Maho Beach (Airplane Beach) is a great way to spend your day in St. Martin. It is an easy and inexpensive excursion if you are the kind of person who likes transportation to be taken care of for you. But it’s also easy to get a taxi and make your own way to the beach for the day.
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Benefits to taking a ship offered shore excursion to Airplane Beach in St. Martin
You don’t have to worry about traffic. Traffic is notoriously bad in St. Martin since there is only one main road. If you are on a shore excursion you don’t have to worry about traffic and you don’t have to worry about getting back to the ship on time. You just follow the schedule given to you by the excursion team. If the traffic is worse than they expect and you are late, the ship will wait on you.
A tour guide gives a tour of the island as you drive. We enjoyed learning a little about the island of St. Martin from our informative and fun tour guide as we drove to and from the airport. She told us about the history of the island as well as the things we were seeing as we drove. Definitely an added benefit of doing the excursion versus a taxi! She also gave us a quick orientation before we showed up as to where we should go, the bathroom situation, and what planes we could expect that day.
Benefits of taking a taxi to Maho Beach to watch the planes
You can arrive and leave when you want to. The shore excursion we were on took the plane arrival and departure times into account, but not if the planes were late. So if you’re waiting on a big plane to arrive or depart, the ability to leave when you want is important!
Price. Taking a taxi is generally a cheaper option if you have more than one person.
It is easy. There is a taxi stand outside the port so it is easy to grab a taxi when you get off the ship. There is also a taxi stand in the parking lot by the beach so it is easy to grab a taxi back. This was our biggest concern about taking a taxi, but once we realized there was a taxi stand at the beach we felt a lot more comfortable with the taxi option!
What to expect at Airplane beach
The beach is very steep. Don’t expect a flat beach to hang out on. There are a few yards of flat beach, then a very steep slope down to the water. They may add more sand to the beach occasionally, but when we were there in July of 2022, there was almost no space on the beach to sit.
Vendors. There were vendors walking up and down the beach trying to sell hats, bags, sarongs, coconuts, etc. They were usually pretty good with a basic no, but if you look like you are actually interested in anything they are selling they will stick around for a lot longer.
There are chairs and umbrellas for rent from the restaurant at the end of the beach, Sunset Bar & Grill, but these chairs are not directly under the path of the airplanes. If you want to be under the airplanes, you will just need to set up with your towel in the middle of the beach.
Sunset Bar & Grill is the go-to spot for all your food, drink and restroom needs. Restrooms are at a cost, but you can get that money back if you purchase something and show your receipt. The restaurant is a basic beach bar. We stopped in for mozzarella sticks and some drinks…but mostly because it was absolutely pouring and we didn’t bring an umbrella. The food and service were pretty good considering how crowded the place was. I would recommend it as long as you’re not expecting anything fancy.
It’s hot out there. You are going to be standing in the heat for hours at a time. Think about bringing a small umbrella (for shade or rain). I like to travel with this compact umbrella because it is so small! Make sure you have on plenty of sunscreen and bring plenty of water with you or plan to purchase plenty of water from the restaurant.
Must have items for a day trip to Maho Beach
Cash & credit cards. We ended up paying with cash at the Sunset Bar & Grill because we had to run to catch the next big plane. You might also need some cash for things like the restroom or if you wanted to purchase anything from the vendors.
Beach towels from the ship.
A hat. It gets hot out there and you are going to need some shade. I normally wear a giant beach hat, but I just brought my baseball hat for this trip. The giant hat would have definitely blown away!
Waterproof phone holder. A waterproof phone holder is always a must when going to a public beach.
Beach bag for your essentials and all the towels.
Old sunglasses. We just brought some cheap ones we had gotten for free. The jet blast can be strong. You don’t want the sand in your eyes and you don’t want to ruin your nice sunglasses!
Comfortable walking shoes. I love my tevas because I can wear them in the water and then wear them on land. They’re not flip flops and they are relatively comfortable. I realize tevas aren’t for everyone, but I found them very practical for a beach excursion like this one! If you’re not a big fan of sandals, these water tennis shoes are a great options. At first I thought water tennis shoes were a weird idea, but they actually worked really well.
Bottles of water. It was so hot out there. We were lucky that it rained (does that tell you how hot it was that I feel lucky that it rained!) so we weren’t as hot as we could have been, but bring several bottles of water per person. We enjoy these reusable bottles on cruises because the mouth of the bottle is large enough to fit ice cubes in. (Have you ever watched someone try to fit ice cubes in the mouth of those tiny water bottles?)
Final thoughts on viewing planes at Maho Beach in St. Martin
You don’t have to be a person who loves planes to enjoy this experience. It is such a fun way to spend a few hours at the beach while on a cruise. Not so interested in standing in the sun or on the beach all day? Sunset bar & grill is a great place to set up anyone not interested in staying out on the beach the whole time.
Excursion or not, doesn’t really matter. It’s a cheap and easy destination that is a lot of fun!
What to read next:
Visiting other places in the Caribbean? Check out what to do in Nassau, Bahamas
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