The most unusual airport in the world (video). Beach with airplanes in Phuket: a place where planes land right above your head! Place in Phuket where planes land

The plane emerged from behind the cloud and began to descend. A couple of minutes later he was already very close, literally fifty meters above his head. The whole picture around suddenly became somehow fabulous and unreal. The turquoise ocean, this deserted beach with yellow sand - and the plane is so close that you want to jump up and reach it with your hand... Today everything is about the beach near the airport in Phuket, a lot of photos, a map and our reviews.

Spectacular beaches near airports are very popular among tourists. Every adventurous traveler tries to take a couple of photos against the backdrop of the blue sea and a giant steel machine in the sky. Tourists at various resorts around the world occupy such patches of sand near resort airports so that, together with hundreds of other people from all over the world, they can enjoy the landing of the plane. Not so in Phuket. The beach near the airport is called Mai Khao - and it is deserted. And such oblivion is completely undeserved, because there is wonderful clean water, coarse yellow sand and excellent views.

If you look at a map of Phuket, the airport will be in the upper left part of the map - in the north-west of the island. It is very close to the bridge that connects Phuket to the mainland, but quite far from the most popular resorts - Patong, Karon and Kata beaches. During our wintering we lived in the center of the island in the village of Katu. We went to the beach to the airport by bike, the journey took about 40-50 minutes. At the end of the post there will be a map with marks, you can estimate the distance to the beach from different points in Phuket.

There are two ways to get to the beach. First: park in the southern part in front of the airport and walk closer to the runway for about ten minutes. The second way is better: after the airport, turn onto the narrow road between the airport terminal and the nearest resort and go straight to the northern part of the beach. From there it’s a five-minute walk to the strip, no more.

Mai Khao Beach is very long, about nine kilometers long. It and neighboring Nai Yang Beach are part of Sirinath National Park. Somewhere in the north of the National Park, sea turtles lay eggs from November to February. There is also a center for the study of amphibians.

The beach area near the airport is good for swimming. The entrance to the water is gradual, there is coarse sand at the bottom, the water is clean and transparent. Small waves do not interfere with swimming at all. Mai Khao will be quite comfortable for children too.

We were on Mai Khao in February, and there were no jellyfish in the water, unlike, for example, Kamala Beach, where swimming at that time was problematic.

There is absolutely no infrastructure on the beach in front of the airport. Water is sold at a nearby resort, but it is better to bring your own umbrella and bedding. There are no trees right near the runway either, so you need to build a shade yourself. However, a strip of coniferous trees begins to the north of the airport, and it is quite comfortable there.

Mai Khao Beach is a great place for photo shoots because there are very few people around and no one flashes in the frame.

Now about the planes. Phuket has its own international airport. Charter and regular flights from all over the world arrive here. There are a lot of planes, they arrive often, although during the hottest days you can observe a slight lull. We noted for ourselves that in the morning there is continuous planting. The planes land almost one after another. In the afternoon there is a break of two or three hours, and in the evening takeoffs begin.

Plane landing and takeoff schedules are publicly available information. If you want to plan a good photo shoot in advance, go to the Phuket Airport website and print out the schedule.

Beach hotels near Phuket airport:

The town near Mai Khao beach is quiet and calm, without a vibrant nightlife. There is a small market and small grocery stores, a dozen cafes and restaurants. Not far from the airport there is a water park called Splash Jungle. If you want to stay right next to Mai Khao Beach, you can choose from several nearby hotels.

Chic Centara Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket with good reviews from married couples. The hotel has a children's club, a huge swimming pool, and several restaurants. Guests praise the large, spacious rooms and clean, well-equipped area. There is a water park next to the hotel. Room price - from 100 dollars per night.

If you are afraid of airplane noise, you can stay a little further north of the airport. There is Luxury 2 Bedroom Private Pool Villa. Luxury accommodation, it is better to book in advance as the villa is very popular.

Hotel MaikhaoDreamVillaResort &SpaPhuket is in demand among families with children. Swimming pool right on the beach, comfortable sun loungers, spa, gourmet restaurants, large apartments with kitchens. Rates start from $120 per night.

People go here for an indescribable thrill, because literally 10-20 meters above the beach and tourists roar giant airliners coming in to land. A dangerous but fascinating sight!

Maho Beach is located very close to Princess Juliana International Airport.

Due to the short length of the runway (2,180 meters), planes are forced to land as close to the beginning as possible, flying directly over the heads of vacationers at an altitude of 10-20 meters from the ground.

This beach is extremely popular among thrill-seekers and photographers who want to capture the low-flying jumbo jet.

All bars on Maho Beach have the following signs with the schedule of arriving flights:

There are also warning signs that jets of air from aircraft jet engines can be thrown into the sea, injure or even kill. But this stops few people:

On average, only every 4th plane landing here can create a strong gust of wind with its jet engines. Then vacationers have a hard time:

Despite the difficult conditions for landing, not a single crash has been recorded so far.

Extreme sports enthusiasts strive to be right above the landing airliner. And this is one of the largest passenger aircraft in the world landing - Boeing 747:

It's hard to believe that this is not a photo montage, but real photographs:

Source

Mai Khao, Mai Khao, is a beach that is famous for the fact that planes fly very low here, right above your head, otherwise this beach is called the beach with planes in Phuket. There are only a few such beaches in the world where the landing and runway of the airport are located right next to the beach. Moreover, the beach itself is usually not closed, and people calmly swim in the sea while watching planes take off and land above their heads. What's unusual about this, you say? Yes, on small islands you can often see planes taking off and landing, often the landing strip is right in the sea, but rarely in these places you can walk, sunbathe and swim freely. This is what makes Mai Khao Beach in Phuket so unusual. Looking from the side is one thing, but standing above low-flying planes is completely different - usually, emotions just go wild.

Mai Khao - beach with airplanes in Phuket - how to get there?

There are 2 options for stopping a vehicle if you are driving on your own by car or moped. Both of these options are located on opposite sides of the airport.

1 option— get to the Sirinat National Park and park the moped in a parking lot in a crowded place. In this case, you will need to go to the north of the island 500-600 meters through Sirinath Park, and entrance to the park is paid. Cost: 100 baht per person.
Option 2- enter the name of Mai Khao beach in Google maps and go to this point, see the detailed route at the bottom of the page. There are many hotels on the coast and you can leave your moped here for free. We used this option. After you park the moped, you will need to walk the same 500-600 meters along the path near the beach to the south towards the airport. The paths are good, and walking in the shade of coniferous trees is very pleasant.

Hotels that run along the beach - Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket , Orchidilla Phuket Mai Khao Beach Houses, Coriacea Boutique Resort . If you are traveling with small children and want a good 5-star hotel with a beach 50 meters away, then these options are for you.

If you are staying near the beaches of Patong, Kata, Karon, then it will take about 50-60 minutes to get to the beach with planes on your own by moped. The path is not close, and it is best to leave either early in the morning or at sunset, since while waiting for the planes to land and take off, you will have absolutely nowhere to hide from the sun. We wanted to leave early in the morning from our hotel in Patong Oscar Boutique Hotel early, but as always, it took us a long time to get ready, in the end we arrived at the beach at 13:00, it was very hot, we were able to stay on Mai Khao for only an hour, but we didn’t have that much time It was enough, we saw enough of the planes and took various photos from different angles.

Flights to Phuket

Mai Khao - description of the beach with airplanes

Mai Khao Beach is the longest beach in Phuket, its length is 11 km. Some people like this beach, some don't. It all depends on the time of year you decide to come here. During the season, Mai Khao beach is clean, there are no waves, and the water is clear. The only negative is that there are no sun loungers, as well as various bars and cafes. You can only eat in the restaurants of hotels located along the beach. During the off-season there are big waves on Mai Khao, garbage washes up on the shore, it’s not a very pleasant sight, however, I only saw it in photos on the Internet.

I liked the beach with airplanes in Phuket so much that I wanted to come here again during our stay on the island, but, unfortunately, it didn’t work out. We already had a very busy program.

Beach with airplanes - how to take good photos? My emotions.

It’s easy to just get to the beach with planes and wait for these same planes; it’s more difficult to choose the right angle and place so that the entire size of the landing plane is visible. After spending about an hour on Mai Khao beach, we realized that planes always land in one line and there is not much space to take beautiful photos, but there are always people.

For me, the best angle was to simply stand in front of the plane, while my husband squatted down and took photos and videos practically from the ground. This angle allows you to show the whole of you and the entire aircraft behind you. You can also take photos from the side, as if you were touching the plane with your hand. The most important thing here is not to freak out in the heat and wait for the next plane to land. We were very lucky - planes landed literally every 5 minutes. Sometimes I didn’t even have time to plunge into the water to cool down before the small dot of the plane was again visible from afar.

Don’t forget about your safety - planes taking off and landing bring a hot wave of air, even hotter than the sun. The first time, when the plane was flying behind me, I couldn’t resist, I looked at it and the sight of a huge colossus flying right at me made my knees automatically buckle, I wanted to bend down and hide :) Inside, in my soul, everything rises, and you you don’t understand why you are here at all and what you want to do. The second time I was already bolder, and then I got so used to it that I no longer noticed the size of the planes rushing towards us. The most spectacular are, of course, Boeing and Airbus. Qatar Qirways, Air Asia and other planes landed next to us.

Coniferous trees on Mai Khao beach

A distinctive feature of Mai Khao beach is that along the beach there are not palm trees, but coniferous trees! This is the first time I have seen such a combination in Asia, it really looks very unusual. The downside of coniferous trees is, of course, needles. Since there are no sun loungers with umbrellas on Mai Khao beach, after an hour of actively photographing airplanes in the direct sun, we found a place in the shade of coniferous trees, laid down our towels and relaxed with pleasure. As you might have guessed, after this it was very difficult to shake off the needles from the towels.

Since we were on the beach with planes at the peak hour of the sun, there were few people, they went to their hotels for lunch and rest. Along the beach we found a couple of swings, which we enjoyed swinging on; it felt like we were on some kind of uninhabited island. People seem to have all died out. In general, we really enjoyed our time on Mai Khao beach.

There are places on the planet where planes land very close to people, and where they can be captured on photo or video camera. This activity is popularly called spotting, although spotting is a whole hobby and photographing flying cars is only part of it. So, the beach with airplanes in Phuket is great for spotting, where I once went. I’m not a spotter myself, but I liked it - I felt like a multi-ton colossus was flying over your head, a very unusual experience. Still, I don’t like classic sights, but something like that.

If you're in Phuket, be sure to go. It’s a very short walk along the beach, and it will be interesting if you’ve never seen anything like this before.

On the map you could see that there is Sirinath National Park near the coast and the airport. Usually in national parks there is something interesting or at least beautiful: jungle, trails, views, mountains, waterfalls, etc. But there is nothing in Sirinata, he is nothing. And what’s strange is that there is a lot of garbage on its territory, what kind of national park is this then... Visually it just resembles a small forest through which Thais scurry about on bikes and cars about their business. Yes, there are a couple of picnic areas there, but they don't look like much. For me, it’s better to go to that part of Nai Yang beach (), where there is no national park and no traffic.

So it’s not worth going to the national park itself. However, if you want to get to the beach with planes, you will have to cross it.

Visiting information

Phuket beach, where planes land, can be accessed from two sides: from Nai Yang and from Mai Khao. I walked from the Nai Yang side (and for some reason many people walk this way), but visually it seems that from Mai Kao it will be much faster.

In short, if you go from the Nai Yang side, you will need to cross the Sirinath National Park. The fastest way to do this is in its northern part, where it is closest to the airport. The entrance and parking space will be approximately near this hotel (you can see the name and location using the link). Then you only have to walk 1 km along the sand.

Entrance to the park is 100 baht. But, as far as I understand, they only charge for transport, not for people on foot.

Mai Khao Beach(Mai Khao, Mai Khao, Mai Khao) or "the beach where planes land", as tourists call it, is located near Phuket airport. You probably already realized that this beach is very good not only for our usual pastime: sunbathing and swimming, but also for stunning photos against the backdrop of planes taking off or landing.

Mai Khao beach. The same beach with airplanes

The main highlight of Mai Khao beach is the planes flying low over it as they land. The strip starts right a few meters from the shore line and planes fly very low overhead! As far as I know, there are only two beaches in the world where planes land and fly overhead so low: Phuket and California. So if you're in Phuket, don't miss this unique opportunity to take breathtaking photos and videos.

In fact, it is a very interesting experience when a huge Boeing flies 20 meters above your head. After it lands, it can reverse the turbines and then hold on to your hats and caps and get ready to stand on your feet! You will be blown away by a powerful stream of air! Overall, it's a very cool experience and I highly recommend visiting Mai Khao Beach.

Apart from the planes flying overhead, Mai Khao Beach has another special feature. Along the beach there are not palm trees, but coniferous trees! To say that we were surprised to see them is an understatement. The downside of coniferous trees is the needles. And since there are no sunbeds on this beach, and after the scorching sun we wanted to seal in the shade, we went to the trees, where we settled down on our towels. As you probably already guessed, after such a rest we had to sweat a lot, shaking off sticky needles from our towels.

In addition, Mai Khao Beach has high surf. Jumping in a wave, each time trying to jump over its crest, is pure pleasure. If you don’t have time, the wave covers you headlong and throws you towards the shore like a feather... While we were having fun, we almost lost our sunglasses. You might be thinking: what kind of stupid person goes to sea wearing glasses?! but I’ll tell you that it’s me. haha)

Mai Khao beach. How to get there?

The beach with airplanes is one of the beaches that you can visit on your own. If you are not on Mai Khao Beach itself, then there are a couple of options for getting to this intriguing beach with planes:

First: You rent a motorbike and enter the name into Google Maps: Mai Kao Beach and calmly drive to this point. There are several hotels on the coast where you can leave your bike for free. That's exactly what we did. After leaving your motorbike, you will need to walk literally 500 meters along the beach towards the airport. The only negative is that the journey from there took about 50 minutes and during this time my butt turned into a pancake.
Second: the second option is much more convenient, but slightly costly financially. You can order a taxi that will pick you up from the hotel and take you to the beach with the planes in comfort under the light air conditioning. Our friends grouped together and chipped in by taxi, it’s more economical, isn’t it? You can order a transfer using this link.

I also saw groups on VKontakte where you can order a car that will take you to this beach and then wait for you for an hour, after which it will take you back to the hotel. But, unfortunately, I cannot recommend this method; there were cases when the driver simply drove away and left the guys on the beach and they then overpaid for the car.

Where is Mai Khao Beach? How to get there

This map is clickable and if you are logged into your Google account, you can save the location and it will appear in your Google Maps application on your smartphone.

To get to Mai Khao Beach, you need to bypass Phuket Airport. And don’t even think about turning left right after the airport - you’ll hit a dead end and waste time. You need to get onto the main federal highway 402 and a few hundred meters after the airport take the first right turn. This will be the road 3033 . You need to move along it as far as possible towards the sea. This will be Mai Khao Beach. You can easily find all these roads on Google Maps.

Hotels on Mai Khao Beach

Mai Khao beach is not so rich in hotels and almost all of them are not very cheap. What can you say about them in general - they are very diverse, for every taste and budget. The most popular hotels in Mai Khao are:

Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket– a luxurious 5* hotel with a water park near the airport (about 8,000 rubles per night for 2 people)
Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa– large and beautiful villas right in a pine forest, and the beach is literally a minute’s walk away (from 28,000 rubles for a one-bedroom villa with a private pool per night)
Maikhao Palm Beach Resort– excellent service and literally 2 minutes to the beautiful beach (from 6,000 rubles for double occupancy per night)
Orchidilla Phuket Mai Khao Beach Houses– a budget complex with holiday houses, with a kitchen, living room and bedroom (from 4,000 per night for a house with its own garden)
Maikhao Beach Residence– a small cozy and budget hotel (cost per night starts from 5,000 rubles for double occupancy)

If you want to take good photos, it is best to go to Mai Khao Beach in the first half of the day. At noon, the sun will be directly overhead and it will be difficult to take a photo of a landing plane without lighting up the frame. And in the evening the sun will be directly behind the plane and this is not the best lighting for photography.
There is practically no infrastructure on Mai Khao, so I strongly recommend taking a towel or sun lounger, as well as water and something to eat.
Due to the fact that this article will most likely be read by Russian people, I want to warn you that it is forbidden to fry meat and burn fires on the beach... otherwise we know you, yeah)
The sun is burning like hell on the beach, so be sure to bring a hat and sunscreen. You can hide from the sun's rays in coniferous trees, but keep in mind that they are not rubber. There will be plenty of people like you who want it.
If someone, like me, needs a fresh shower after the sea: there is a shower at the entrance from the beach to the hotel