Small yet Beautiful St. Maarten – Caribbean

Caribbean Islands are the most preferred tourist destinations as the climate, landscape, beaches, and fun offered by these islands has no match. There are several islands in the Caribbean offering a wide range of attractions for the tourists and travelers. A small yet beautiful island offering some unique attractions is Saint Maarten. Covering an area of about 87 square kilometers this island is the smallest inhabited island that is divided between two nations “Kingdom of Netherlands” and “France”. This island is served by Princess Juliana International Airport. This airport fulfills the aviation needs of the Whole Island and serves for many international airlines and receives routine flights to St Maarten from many parts of the world.

Attractions offered by this island include magnificent beaches, attractive casinos to keep you busy, rum-based Liquor specially made from Guvaberry, markets where you can get designer clothing, Perfumes, books and CD’s etc. The French side is famous for some special beaches where you are only allowed to visit in your natural dress. These beaches also attract many tourists from many parts of the world as such beaches are not available in every country and even most developed countries do not allow such public places.

Maho beach is very popular amongst aviation photographers. Because of its location being so close to the runway, it is very easy to watch and take pictures of big planes taking off and landing on the runway. Airport authorities have built an extra fence around the airport vicinity due to safety reasons and protection of the tourists and beach surfers from the jet thrust. Jet thrust is the thrust made by the big jet planes when landing or taking off, this thrust is so powerful that sometimes people standing close to the beach fell in the water due to its force. Many tourists specially visit this beach to see these big planes and feel the adventure by facing this thrust although it is not lethal but can be dangerous. Due to this jet blast erosion, there is nearly no vegetation on the beach. Many small cafes and restaurants are available near the beach offering a variety of local cuisine and fast foods.