What you can see on the Saint-Jean cams
One camera looks from high on the hills over the village, its salt pond and the beach to the whole curve of the bay and the coast towards Lorient. The other looks down on the airport: the short runway, the apron with its small planes and the terminal, below the rocky hill the planes cross on their way in.
The curve of Saint-Jean Bay
From high on the hills, this camera looks over the village of Saint-Jean, its salt pond and the tennis courts to the curve of the beach and the bay, with the coast stretching east towards Lorient and the hills beyond.
From this height the colour of the water, the boats in the bay and the swell rolling in from the north are easy to see.
The airport at Saint-Jean
This camera looks down on the airport of St Barts: its short runway, the apron with small planes parked, the terminal and the car parks, below the steep, rocky hill that the planes cross on their final approach before dropping onto the runway.
It is the cam to watch the planes arrive and leave, and on a windy day to see why only trained pilots fly here.
One of the shortest runways
Gustaf III Airport, called Rémy de Haenen after the pilot who first landed on the island, has a runway of about 650 m (2,100 ft) squeezed between a hill and the beach. Planes come in over the crest of the hill at La Tourmente, drop steeply to the runway and brake towards the sand; only small aircraft and specially trained pilots can use it. Planes taking off fly out over the bay.
When to watch Saint-Jean
St Barts keeps Atlantic Standard Time all year, four hours behind UTC. The planes fly by day only, most of them in the morning and afternoon. The bay faces north, and its water is usually calm, with a little surf in winter when north swells arrive.
Nearby
Gustavia is five minutes over the hill. To the east, the road continues along the coast to Lorient and its surf bay, and to the beaches of Grand Cul-de-Sac, a shallow lagoon sheltered by a reef.
Getting there
The beach is right beside the airport and the main road, with shops and restaurants along it. Cars drive on the right. Swimmers stay away from the western end of the beach, under the take-off path.
