Maho Beach
Maho Beach is a 325 m-long sandy beach facing south-west, 3.1 km south-west of Sandy Ground (Sint Maarten). The sea averages 28.8 °C in September, its warmest month, and 26.1 °C in February; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Maho Beach is a beach on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, in the territory of Sint Maarten. It is famous for being adjacent to the Princess Juliana International Airport and is a popular site for tourists and plane watchers, who visit the beach to watch aircraft on final approach land at the airport right at the edge of the water.
Wikidata item Q922921.
Month by month
October at Maho Beach
Beach-day index 8.3/10
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 26.4 °C | 26.1 °C | 26.1 °C | 26.7 °C | 27.4 °C | 27.9 °C | 28.1 °C | 28.5 °C | 28.8 °C | 28.8 °C | 28.2 °C | 27.3 °C |
| High °C | 26° | 26° | 26° | 26° | 27° | 28° | 28° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 28° | 27° |
| Low °C | 25° | 25° | 25° | 26° | 26° | 27° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 27° | 26° |
| Rain mm | 18 | 10 | 15 | 26 | 60 | 39 | 50 | 63 | 88 | 112 | 77 | 39 |
| Cloud % | 37 | 36 | 40 | 43 | 57 | 56 | 48 | 45 | 53 | 50 | 47 | 42 |
| Wind m/s | 7.0 | 7.0 | 6.3 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Daylight h | 11.2 | 11.6 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 13.0 | 13.2 | 13.1 | 12.8 | 12.3 | 11.8 | 11.3 | 11.1 |
| Record high/low | 27°/23° | 27°/23° | 28°/23° | 28°/24° | 29°/24° | 29°/26° | 30°/26° | 30°/27° | 30°/26° | 30°/26° | 29°/25° | 28°/24° |
| Beach index | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.8 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in November–September; February scores 9.1/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 26.1 °C and 10 mm of rain.
Across the year the sea averages 27.5 °C, warmer than 85% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (112 mm) and February the driest (10 mm); the yearly total is about 600 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.1 hours in December to 13.2 hours in June; in mid-February the sun rises at 06:40 and sets at 18:13 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-west (216°). Open water fills about 64% of the horizon close by, which makes it an exposed spot with water on most sides.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 18:48 local time on a bearing of 295°.
Sunrise is over the sea in October–February.
Straight out to the south-west about 800 km of open sea lies before the next coast, enough for large swells to build. The beach is on an island of about 9 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 21 m deep and 244 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 6 m above sea level 500 m inland and 2 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 55% built-up land, 26% grassland and 13% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 62% of that circle.
- Built 55%
- Grass 26%
- Tree 13%
- Bare 4%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 7.4 m/s in July, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 45Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 2Public toilets
- –Showers
- 3Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 7Hotels & guesthouses
- 3Grocery shops
- 1Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
- 3Cash machines
- 3Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 25 restaurants, 3 cafés, 16 bars and 1 fast-food outlet. Accommodation: 7 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Maho Beach Airplane Spotting 10 m N
Islands in view
- Little Key 1.7 km NE
- Île des Terres Basses 1.8 km N
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Juliana International Airport Sint Maarten | SXM | 1.2 km | east |
| Grand Case-l'Espérance Airport Grand Case | SFG | 10.3 km | north-east |
| Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport The Valley | AXA | 19.7 km | north |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 1 bus stop within 1.5 km and 3 mapped car parks within 1 km.
13 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 59.1K residents); within 30 km there are 29 (about 71.8K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 43,489 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in January (4,516 views), 1.7× the quietest month.
Map
Loading map…
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 9.6 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w22901563; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_20QME_20240203_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.