My goal in college was to find a job I loved and live at the beach. To be able to gaze at the water every day, smell the salt air, and experience a town that sits where the land meets the sea. That was my college dream and Ocean City, Maryland was my first beach life right after graduation. Now, way past college, I feel blessed everyday to live my best beach life in Puerto Peñasco.
If you’re here visiting this month, chances are you just might be in college and a beach lover. Spending your spring break in town is a start to living your best beach life. Puerto Peñasco is the best kept secret of the small-town beach life. Visiting here, or living here is affordable, safe and has endless possibilities of things to do.
Spring Break is here, can you feel the energy coming into town? Mostly American coeds celebrating the start of Spring and a great reason to party. Here comes the loud music, the sun tan lotion, and the dancing. Spring Break is a tradition that has been going on for a long time. Every culture has celebrated the arrival of Spring, including the ancient Greeks and Romans. Hello Dionysus & Bacchus — the Greek and Roman gods of wine. A break in the weather and the upcoming Easter holiday is a reason for celebration.
But, how did the mass influx of students start spring break week? The collegiate Spring Break as we know began in the 1930s. Apparently, an upstate New York College professor and swim coach at Colgate University, had the idea to bring his swimmers down to a warm pool in Florida to practice. We all know sunshine, blue waters and warmer temperatures makes everyone happy, and the coed swimmers were no exception. Soon other swim coaches followed, and college teams began congregating in Florida during the Spring and Easter holiday. The tradition continued well into the 1960s, when a Michigan State professor, who followed his students down to Florida to witness the partying and sun filled days ended up writing a small book. MGM picked up the book named “Unholy Spring”, changed its name, and made the 1960 movie, “Where The Boys Are”. It didn’t take long for students from all over to rent hotel rooms, crowding 10 coeds together and go wild partying in Florida. In the 1980s MTV and celebrities hosted Spring Break outdoor beach concerts. Florida was the target, and statistics show that in the mid-1980s there were over 400,000 students visiting Florida for the Spring Break holiday. After that the Florida towns tried to slow it down, eliminating the $1.50 all you can drink specials, enforcing underage drinking, and spring break started spreading across the country, to different beach towns even Lake Havasu City, Arizona gathered large crowds as students partied on boats tied together. For the Arizona colleges, Mexico aka Rocky Point was a beach destination you could drive to, and the crowds started migrating south of the border.
Viola, Spring Break in Rocky Point was born. A few old photographs exist, providing a snapshot of the old Reef Campground and old Reef Bar. Crowds of college kids camping on the beach with big beer and tequila balloons surrounding a concert stage. Yes, spring break back then was more like a sandy Woodstock, then the luxury condominiums and swim up pool bars that we have today. But, camping on the sandy beach with a few hundred of your favorite college students, is probably just as much fun as the modern conveniences of today.
So, what does Spring Break 2023 look like?
Perhaps the bathing suits are smaller, but the crowds are here, slipping on the beer covered floors, dancing in the sand and doing body shots. Two big hangouts now offer pools and live music. Yes Manny’s Beach Club and Changos offer swimming pools right in front of concert stages with live bands. There are Spring Break events planned all month long.
Spring Break is more luxurious than days gone by, and students are maybe a little smarter with alternatives, such as volunteering to help others, and traveling with the whole family, instead of 10 coeds to a room.
If you want to know what 2023 Spring Break events are going on this year, check social media for live music times and locations.
“Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
