Summary

  • Excellent global beach planespotting locations exist beyond Maho Beach in St. Maarten.
  • Larnaca, Cyprus (LCA) offers beach planespotting at Mackenzie Beach with direct aircraft views and unobstructed shots.
  • Sydney, Australia (SYD) features “The Beach”, perfect for spotting various aircraft landing at runway 16R/34L.

The only thing better than a beach vacation is one with incredible opportunities to view aircraft up close and personal. Plane enthusiasts eager to find the best beach

planespotting

locations around the globe have many options—as long as they are willing to potentially face the hot sand-blasting experience of standing behind a jet as it takes off from less than 100 meters away. (Trust me, you will lose your hat and sunglasses.)

Where is the world’s best plane-spotting paradise?

The most well-known beach for planespotting is Maho Beach on St. Maarten, an island in the Caribbean. While the beach’s prime location next to

Princess Juliana International Airport

deserves every bit of its popularity, it isn’t the only sandy destination for eager planespotters.

Delta 757 landing St Maarten

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

Beaches in several other countries also offer excellent views of aircraft landing or taking off, providing opportunities for breathtaking photos and experiences for those willing to make the trip. Cyprus’ Larnaca Airport (LCA) has a beach that provides great views of air traffic arriving from the Middle East and Europe.

Sydney’s (SYD) “The Beach” is an often-overlooked spot for airplane enthusiasts looking to capture shots of a host of aircraft, including the massive Airbus A380. Phuket, Thailand (HKT) also offers two major beaches with great views of aircraft, although the country’s strict safety regulations limit visitors’ experiences. Skiathos, Greece (JSI) is often called the “St. Maarten of Europe,” due to the incredible proximity visitors have to aircraft at the small island’s only airport.

1

Larnaca, Cyprus (LCA)

Mediterranean planespotting at Mackenzie Beach

Larnaca International Airport (LCA) is located on the southeastern coast of Cyprus, an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The airport is the largest of the island’s two commercial airports and is the primary international gateway to Cyprus.

LCA has a single runway (04/22), with a length of 9,823 feet (2,994 m), per Hermes Airports. Flights from Europe and the Middle East frequent the airport as a stopover or to bring vacationers to the sunny Mediterranean island.

Mackenzie Beach, which sits just off the northeast end of the airport, is a prime location for vacationers looking for great views of airplanes arriving and departing the airport. The sandy beach is perfect for observing arrivals on runway 22, which Spotter Guide states is used 95% of the time.

Despite LCA’s small size, visitors to Mackenzie Beach can witness aircraft such as Boeing 777s and Airbus A320s landing directly overhead. To capture the best shots of departing aircraft, planespotters can climb up on the large concrete block near the airport’s fence for an unobstructed view of planes lining up for runway 22.

2

Sydney, Australia (SYD)

Down under at “The Beach”

Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) is the busiest airport in Australia and Qantas’ primary hub. The airport has three runways and is located beside Botany Bay.

To the east of the airport sits a somewhat overlooked strip of sand called “The Beach.” This unique location along the bay is an excellent location for planespotters hoping to catch views of aircraft arriving or departing runway 16R/34L. Secret Sydney claims the beach is a bit tricky to reach, but the reward and lack of overcrowding are worth the trouble.

Although fences and trees may obstruct camera shots, quick enthusiasts with the right camera gear can capture incredible photos of aircraft ranging from executive jets to the massive Airbus A380. Hopeful visitors to this location should take note of SYD’s government-mandated curfew from 23:00 to 06:00 and plan to be at The Beach from 13:00 until sunset for the best airplane views.

3

Phuket, Thailand (HKT)

Great views with strict rule enforcement

Phuket Airport (HKT) is located on the northwest coast of Phuket Island in Thailand. The airport is close to the bridge connecting the popular tourist island to Thailand’s mainland.

Nai Yang Beach is located right beside the airport on Phuket’s west coast, just south of Mai Khao Beach. Between the two popular beaches lies an airport viewpoint spot that rivals the infamous Maho Beach.

Visitors to Nai Yang Beach can watch arriving aircraft at runway 09 fly directly overhead or experience the powerful jet blast from airplanes departing the runway. Aircraft frequenting the airport include a wide variety of narrow and widebody types, including:

  • Boeing 737
  • Boeing 777
  • Boeing 787
  • Airbus A319
  • Airbus A220
  • Airbus A320
An airplane landing above the beach near (Phuket) International Airport

However, it’s important that visitors are aware of Thailand’s strict laws regarding planespotting at this location. According to Wandering Journal, taking photos of aircraft lining up for runway 09 is impossible without climbing a mound to view over a high fence. Doing so is forbidden and has severe penalties.

In 2019, Airport chief Wichit Kaeothaithiam told the Bangkok Post that visitors to Nai Yang and Mai Khao Beaches must comply with regulations to ensure the safety of people on the ground and in the aircraft. According to his statement, violators of these rules can face various punishments, such as extensive fines and jail sentences of up to 20 years. His warning also somewhat ominously claimed,

“The maximum penalty is the death sentence.”

4

Skiathos, Greece (JSI)

The St. Maarten of Europe

Skiathos Alexandros Papadiamantis Airport (JSI) is located on the Greek Island of Skiathos in the northwest Aegean Sea. The location is often called the “St. Maarten of Europe,” due to its

incredible proximity to aircraft landing at the airport

.

Related

The European St Maarten: Introducing Skiathos Airport

The Greek island is a planespotter’s paradise!

Skiathos is a small island, and space for the airport was limited. JSI’s single runway (01/19) is just 5,341 feet (1,628 meters) and is flanked by the sea on both sides. While this limits the size of aircraft able to use the airport, it also means planes must make extremely low approaches into JSI to touch down near the runway’s end. Even with size restrictions, visitors to JSI can see many aircraft at the small airport, including:

  • Embraer ERJ-190
  • Airbus 319
  • Airbus A320
  • Boeing 737

Because of its popularity with European tourists, Skiathos sees its air traffic increase dramatically during the summer months. I Love Skiathos states that tourists and plane enthusiasts from all over the world flock to the small island to experience the powerful jet blast from departing jets and capture close-up shots of landing aircraft just meters overhead.

5

St. Maarten, Caribbean (SXM)

The ultimate planespotter’s paradise

In the Caribbean Sea, the island of Saint Martin holds what is perhaps the most popular beach planespotting destination in the world. Maho Beach is located on the Dutch side of the island, in the territory of Sint Maarten, directly adjacent to

Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM)

.

Although the airport has just one active runway and a terminal equipped with only four jet bridges, it sees a surprising amount of air traffic. According to Visit St. Maarten, the morning tends to feature smaller aircraft, while larger carriers begin to arrive in the early afternoon. While the Queen of the Skies, the

Boeing 747

, landed at SXM in the past, the largest aircraft today’s visitors are likely to see include:

  • KLM’s Airbus A330s
  • Delta’s Boeing 757s
  • JetBlue’s Airbus A320s
  • Boeing 737s flown by various airlines

Visitors to Maho Beach can experience inbound aircraft just meters above their heads, causing many to duck at the sheer proximity. Departing aircraft greet beachgoers with a powerful, hot jet blast that sends many tumbling along the sandy shores.

Maho Beach is such a popular planespotting location that the beach’s Sunset Beach Bar posts daily arrivals and departures for visitors to consult, offers airplane-themed food and drinks, and has its own live webcam of aircraft at SXM. Visitors to this unique locale are sure to not only enjoy the beach’s white sands and crystal blue waters but also experience the planespotting adventure of a lifetime.

Related

St. Maarten Planespotting: How Good Is It Really?

Princess Juliana International Airport’s Maho Beach offers a one-of-a-kind planespotting experience.

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