Sint Maarten Airport Webcam – Maho Beach’s Famous Approach

The Sint Maarten Airport Webcam looks over the western end of Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) from high above the deck of Tortuga Maho Beach Cafe, on Maho Beach. It is a PTZ camera, so the picture moves. Pulled wide, it looks across the runway threshold, past palms and the road beside the airport fence, to green hills dotted with villas behind the airfield. Turned down, it shows the sand and the reef-patched turquoise shallows right below the bar. Most afternoons the operators take the controls and stay on single aircraft, such as a KLM widebody taxiing along the runway toward the camera, then the same jet climbing out a few minutes later. A small inset in the corner keeps a second, wider view running.

About Sint Maarten Airport and Maho Beach

Princess Juliana International Airport sits on the southern shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon, on Sint Maarten, the Dutch side of the island of Saint Martin. It began as a United States military airstrip in 1942, and the first commercial flight landed on December 3, 1943. Princess Juliana of the Netherlands flew in on a visit in 1944, and the airport was later named after her. The single runway, 10/28, is 2,300 meters (7,546 feet) long, and the airfield sits only 4.3 meters (14 feet) above sea level. In 2025 it handled about 1.8 million passengers.

Maho Beach lines the sea at the runway’s western end. Arriving aircraft use runway 10 and come in over the water on a glide path of about 3 degrees, so they cross the beach less than 30 meters (100 feet) above the sand. Jet blast has scoured the beach so hard that almost nothing grows on it. KLM flew its last scheduled Boeing 747 in on October 28, 2016, and the airline’s twin-engine widebodies still turn up on the camera.

SHOWME Caribbean runs the Sint Maarten Airport Webcam as a 4K PTZ and keeps up to 12 hours of rewind on the stream. Jacco and Sabine steer it by hand most days, and the banner on the stream gives those hours as noon to 4 pm local time. Outside them, the camera moves between fixed views of the runway threshold and the beach below the deck. A weather panel in the top corner shows the current temperature and wind at Maho Beach.

Weather and Climate at Maho Beach

Maho Beach is hot all year. Airport records for 1971 to 2000 put the average high at 28.6 C (83.5 F) in January, 29.8 C (85.6 F) in April, 31.7 C (89.1 F) in August and 31.2 C (88.2 F) in October. Nights stay warm, with average lows from 23.2 C (73.8 F) in January to 26.2 C (79.2 F) in August, and the hottest day on record reached 35.1 C (95.2 F). Winter and spring are the dry half of the year, and March averages only 45 millimeters (1.8 inches) of rain.

Rain builds through late summer, and September to November is the wettest stretch, peaking at 149 millimeters (5.9 inches) in November out of 1,047 millimeters (41.2 inches) a year. Those months are also the heart of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, crossed the island on September 6 and 7, 2017, and tore away much of the terminal roof.

Things to Do Near Maho Beach

Tortuga, where the camera is mounted, shares the sand with the Sunset Bar and Grill, Jax, Spices of India and Roma/Mr Chao, and most of the bars post the day’s arrivals and departures on a board, so you can see when the next big jet is due. Watch takeoffs from well back along the beach rather than at the fence. The Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and the Morgan Resort are both close by.

For a quieter swim, Mullet Bay Beach is about 850 meters (0.5 miles) northwest, and Cupecoy Beach is about 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) along the same coast. Philipsburg, the capital, lies about 8 kilometers (5 miles) east, where the boardwalk along Great Bay Beach runs beside the cruise port.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More views from Sint Maarten, plus the hillside camera above the airport on St. Barts next door:

• Simpson Bay Webcam
• Great Bay Webcam
• Col de la Tourmente Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

What can you see on the Sint Maarten Airport Webcam?

The western end of Princess Juliana International Airport, filmed from above Tortuga’s deck on Maho Beach. Wide, the camera looks across the runway threshold to the hills behind the airfield. Turned down, it shows the sand and shallows below the bar. In the afternoons it follows single aircraft on the runway and in the air.

How busy is Maho Beach right now?

The beach view below Tortuga’s deck shows how many people are on the sand, and the runway view and the corner inset show how often aircraft come and go. The camera turns between them rather than holding both in one frame, so give it a few minutes or scrub back through the rewind.

What time do planes land over Maho Beach?

Arrivals come in throughout the day, and the times shift with the season and the airline. Most bars on the beach post the day’s arrivals and departures on a board. On the stream, Jacco and Sabine follow the traffic by hand from about noon to 4 pm local time.

Why is the Sint Maarten approach famous?

Maho Beach sits at the start of runway 10, the runway arriving aircraft use. On a glide path of about 3 degrees, jets cross the beach less than 30 meters (100 feet) above the sand, right over the people standing at the water’s edge. Departing jets send their blast down the same strip of beach.

Is Maho Beach dangerous?

It can be. On July 12, 2017, a 57-year-old visitor from New Zealand was killed when jet blast tore her from the fence at the end of the runway. A second fence now keeps people off the main one, and government signs warn that aircraft can cause serious injury or death.

Is this the Tortuga Maho Beach webcam?

Yes. SHOWME Caribbean streams this camera from Tortuga Maho Beach Cafe on Rhine Road, which is why the Tortuga logo sits in the corner of the stream. The bar’s deck rail and palms come into frame when the camera looks down at the beach.

Where is Princess Juliana Airport?

On the Dutch side of the island of Saint Martin, in Sint Maarten, between Simpson Bay Lagoon and the Caribbean Sea, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) west of Philipsburg. Its IATA code is SXM, and Maho Beach lies at the western end of its runway.

What is the weather like at Maho Beach today?

The weather panel in the corner of the stream shows the current temperature, wind and gusts. Through the year, average highs run from 28.6 C (83.5 F) in January to 31.7 C (89.1 F) in August, and September to November is the wettest stretch.

Source: SHOWME Caribbean