as close
as possible to the beginning of runway 10 due to the short runway length of
2,180 metres/7,152 ft,resulting in aircraft on their final approach flying over
the beach at minimal altitude. Due to the unique proximity of low flying
airliners, the location is very popular with plane spotters. This is one of the
few places in the world where aircraft can be viewed in their flightpath just
outside the end of the runway. Watching airliners pass over the beach is such a
popular activity that daily arrivals and departures airline timetables are
displayed on a board in most bars and restaurants on the beach, and the Sunset
Beach Bar and Grill has a speaker on its outside deck that broadcasts the radio
transmissions between pilots and the airport's control tower.
There is a danger of people standing on the
beach being blown into the water because of the jet blast from aircraft taking
off from runway 10. The local government warns that closely approaching and
departing aircraft can "result in serious injury and/or death." An
additional fence has been added recently behind runway 10 to prevent
irresponsible tourists from hanging on to the main fence surrounding the runway
to be blasted by the jet flow. The beach itself is white sand and has little or
no vegetation because of jet blast erosion. The Caravanserai Resort, the
popular Sunset Beach Bar and other restaurants/night clubs such as Bamboo
Bernies and Bliss are located nearby. The beach is popular with windsurfers and
skimboarders because of occasional large waves. On October 16, 2008, the Maho
area of St. Maarten was badly damaged by Hurricane Omar, which destroyed the
Sunset Bar and Grill as well as Bamboo Bernies and Bliss. As of November 2009,
Sunset Beach Bar and Grill and Bliss have both re-opened. Omar reduced the
beach to boulders, and damaged the nearby Royal Islander Club La Plage which
re-opened February 14, 2009.
Runway 10/28 was originally runway 09/27 but
was changed on November 1, 2008 as a result of geomagnetic alterations since
the original construction.