TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Saint Martin in october

We are thinking of going to Saint Martin in October. I know about the hurricane risk. But what should we expect as far as differences. Our previous trip was this last April. So will the island be totally dead in October. Are businesses closed. Thanks for any feedback!

In October it will be hotter, more humid, with many fewer tourists and a substantial number of restaurants will be closed - more so on the French side. You may also not get flights on the days you want depending on where you fly from.

I have been going the end of October since 2007 everything is open and the weather is usually great. September most places are closed for the whole month on the French side

We live in Florida, so your mileage may vary, but I LOVE St. Martin in September/October. Some restaurants are closed, certainly, but you won't go hungry. You also won't need a reservation, pretty much anywhere. No problems with traffic jams. The water is WARM, which is totally lovely to me. You probably will need a/c to sleep at night (but I personally always do). The prices for hotels, cars, airfare, etc., will be at their cheapest that they are for the entire year. What's not to love??

Absolutely love late October. Early November. Great weather. prices. no crowds Easy to get rentals at timeshares or hotels. Lower airfare. hOME RUN <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />

We are here for 6 months, beginning late Oct. Depending upon where you are coming from (we are from Cape Cod), late Oct can be extremely hot and humid.

The week before and after Halloween in Saint Martin is one of our favorite times to go.
The weather has always been perfect. Air temperatures in the upper 70's to mid 80's. Water temp was 82 to 85 everyday last year. Only a few overcast days during our October/November vacation over the years.

We went in October 2 years ago and it was great. One rainy day but the other 6 were perfect. Walked into all restaurants and were taken care of. We stay in Grand Case and there were a good deal of people there as well. The prices were down and we wouldn't think twice about going in October again.

We have gone in late September, as well as November, and love that time of year in SXM. We also go in June sometimes (like this year) and like that as well. It is warm but we are finding that we enjoy the low season very much. Some restaurants do close, mostly in September, but there are so many others to choose from. Plus there's less traffic and less waiting for a table at restaurants. As Carol says, what's not to love? The only thing I would recommend is trip insurance in case the weather doesn't cooperate. Go for it and enjoy!

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.

We have been going in October for 27 years. Last year we were there when Gonzalo hit, it was horrible. I don't know when we will be going back and I don't think it will be during hurricane season. We had almost no warning and it was impossible to get out. The internet had been in and out for days before so we couldn't watch the "Hurricane Network". If we could have we would have been on a plane getting out.

The problem with SXM after an event like this is, they really only have a few flights and most are full coming and going. We had to stay for an additional week after the storm until we were due to leave as we couldn't get a flight. It was not fun.

We are going to Puerto Vallarta for 3 weeks next month.

We use to travel to SXM in both April and October and the difference is the weather and amount of visitors. We have found it more humid with more rain although I believe we only had two wash out days in those 8 late October visits and another one or two in early October.

We use to travel the second week in October and there were still a few restaurants closings but by the third week they are all open. I can't say I've noticed a significant difference in crowds in April and late October. Maybe the week of Easter was crowded otherwise we got around easily and no issues with more people in April than October.

We celebrate our wedding anniversary during the third week in October and for the last 5 or 6 years celebrate in St Martin. This year we celebrate our 40th anniversary and plan to celebrate there again. We too were there right after Omar, and again last year after Gonzalo came through on Monday, we flew in on Saturday. On all the previous trips, there has never been enough restaurant closing to affect the trips. Most of them start opening the first few weeks of the month. The water is warm, the island is not crowded, and the friends that we have made that are there during the same time of the year are the nicest people that you could ask for. We look forward each year to this time of year and help us extend our summer just a little longer. We have been to St. Martin on cruise stops many other times of the year, but October is our favorite time.