Saint Martin Island reviews. Maho Beach and airplanes overhead

- Saint Martin Island is an island in the Caribbean Sea, south Puerto Rico in the northern part of the ridge of small islands separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean.
If you look at the map, the location of the islands of the Caribbean chain resembles a drawn bow aiming an arrow at the African continent.

Island Saint Martin It is interesting in that it was divided between France and Holland back in 1648, and this treaty of peaceful division is the oldest treaty of its kind and is still in force.

The northern part of the island is an overseas territory of France and is called accordingly Saint Martin
The southern part of the island is a self-governing state with significant autonomy, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is called Sint Maarten.

The island is small: its area is 83 sq km. The capital of the southern, Dutch part of the island is Philipsburg — major port, where cruise ships call daily, bringing thousands of tourists traveling around the Caribbean islands.

And so that tourists do not have to go far, all conditions have been created for them in Philipsburg itself: many restaurants, souvenir shops and alcohol stores at duty-free prices, a casino and, of course, many brothels.

Another difference between this part of the island: the American dollar is in use here and most tourists from North America: USA and Canada.
The population of this part of the island speaks English and 99% of them are blacks (immigrants from Africa, brought here during the slave trade).

French part of Saint Martin

The capital of the northern (larger) part of the island speaks French and is an overseas territory of France.
Capital - city Marigot(Marigot).
Time difference from Moscow to Saint Martin minus 8 hours

Mobile Internet 3G with a travel SIM card does not work in Saint Martin, although cellular there is: its own network on the Dutch side and a French network on the northern part of the island. Free wi-fi in cafes on the beach and carelessly password-protected Internet in cities help out.

How to get to Saint Martin from Europe

Saint Martin how to get there

You can get to the island from Europe by purchasing tickets from Paris with AirFrance or Air Caraibes.
KLM flies from Amsterdam.
Both the French and the Dutch fly into the same airport - it is common in Saint Martin.

It so happened that I posted the news on the forum: I took advantage of this idea and bought two tickets from Paris to Saint-Martin for 621 euros by the company Air Caraibes.

After which it remained to find cheap tickets from Moscow to Paris (as you understand, it was not difficult using the service on the forum) and do it - a visa is issued in the same way as a regular French Schengen.

French Overseas Territory Visa

Print out a form from the website of the France visa center in Moscow, take a photograph on a gray background, attach copies of tickets to Saint-Martin, a hotel reservation in Saint-Martin, a certificate from work indicating the salary and stamp, or a bank account statement for the last couple of months, so that The embassy realized that you are not a loser.

The visa is processed within 3 working days.
For those who have a Schengen multi-visa -
So: we have tickets, we have a visa, we have a hotel reservation for the first 2 days. Let's fly!

Air Caraibes review

Beaches in Saint Martin

I wrote about beaches in a separate article called.

Here! I’ve been wanting to get here for a long time and “grab the plane by the tail.” This is not “photoshopped” - this is a real place. Cool!

Remember, we already discussed it...

There are quite a few things associated with the island of Saint Martin, located in the Caribbean Sea. interesting facts. Not only is he the smallest inhabited island in the world, it is also governed by two independent governments, France and the Netherlands, and at the same time! However, the main thing that St. is famous for is. Maarten, that when landing, the planes almost touch the beach and the tourists relaxing on it.

During the whole history Caribbean Islands , most of them were inhabited by Indians. St. Martin was no exception. Saint Martin's Island was the home of the Arawak Indians. Of course, as history says, the island was discovered by Christopher Columbus, but before European explorers reached St. Martin, Caribbean Indians attacked the island, capturing the local population, many of whom were killed. Most of the Arawak Indians were taken by the Caribbean as slaves. When Europeans arrived on the island, it was already under the control of aggressive Caribbean Indian warriors.

Columbus never visited Saint Martin Island, but history says that on November 11, 1493, Columbus saw the island and named it in honor of the feast of Saint Martin of Tours.

St. Martin, an island of 37 square miles, is the smallest landmass in the world, divided between two governments. Its dual owners are France and Holland.

And of course the island has two capitals, or administrative centers. This is Marigo - administrative center the French side, and the city of Philipsburg, the capital of the part of the island belonging to the Netherlands. These two states peacefully share a small piece of land paradise island, for more than 350 years.

Saint Martin Island is located approximately 150 miles east of Puerto Rico and is part of the Netherlands Antilles.

French territory occupies approximately two-thirds of the island, and is considered a European territory and community. The Dutch side belongs to the Netherlands Antilles, and is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and is not considered a European territory. In St. Martin, there are no real borders, just modest monuments and signs.

The island is known for its exotic nature, almost ideal for relaxation. The island also impresses its visitors with its beaches and nightlife, while the shops and restaurants of St. Martin are the best in Caribbean.

Saint Martin is an island with a rapidly growing economy, home to residents from more than 90 countries.

St. Martin is rich in beaches, there are 37 of them on the island, all of which are open to the general public.

The island will appeal to everyone. And for lovers of scuba diving, and those who like to travel on a yacht and those who just like to sunbathe. But you need to remember that the rays of the Caribbean sun really burn the skin of the body, and therefore, without sunscreen, doctors on the island strongly do not recommend sunbathing.

Also, if you are traveling to the island of St. Martin on vacation with children, then you need to carefully choose a beach, given that some of the island’s beaches are nudist. One of these official beaches is Cupecoy Beach, located on the Dutch side of St. Martin.

On the Dutch side, there are beautiful, long beaches with golden sand and green mountains, where you can sunbathe, play ball or Frisbee.

Down Beach is one of the best beaches for snorkeling. Even when swimming not far from the shore, you can see beautiful exotic fish swimming calmly near the coral reefs.

Guano Bay is a beach that is perfect for guys who love to surf, as well as for strong swimmers who love a hard swim.

Bay Long, on the French side, is a beach for the rich and famous. Two mile beach with the most expensive real estate. Multi-million dollar homes overlook a picturesque white sand beach.

It is worth remembering that all tourists arriving on the island of St. Martin must have a return ticket. Also, if a citizen arriving on the island has more than $11,000 with him, then he must report this to the customs service and fill out a declaration. If you intend to bring a dog or cat or any other animal with you to the island, then you must have a veterinarian’s certificate with you, no older than 6 months.

Saint Martin is located in the Atlantic time zone, which is equal to 4 hours Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-4).

Any foreigner wishing to work on St. Martin must have a work permit before arriving on the island. This must be organized by the employer wishing to employ a foreigner.

Princess Juliana Airport- one of the largest transport hubs in the Caribbean region. It is among the ten most dangerous airports in the world. Located on the island of St. Martin. During World War II, an airfield was built on the island, which is now Princess Juliana International Airport. Takeoff/landing is of medium or high difficulty for the pilot, depending on weather conditions.

The end of the airport runway is located directly on the seashore, close to Maho Beach, so that when approaching aircraft, they fly at an altitude of 10-20 meters above the heads of tourists relaxing on the beach behind the end of the runway. The place is known as "Spotter's Paradise".

There is an international airport on the island. In 1942, during World War II, an airstrip was built on the island. In 1944, Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands visited the island and landed on this runway. A year later, the Dutch authorities opened a small airport on this site, which later grew into an international one.

Princess Juliana Airport, also known as Saint Martin International Airport, serves the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. In 2007, the airport served almost 1.7 million passengers and 104 thousand. aircraft, which is still his record to this day.

The airport serves as the air hub for the Windward Islands and is the main gateway to the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Bartholomew's Island and St. Eustatius Island.

Princess Juliana Airport is one of the most dangerous airports in the world, with high landing difficulties. It gained such fame due to the very low altitude when landing on the runway, and also because Maho Beach and the sea are practically adjacent to the runway. The History Channel ranked it as the 4th most dangerous airport in the world.

Despite the fact that Princess Juliana Airport has a high landing difficulty, two accidents have occurred here in its history. The first occurred on May 2, 1970, when McDonnell Douglas DC-9CF Flight 980 crashed into the sea near the beach. 22 people out of 57 died. The weather at that time did not allow landing the first time, the pilots decided to make several more attempts, but, alas, they ran out of fuel. Second - December 21, 1972 flight Air France The De Havilland Canada Twin Otter took off from Guadeloupe but crashed into the sea on approach, killing all 11 passengers on board along with both pilots.

We can say that the island of St. Martin is more popular among photo tourists than among amateurs beach holiday. Almost everyone who comes to Princess Juliana Airport, after leaving the airport, does not go to the hotel, but goes straight to the beach to take a photo of themselves against the backdrop of a landing plane that flies overhead.

And here is the airport itself:

Saint Martin has only one airport, which annually receives tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world. The only feature of this airport is its short runway - only 2130 meters, which is not enough to land wide-body aircraft such as Boeing-747. The people of Saint Martin are certainly not happy about this fact, but somehow they need to welcome tourists.

So planes fly from Mainland in Saint Martin is literally over the heads of vacationers. The fact is that the territory of the airport named after. Princess Juliana begins just behind a thin strip of beach where locals and tourists lie under the scorching Caribbean sun. Some travel agencies they even do special tours for those who want to examine the huge area of ​​the bottom of some Boeing while lying on the warm golden sand.

“A post from the past”: Maho Beach on the island of San Maarten is famous for the fact that many people go there not for swimming, but to see planes land. Photographer Thomas Prior went to the Caribbean and tried to convey the chaos happening on this beach, located in close proximity from the international airport. It is difficult to believe the authenticity of the photographs of giant airliners flying at an altitude of 10-20 meters above sunbathing tourists, however, they are real.

(Total 13 photos)

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1) Princess Juliana International Airport serves Sint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island of St. Maarten. It is the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean. Therefore, beachgoers on Maho Beach have a hard time.

2) The beach is simply an ideal place for a detailed look at low-flying aircraft, although it does cause some inconvenience when swimming and sunbathing.

3) Shooting under such conditions is more than difficult, and the sand that rises like a cloud during landing is not the best “companion” for optics.

4) Despite the difficult conditions of takeoff and landing, not a single accident has been recorded so far.

5) Some beachgoers deliberately tickle their nerves by standing under the “belly” of landing airliners.

6) This is dangerous: the jet from the engine can injure or even kill. A poster at the entrance warns about this.

7) Airliners and small planes, when landing, fly so low that it seems they are about to hit, if not vacationers, then umbrellas or the roof of one of the local bars.

8) Maho Beach is so popular among airplane enthusiasts that local bars display schedules for airport flights. And one of them even has a speaker that broadcasts conversations between pilots and dispatchers.

9) The owners of local drinking establishments make good money: the impressive spectacle makes many tourists want to drink something stronger.

10) The noise when airliners land is unimaginable, but it does not scare away tourists.

11) In a couple of minutes, a carefree holiday gives way to an atmosphere of chaos, and the beach is engulfed by a real rampage of the elements.

12) The airport's runway is only 2180 meters long. This length is barely enough to maneuver and the planes have to fly at a minimum altitude.

13) There is also an information board on the beach, which details the flight times of airliners.