ST. MAARTEN – Maho Beach
Excursion: Taxi to Maho Beach
Booked Through: Self
Cost: $15-20/person – round trip
On the morning of our St. Maarten trip we exited the ship to a wonderful port filled with shops and musicians. Many people were grabbing cabs to take to local beaches, and we followed suit. Here again we tried to negotiate prices with the taxi folk and once again, they were not having it. It’s approx. $15-20 a person round trip and they shove you into a van as full as they can.
The morning was cloudy and rainy so we were kind of concerned where we were going and if there would be shade/ or coverage if it poured. I had looked in advance and knew I wanted to check out Maho Beach where the airplanes land and take off. It’s quite famous.
The drive to Maho was beautiful and you can see why Kenny Chesney has a house here… but there is still a lot of storm damage from the 2017 hurricanes that ripped through the Caribbean.
The drive was actually quite a ways away from the port so any chance of walking or biking here is out of the question. The taxi pulled up to this amazing indoor/outdoor sprawling beach bar (Driftwood Boat Bar). We didn’t eat there but it was neat! I think some of the guys got drinks there, but I can’t comment for sure.
Things to know about Maho Beach are that it is a FANTASTIC time, but you need to be mindful of everything around you with the airplanes taking off and leaving. As they land it is the most amazing experience but as they take off…. Be prepared to be fully exfoliated from being sand blasted by the jet engines. Your towels, bags, hair, hats, etc will all blow off and be fully coated in sand so be mindful of when the planes are taking off! You do not want your stuff to end up in the ocean or lost.
The beach is wide, but the depth is narrow. MAYBEEEE 3-4 people can stack in front of you before the shore drops off to the ocean. The ocean also gets massive waves that crash and come up the beach pretty far. In the time we were there (maybe 3-4 hours) we saw 1 family get demolished and ended up leaving… another hefty lady just fell over and I jumped up to help her and grab her phone out of her hand to try and save it but I’m not sure it helped. All of her items were sopping wet and I felt terrible. I did try to warn as many people as I could, but some still got served. The lady I helped ended up giving me a little angel token because she called me one… LOL. Wherever you are in the world lady: I still have that silver angel!
This day ended up being another one of the most fun days we had on the trip. While it started off cloudy and rainy every single cloud went away, and it was gorgeous. Eric and Ahmad had competitions of running into the water – both were terrible and made for a good laugh. Tino opted to float around for 30-40 minutes at a time, soaking it all in. Later on Eric, Ahmad and I both got Aloe massages on the beach by some crazy locals. It wasn’t worth the $30-40 we spent but was fine nonetheless. HAHA!
It was terrible to leave that beach as we enjoyed the planes landing and taking off, the weather, the beach, laughing and just enjoying each other’s company. Begrudgingly, we got back on the taxi to head back to port to shop a little before we boarded the ship.
