World’s Scariest Beach.

Came across the following article on the Net recently, by David Whitley.

“Maho Beach on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten (Dutch spelling for St Martin) has to be the least relaxing stretch of sand in the world. In fact, it manages to turn sunbaking into something of an adrenaline sport.
Extreme bronzing on Sint Maarten. Most people who attempt to catch some rays on the beach place their towels on the far left or far right hand side. Don't be tempted to opt for the spare spot in the middle though — that's where the planes fly over.

Juliana International Airport. The beach is a very narrow strip. This is followed by a very narrow road. And that is followed by a great big runway. Yup, what makes Maho Beach so interesting is that every few minutes, a plane lands at Juliana International Airport. It's one of the biggest and busiest hubs in the Caribbean and the planes fly so low over the beach that any minor misjudgement could see the landing gear dragging through the sand.

Jet blast warning signs. Maho is probably the only beach in the world with such a dire warning sign. Forget sharks and strong currents, the notices have a simple, stark message. "Jet blast of departing and arriving aircraft can cause severe physical harm resulting in extreme bodily harm and/or death." Nice. As the locals say, a pebble caught by that jet blast may as well be a bullet.

Sunset Beach Bar. It’s undeniably cool, though, especially when the huge Air France Jumbo comes into land. Luckily you don't have to be on the beach itself. Right next to it is the Sunset Beach Bar , which is something of an institution. It has top burgers, cheap-ish drinks and a party vibe. More importantly, though, it makes an excellent viewing platform. The sunsets here are awesome, but watching the planes come in is even better. They look like they're coming straight at you, especially at night when you can only see the lights, before diverting away at the very last second. And that requires a stiff drink or eight...”

Talk about turning a liability into an asset? As the island is so small and Land at a premium, they have had to make the best of a scarce commodity and use the ocean and beachfront as part of the aprproach to the airport, thus making one of the main attractions of the island a little off-putting. So instead of letting this be a liability, they have in turn, made this “liability” an asset and attraction in its own right.

How about us? Are there some necessary things happening currently in our lives that we just can’t physically change, but can adapt and adopt our attitude and approach too, and turn them (it) into a positive? Personally I can’t think of any right off-hand, but what about you? Any comment?