My 3 days at St Maarten and St Barths started off in Bonaire on the morning of the 21st. I was originally supposed to fly on a Dutch Antilles Express ATR-42 connecting at CUR onto a F-100 flying me to St Maarten. Due to operational reasons my flight was an F-100 as well, getting me the same aircraft and crew on both flights. I was invited up to the flightdeck for both flights and the crew was fantastic so I can't really complain.

After arrival in St Maarten I made my way to Maho Beach to hang out at the Sunset Beach Bar and the Boat Bar at the other side of the beach. Soon enough the aircraft started to come in and I was treated to some great shots, St Maarten style! Later in the day I met a Jetblue cockpit crew and a few fellow Dutchmen, living in St Maarten. After the sun set and the action died down a little I made my way to my hotel.

The next day it was an early rise to get my taxi for the 30 minute drive to Esperance Airport on the French part of the island. From there I took a short flight to St Barths on a St Barths Commuter Islander. Unfortunately the right hand pilot seat was taken by another passenger so I was stuck in row 2. The day at St Barths was mainly spent at the hill, although I did make my way down to the beach, mainly for lunch. The lunch was probably one of the best I ever had, but also one of the most expensive at €35. After a long but great day it was time to make my way back to St Maarten on a very empty Winair Twin Otter where I was just one of 2 passengers on board.

The last day I spent once again at Maho Beach, hanging out and shooting aircraft while talking to a very friendly Canadian pilot and a Dutch couple waiting for my aircraft to arrive. At the end of the afternoon the classical MD-11 shape appeared over the sea which gave me my final shots from a great trip and marked the end of my vacation, time to go home......

St. Barthelemy Gustaf III (SBH)

As the airport name suggests this French overseas island has a Swedish past, which is the case. The Swedish bought the island from France in the 17th century and sold it back in the 18th century. As a reminder to the Swedish ruling the capitol is still called Gustavia after the Swedish king Gustaf. St Barths is known as an island for the rich and famous and is very expensive.

The airport is an exact opposite from the quiet and peaceful island. A very short 650m/2,133ft runway is wedges in between a hill on one end and St Jeans beach on the other making this an 'interesting' airport to fly in and out of. Pilots flying into this airport need a special rating.

Due to the prevailing winds the usual approach is to the east. Aircraft approach the island and have to dive over a hill to get to the runway which starts directly after the hill.. To make things more interesting there is a roundabout on top of the hill with a decent amount of traffic and the pilots try to get as low over the hill as possible (see the photo on the left).

Traffic wise St Barths is pretty quiet and there are no jets, thanks to the challenging approach and short runway. Resident carrier is St Barths Commuter which operates Britten-Norman Islanders on flights to St Maarten (SXM) and Marigot (St Martin, SFG). St Maarten carrier Winair operates both the DHC-6 Twin Otter and the Islander on their St Maarten - St Barths route. The third carrier providing scheduled flights is Air Caraïbes with a Cessna Caravan to St Maarten. Several other charter flights and general aviation visits can be seen throughout the day and make St Barths that little more interesting.