Sunset Bar Maho Bay: Where People Watch People Watching Planes

Many visitors to St. Martin/St. Maarten flock to Sunset Bar on Maho Bay to experience an odd tourist attraction: the airport. Princess Juliana Airport to be exact.

You may have seen the amazing photos of jumbo jets passing just above the heads of beachgoers, but what really amazed us on our last visit was how strangely excited all the people were who had flown in from around the world, all the way to a gorgeous island in the Caribbean, teeming with topnotch restaurants, miles of immaculate clothing-optional beaches, reefs overflowing with undersea life, 10’s of thousands of locals to meet, and more… Only to spend their day on the edge of a noisy airport.

It’s a strange, backward obsession we tried to capture in this photo essay. Click through the photos below to see what it’s all about.