In late October 2008 hurricane Omar went by Saint Martin and caused some damage. We arrived a few days after Omar and there was very little evidence of a hurricane hitting close to that island. We arrived in Saint Martin a week after Gonzalo this past October. We saw a lot of damage. Except for the beach bars on Orient and the boats in the Bay and washed up on the shore it was business as usual almost everywhere we went. We're planning on Oct/Nov again this year.