st maarten

[BRUCE BAXTER]

there is an island just off puerto rico called saint maarten (check spelling)
apparently the airport is situated by a beach and planes are literally touching the rooftops?! my question is has anybody actually been there and are the planes as low as people say? also does anybody know what the climate is like? and how long it would take to fly there from the uk? im guessing the weather would be hot being near puerto rico.
thank you!!

[halfadaily]

I had a port of call there on a cruise ship some years ago and the locals suggested we go and have a look at the plane landing as it was due that day. It does come in very low, about 20 foot above the beach, and apparently those not in the know get caught in a sand storm, much to the hilarity of the locals. It's a great beach by the way.

The climate is about 90f give or take 5 degrees all year round and the humidity can be quite high at times.

I'm not sure if you can fly direct from the UK . Things may have changed, but back in the 90s when I was there they only had the one International flight a week and that came from France. Flights to The Carribean take about 8 hours from the UK

[Dassie]

See for yourself................. ( Copy and paste into browser )

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1050658/M/

It's in the Dutch Antilles so you could go KLM, about 10 hrs, and best time would be November to May

[BRUCE BAXTER]

thanks for your answers! one more question?
looking at a map it appears to be a small island so do planes only land there on certain days or are they coming in willy nilly? i know that on some islands say tuesday`s and sunday`s are intake days. do you know??

[Dassie]

Enjoy

http://www.pjiae.com/destinations.html

[dannydingbat]

I have been there 4 times on cruises, including one Christmas Day in 2000. Do not be confused by the fact that there are two diferent halfs of the island. The Dutch half is called St Maarten and the French half is called St Martin. I prefer the dutch bit but it is easy to get a bus to the french half. The main street is mainly designed for American cruise ship passengers but fairly pleasant nevertheless. Its never rained at all any time i've been there.

[Pomp]

Check this out for St Maarten

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBUYsRTO48&sea rch=maarten

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZJc2hyymmc&sea rch=maarten

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqPyJqu_yho&sea rch=maarten