The runway at the Saba, Netherlands Antilles' Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is just 1,300 feet long, surrounded by lots of water.

Why did the people of Thailand build an 18-hole golf course in between the two runways at the Don Mueang International Airport? Why do a thousand flights a year use a beach on the Scottish isle of Barra as an airport when the tide recedes? Why is the Qamdo Banga Airport in Tibet built 14,000 feet above sea level and have an airstrip the length of 61 football fields? In its photo-friendly feature, “The World’s 18 Strangest Airports,” the propeller-heads at Popular Mechanics answer these and other questions. An excerpt from the passage about the teeny Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in Saba, Netherlands Antilles:

“Background:
Getting to this paradise-like island can be a bit distressing thanks to a 1300-foot-long runway, slightly longer than most aircraft carrier runways.

Why It’s Unique:
Large planes aren’t landing here, but the small runway is difficult even for Cessnas and similar aircraft. ‘The little X means don’t land there,’ says Wayne Schreckengast, a former Navy pilot who is no stranger to landing on less than lengthy runways. ‘It’s challenging, but if you don’t have something like that, the people here don’t get things they routinely need, like mail.’ Given the limited amount of land and rolling topography of the island, not many other options exist.”