Cruising The Seven Seas: Airport Beach

Airport Beach

16^th April 2012

We’d been planning this day for a very long time. In true tradition, we finally managed to getting around to it on our last trip to St. Maarten. We were heading to Airport Beach to jet blast.

Meeting up on the gangway, Steph, Mike, Ani, Kate, Inna and myself headed out into the St. Maarten sun. Within minutes you could feel the sun roasting your skin. No wonder people come back to the ship with third degree burns!

The journey to Airport Beach or as the locals know it, Maho Beach, was a bit expensive. The more people, the cheaper the taxi fare. As there were six of us, the twenty minute drive would cost us $18 return. If it’s just you on your own, you can expect to pay around $12-15 - each way.

Maho Beach is situated on the Dutch side of the island. Most cruise ships will dock on the French side. The thing that makes Airport Beach special is that it’s supposedly, the only place in the world where you can jet blast. The landing strip at Princess Juliana Airport and the beach is separated by two very narrow lanes for road traffic to pass through.

At first, when we arrived at Airport Beach we thought we’d missed the big commercial plane. Luckily enough, it was delayed and we’d be there for its arrival. In the meantime, smaller air craft were flying in every ten to fifteen minutes. Sunbathers had worried expressions of their faces on a couple of occasions at the sight of an aircraft coming in incredibly low. There were a couple of times when I was dubious as to whether the plane would make it over the barbed wire fences, barricading the landing strip off to us adrenaline junkie tourists.

Every time a plane came into view, the beach goers would grab their cameras and sprint along the beach, situating themselves adjacent to the landing strip. There were cheers, people jumping around and others simply staring in amazement at the scenes unfolding before us.

Watching a roaring plane, no matter how small or large, fly only metres above your head, witnessing the wheels eject from the belly was an unbelievable rush! Words failed me at the time and thinking back, they still do!

Returning to the bar, while waiting for another plane to arrive, Ani came over, just before I arrived at our table. “Look at the guy sitting at the table in front of us. It’s Richard Hammond!” Glancing over, it didn’t look like it was Richard Hammond, until I got a little closer. She was right! Top Gear’s Richard “Hamster” Hammond was sitting at the table in front of us, almost huddled into a corner trying to keep out of the public view. With him were two men, the three of them seemed engrossed in discussion about shooting angles and how long the planes get when landing. By the looks of it, they were researching for a future episode of Top Gear.

Finding Kate, I told her that Ani had spotted Richard Hammond. She came over to make sure we hadn’t made a mistake. Obviously, he looked very different from TV. His hair wasn’t styled, in fact it was smoothed down as if to cover his face, large, dark sunglasses on and wearing scruffy clothes. Although we wanted to get our photo taken with him, we resisted, simply because, you only had to take one look at him, to see he was doing is best to stay out of everyone’s eyesight and remain unnoticed. It wasn’t long until the three of them left.

Airport Beach Bar

Mike was like a kid at Christmas, wishing for one of the few 474s to land. Kate being the dount that she is, forgot her swimming gear so was walking the beach taking photos with her Canon 500D. Ani, who isn’t the strongest swimmer, decided to chill out on the beach and recharge her batteries. Steph and Inna were stuffing themselves with non-Mess food.

Looking at the colour of the sea, I had to get in. The waves were high and sent you bobbing up into the air. It felt great to be in the sea, soaking up the sun and generally enjoying life. Trying to get out of the sea was a real challenge. I hadn’t noticed just how strong the currant was. As soon as a wave took you to the shore and you tried to walk out, the currant was sucking you back in again. Sometimes it felt like you were frozen to a stop while the sand and pebbles raced past your feet and ankles, back into the sea.

Looking back, there were a couple of massive waves coming and I was right in the breaking point. There was only one thing to do, dive into the wave and wait until the sea calmed down again, before attempting to get out. Just as I dived into the wave, it broke, sending me circling in the swirl and crashing against the sand below me. The others on the beach were rolling up laughing as I staggered out from the sea, after being hit by two breaking waves (I couldn’t get in deep enough out of the breaking point or out of the sea all together). My hair was all over the place and I was sporting a striking resemblance to Cousin IT from the Addams Family. No wonder the others didn’t want to get in the sea, especially after seeing me get chucked around. Still, after a while, I wadded back in for around round. Sometimes the waves were so high, I lost sight of the shore whilst bobbing up and down.

Run for your Life!

In the distance, a plane was heading our way. It was a 747, one of the commercial planes Mike had been waiting for. Ani and I were there, cheering and throwing our hands up in the air as the deafening roar of the engines grew louder and louder. Steph and Inna were running along the beach to get to us but the plane was too fast for them. Looking up the massive plane was directly over our heads.

The whole thing lasted less than a minute but the whole experience of having such a huge aeroplane fly over your head and so low was unbelievably mind blowing!! The roar from the engines became deafening as the plane flew overhead and only highlighted the rush. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up on end with anticipation as the plane lowered more and more towards the landing strip. No matter how I describe the thirty odd second ordeal, it’ll never be enough. Words cannot describe just how amazing, yet strange it felt to witness a plane so low, so unbelievably close and just above your head.

Jumping around, we were all over the moon and couldn’t believe what we’d just experienced. The others arrived just as the plane landed. The good news was, another commercial flight would be arriving soon. We weren’t disappointed either. We were ready this time… and so was everyone else by the looks of it. We all dived in for a group picture and the plane flew just behind us.

Unfortunately for us, it was nearly 13.00 and we still had some things we needed to do. We climbed into a taxi and just as we were leaving, a plane was just about the take-off. I couldn’t believe my luck!! Everyone was being forced to run towards the sea as the jets started up sending out a hurricane-like stream of wind.

I’d missed jet blasting by a couple of minutes. As much as I was disappointed, I couldn’t help but smile at what we had experienced. You win some, lose some. I’d missed the chance to do one thing but, instead managed to experience something else which was just as mind blowing. I couldn’t complain!

Back on the French side of St. Maarten Mike, Kate, Ani and myself headed towards the shops. Our mission, to find a Canon 5D Mark II. Due to my last batch of problems with my credit card, I was sure I was to encounter the same. Instead of buying the Canon 5D Mark II kit (camera body and 24-105mm lens) I’d just purchase the body and a lens at another date. It’s a pathetic way to go about things when you have the funds to do it in one go. Unfortunately, banks are banks and beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.

Mike is by far the best person to take with you when you are buying cameras and/or equipment. Not only does he know his stuff, but how much things are worth and he’s a bloody good haggler! Kate did her fair share as well and managed to get a Canon camera back pack thrown in with a $40 discount.

Of course, there were problems with the bank. Using their phone, I rang through the England and after about 20 minutes the problem was resolved. Their excuse: we saw someone was purchasing something worth a large sum of money in an unknown country and as you have next to no credit card activity history, we blocked it for security reasons. This, ladies and gentlemen is why I love banks! Don’t get me wrong, there’s an overdose of sarcasm in that comment!!

Finally, after nearly an hour, I giddily walked out of the store with my new camera. I am now the overly proud owner of a Canon 5D Mark II. I felt like one of those parents who drive you insane, talking about how wonderful and proud they are of their children while showing you endless amounts of photos. I’d become exactly like them… but over a camera. Feel free to judge!

Although I didn’t have a lens, I wasn’t too worried. I don’t think my Ocean Pay, wallet and credit card could have taken any more of a beating. Plus, I had two lenses for my Canon 400D which would fit the camera. Yes, I know the lenses are pants compared to what is on the market, but they’ll tie me over in the meantime, while I can save up and research some more into which lens would be best for the type of photography I want to do etc.

Anyway, we are going to New York soon and Mike says there’s a street full of camera stores, one in particular, where the prices are reasonable and there’s an abundance of stock and choice. Luckily enough for me, Mike will still be on the ship when we get to New York City . He’ll gladly come lens shopping with me while spending his saved fortune on more camera and electrical goods, before going home to the Philippines.

Kate waltzed out the store over the moon with her new Macro lens. Ani looked as if she was going to burst into tears after being told she’d paid $250 too much for a lens she’d purchased the previous week. Who can blame her? I, however, have my suspicions about what she was told. In many ways, I think it was a sales pitch, telling a friend of mine she’d been ripped off, as a way of convincing me to buy a camera through them. It made perfect sense to everyone but it wasn’t enough to up Ani’s spirits.

Soon enough, it was time to jump in another taxi and hurry back to the ship. It was going to be a long Pirate Night, but throughout the night was a large Cheshire cat smile on my face. It’d been a fantastic day, one of the best so far during this contract. The cherry on the cake was, of course, my brand, spanking new camera. My new baby… my Canon 5D Mark II.