Here it is, Saint Maarten! You can see a strip of white sand - this is a beach called Mullet Bay, a pleasant place with tall, beautiful palm trees. I will talk more about it and showcase it in my overview of SXM beaches.
Here it is -
's apron.
We rented a car and, of course, immediately went to Maho Beach.
I was running along the beach and could not believe my luck. Dreams really do come true!
Here's the famous Sunset Bar and the schedule of arrivals.
This is the first plane I took a picture of at Maho Beach - it was a private flight on a Gulfstream Aerospace G-IV, N808MF.
Everyone - from young to old - was watching the planes. They were all waiting for the most interesting part - the opportunity to experience the jet blast!
There was an atmosphere of total madness on Maho Beach. But it was a positive, sunny and beautiful madness . . .
US Airways was getting ready for take-off, suggesting that people should move away, but . . .
...but people were just getting closer, trying not to fly away :)
Please note, this happened right on the road. Cars prefer to wait a while during take-offs, when there is an excited crowd at the fence :)
Of course, no one wanted to run into a tourist being blown away by the jets!
Those who stayed on the beach had a tough time; the hot air and scratchy sand hurt any bare parts of their bodies.
Girls in bikinis fought against the wind, looking particularly impressive :)
Of course, nobody is floated straight into the sea, but they instinctively wanted to run away as far as possible from the hot air and sand blowing out from under the powerful jet engines of the aircraft.
Everyone chose their own way to hide from the flying sand, which stings when it hits you.
Some people did it this way.
Others chose this method :)
Meanwhile, seagulls were waiting for something to eat.
I continued to study the birds of St. Maarten.
This time, this is baby Winair on De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, PJ-WIT.
They say that the Caribbean Sea is the most beautiful one.
Well, I can confirm it! It is unusually beautiful.
The difference between the pictures of each jet blast was just 30 minutes.
No, people weren't really swept away into the sea :) This is a typical occurrence in St. Maarten, where many cruise ships make stops.
Complete madness reigns in Maho for several hours, and after a moment - there's nobody on the beach. Several buses take tourists back to the ship to continue their Caribbean cruise.
Yes, it's true that Maho Beach is not the best option for tourists who came to Saint Maarten for a beach holiday. But, Saint Maarten has other beaches for that purpose :)
And this world belongs to us; the fans of aviation! :)
We ate a delicious pizza in Sunset Bar and decided not to waste time, so we immediately found a point for photographing take-offs.
We hoped to do that from the rode, but it was closed for repairs. We left the car and walked up the hill.
The idea was not very good: abundant vegetation clearly worked against us; it covered our legs with pricks.
Only the birds didn't care.
It seems this is a common jackdaw.
Nevertheless, I managed to take some pictures.
But the most spectacular take-offs were the take-offs of big birds.
Unfortunately, they all departed in the afternoon.
This is Air France, A340-313, F-GLZN.
After that we went to a restaurant and then quickly ran to Orient Beach.
Swimming in the clear and warm water, I couldn't help think that I was in the most beautiful place on Earth...
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