Tips for Plane Spotting excursion at Maho Beach

[emory2001]

What did you like/not like about this excursion? What do you wish you had known? I’m thinking we will want to set up at Sunset Bar.& Grill or Sandbar (opened in 2020 and gets better reviews than Sunset) for food and drinks.. What time do the restaurants get crowded? I think by the time we actually arrive at the beach on our excursion it will be about 11:30 a.m.

Edited November 3, 2021 by emory2001

[Ashland]

No need to do an excursion....take a taxi there and back...easy to do.

[bdstickks0944]

34 minutes ago, Ashland said:

No need to do an excursion....take a taxi there and back...easy to do.

It’s so cool.  Done it twice.   Worth the taxi ride, and the beach is pretty decent as well 

[beshears]

Ashland, since your "name" 🙂 has been popping up quite a bit, I am asking you this question.  I have been to Maho Beach and seen the airplanes flying over which is so neat, now I want my family to enjoy this too.  Can you tell me where we can get the Taxi/s to take us there, or would we need something "government approved" to take us there, if you know?

[jean87510]

16 hours ago, beshears said:

Ashland, since your "name" 🙂 has been popping up quite a bit, I am asking you this question.  I have been to Maho Beach and seen the airplanes flying over which is so neat, now I want my family to enjoy this too.  Can you tell me where we can get the Taxi/s to take us there, or would we need something "government approved" to take us there, if you know?

I'm not Ashland but have done this before.  Any cab can take you there.  We actually did a day pass at the Sonesta (sp) that we purchased via shoreexcursioneer.com.  We then went over to Maho to see the planes.  We looked online the night before to see the schedule for the flights for the next day.  It is also posted at the sunset bar if I remember correctly.  There's so many posts on this forum and TripAdvisor on how to do it.

[Ashland]

16 hours ago, beshears said:

Ashland, since your "name" 🙂 has been popping up quite a bit, I am asking you this question.  I have been to Maho Beach and seen the airplanes flying over which is so neat, now I want my family to enjoy this too.  Can you tell me where we can get the Taxi/s to take us there, or would we need something "government approved" to take us there, if you know?

There is a big taxi stand on your right a bit from the dock...should be easy to spot or just ask. You'll find large van type taxi's lined up with a list of destinations. There were 6 of us and we purchased a roundtrip to take us from there to Maho and back. We stayed as long as we wanted at Maho and then when we were ready to go there were the same type taxi vans lined up and waiting to go back into town. We had the driver drop us off before getting back to taxi stand so we could walk through the town shopping area.

 

As it looks now St Maarten is an open DIY port again....which means the taxi's are back in business.

 

Once there you'll see how really easy all this will be...We'll be doing this same thing again just the two of us in March and then again with our extended family end of April.....Enjoy !!

[ULCajunCruiser]

jean87510, Ashland or anyone else.   What time do you suggest we try and get to Maho Beach??

And which bar did you set up at (assuming you did) and why??

[emory2001]

Our excursion driver dropped us off right at Sunset Beach Cafe. I forget exactly what time it was, around 10:30-11:00? It wasn’t crowded yet at all and we got a table right at the edge by the beach, with a great view of the planes. It was Thanksgiving Day for us, but for them it was just a Thursday in November. So weekends and summer might be different. We ordered one dish at a time with our drinks, for several hours, to keep the table. It was an amazing time.

I had previously read the service there wasn’t great, but we had the sweetest waitress who was hustling. Even though it took some time to get each item, we weren’t in a hurry. We wanted to keep that table for several hours. 
 

The bar there posts the arrival times of the bigger planes, but that day every one of them arrived 10-30 minutes early, so don’t rely on that.

 

Our excursion driver stayed at that restaurant too, and we met up with him at the end to walk a short walk to where the bus was parked.

[Ashland]

19 hours ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

jean87510, Ashland or anyone else.   What time do you suggest we try and get to Maho Beach??

And which bar did you set up at (assuming you did) and why??

We usually get there (Sunset Bar) around 11:00am get a table and remember you must order food/drink to sit there. We stay until about 1-1:30pm giving us time to get back into town. Remember to be aware about your timing and the back onboard. Usually 2:00pm is the very latest you should leave Maho....again depending on your ship times.

[beshears]

Thank you for all the responses to my question.  Now when we go to the Taxi stand (if we don't do a special tour), will they tell us the rate per person or what? I know in the past in some of these ports, we were able to get transportation (sometimes bargaining) for a good price.

[jean87510]

3 hours ago, beshears said:

Thank you for all the responses to my question.  Now when we go to the Taxi stand (if we don't do a special tour), will they tell us the rate per person or what? I know in the past in some of these ports, we were able to get transportation (sometimes bargaining) for a good price.

yes.  there is a sign with the rates.  

 

I've actually taken the bus there also (much cheaper) but it's a little more involved and I don't want to confuse you.  

[mlbcruiser]

Ashland, do you mind sharing what the taxi rate was to Maho? We were actually hoping to go over to Grand Case but I have been told the taxi fare is $50 each way for two people. More than that is five dollars extra pp.  So I am hoping to hear that if we go someplace, no matter where on the island, if there are a lot of us in the same van, if this ever reduces the pp price - ? 

[cruise questions]

Does anyone have updated information on the shared taxi rates? Is it around $16 per person round trip?

 

Also what is the approximate time for one way drive from pier to beach and vice versa? Approximately 30 minutes?

 

Thank you! 

[emory2001]

On 3/21/2022 at 9:45 PM, cruise questions said:

Does anyone have updated information on the shared taxi rates? Is it around $16 per person round trip?

 

Also what is the approximate time for one way drive from pier to beach and vice versa? Approximately 30 minutes?

 

Thank you! 

It was about 30 minutes. I don’t know taxi rates because we were on an excursion bus.

[lynncarol]

Just a suggestion. If you take a taxi, consider having him wait for you.  Four of us were at the beach Tuesday afternoon a week ago. Four cruise ships were in port and the beach was a madhouse.  Hardly room to walk between all the people and lounge chairs.  Constant stream of taxi and tour buses coming in, belching fumes. After 45 minutes (and 3 planes) all of us were ready to leave. 

[cruise questions]

14 hours ago, lynncarol said:

Just a suggestion. If you take a taxi, consider having him wait for you.  Four of us were at the beach Tuesday afternoon a week ago. Four cruise ships were in port and the beach was a madhouse.  Hardly room to walk between all the people and lounge chairs.  Constant stream of taxi and tour buses coming in, belching fumes. After 45 minutes (and 3 planes) all of us were ready to leave. 

Thank you-this was my concern. We live at the beach so we are not really the type to spend hours on a beach but we really just wanted to see the planes. I was trying to figure out if worth the hassle of getting out to Maho with the crowds and people/traffic-or if we should just walk to the beach close to the port and hang out for an hour. Thank you for this info!

[Ashland]

On 3/21/2022 at 6:45 PM, cruise questions said:

Does anyone have updated information on the shared taxi rates? Is it around $16 per person round trip?

 

Also what is the approximate time for one way drive from pier to beach and vice versa? Approximately 30 minutes?

 

Thank you! 

We were just there and priced the shared taxi to Maho and back..for our return cruise to St Maarten with extended family in 3 weeks and it'll be $88.00 for the 6 of us.

 

Four RCI ships in port (Rhapsody no passengers) with us this past Wednesday March 30th so opted to avoid Maho.

[Karysa]

On 3/31/2022 at 8:49 AM, cruise questions said:

Thank you-this was my concern. We live at the beach so we are not really the type to spend hours on a beach but we really just wanted to see the planes. I was trying to figure out if worth the hassle of getting out to Maho with the crowds and people/traffic-or if we should just walk to the beach close to the port and hang out for an hour. Thank you for this info!

I think Maho is worth seeing especially when several large jets are coming and going.

If it’s very busy leaving Maho you can always just walk to the taxi stand about 5 minutes away by the Pharmacy on the Maho Entertainment strip. Walk past the Driftwood Boat Bar on Maho Beach and follow the sidewalk until you see the pharmacy across the street.

 

[TTEllis]

I'm Maho'd out. Twice is too much, I'm going back to Orient just like the good ol days. Orient down on the far right end of the beach just before the dive shop, magnificent nobody there, too this day I've never swam with that much sea life in my life. Water at Orient is second to none especially on St. Maarten. 

If you've already done Maho, go French. 

 

[svmodi]

We will be in St Maarten in December on RCCL from 9:00-6:00. We already did an island tour on our first visit. This time we would like to spend the day at Orient Beach and Maho Beach (just to see the planes) and then short stop at Marigot open stall (time permitting). When is the best time to go to Maho Beach (in the morning or afternoon) to see the big planes come in? Is this doable by taxi or should we hire a tour operator/excursion?

[bdstickks0944]

On 10/2/2022 at 12:39 PM, svmodi said:

We will be in St Maarten in December on RCCL from 9:00-6:00. We already did an island tour on our first visit. This time we would like to spend the day at Orient Beach and Maho Beach (just to see the planes) and then short stop at Marigot open stall (time permitting). When is the best time to go to Maho Beach (in the morning or afternoon) to see the big planes come in? Is this doable by taxi or should we hire a tour operator/excursion?

It’s hard to say.  Planes coming in and out all day so it’s up to you.  That might be too

much for one day though.  I would just get a taxi at the port.  Tours limit your

time. 

[svmodi]

On 10/3/2022 at 3:33 PM, bdstickks0944 said:

It’s hard to say.  Planes coming in and out all day so it’s up to you.  That might be too

much for one day though.  I would just get a taxi at the port.  Tours limit your

time. 

Our ship will be in port from 9:00-6:00. We will probably forgo Marigot due to the time constraint. The stop at Maho Beach would probably be an hour or so, enough time to see 4-5 planes come in. Our plan is to take a taxi from the port to Orient Beach and spend the morning there. Then take a taxi around 2:00 to Maho Beach and spend an hour or so there before heading back to Philipsburg/port. Just wondering what time we need to leave Maho to make it back to the port in time.

Does anyone what the taxi fare (for 4 pax) and duration is:
From the port to Orient Beach
From OB to Maho Beach
From MB back to the port