Bikinis and Beer on the Beach-----TOP 10 SPRING BREAK DESTINATIONS FOR 2010!!
Feb 02 '09 (Updated Sep 15 '09)
The Bottom Line Best spring break destinations for 2010. Top beaches. Greatest party scenes. Affordable deals. Sand, sun, surf, and suds!
Just a few more weeks until Spring Break! Time to book that flight and reserve that hotel room! You don't want to be the only one left out in the cold when everyone else jets off to the hottest beach destinations around.
The economy is still sputtering as of 2010, but that can be good news for the budget traveler. When the economy hurts, travel is often a luxury that families and businesses can cut back. When demand falls, the travel industry responds with price rollbacks. Simple math tells the rest of the tale, and 2010 just might be your perfect time to score great travel bargains....especially on hotels or package deals.
Top 10 Best Spring Break Destinations...
1. Cancun Mexico: The world has never known a Spring Break destination even half as awesome as Cancun. The beaches are wide and long expanses of powdery white sand leading up to crystal clear turqoise blue waters with awesome opportunities for scuba and snorkling. The weather is reliably warm and in March and April, every day is sunny and just made for water sports and beach prowling. The parties are incredible and the nightclubs enormous (and open until 4 in the morning). Cancun is also big enough and popular enough that there is a huge number of inexpensive flights every day from virtually every corner of North America. There are a lot of great beachfront resorts too, but college students often prefer the very young clientele and all-inclusive drinks and meals policy at the Oasis. Check out: http://www.springbreakcancun.com/
2. Acapulco Mexico: The water's a bit rougher on the Pacific side of Mexico and the beaches aren't as impressive, though the sunsets are spectacular and there's better opportunities for surfing and sport fishing. Acapulco has a more sophisticated attitude than Cancun and attracts a more diverse crowd. It's also got a MUCH hotter nightlife scene than Cancun, with more clubs, open-air clubs with windows that let the sea breeze waft through, and a more diverse selection of music. (It's often easier to find really cheap hotels too....) Check out: http://www.studentcity.com/spring-break-acapulco.html
3. Negril Jamaica: Jamaica not only has the warm weather and excellent beach scene going for it, it has the mellow reggae mood and outstanding clubs with parties every night, booze cruises, and outstanding food. Check out: http://www.negril.com/2/springbreak/
4. Nassau Bahamas: Nassau has a real city to it with real culture, reliably excellent spring weather, and some great spring break party opportunities. Paradise Island is where the most ritzy hotels and the nicest beaches are found, though there's some great bargain potential over in the Cable Beach area. Food and drink can be pricey, so this is one spot where the all-inclusive packages often make sense. Check out: http://www.paradiseparties.com/bahamas.asp
5. Cabo San Lucas Mexico: Cabo Wabo, Baby! There might be more to Los Cabos than tequila shooters all night long, but there doesn't have to be! Some people might want to try hooking a trophy marlin in what are some of the best fishing waters in North America, but you can golf, hang out on the beach, parasail, or just ogle the many, many fine hard bodies out by the pool. Check out: http://www.cabospringbreak.com/
6. Punta Cana Dominican Republic: While your cheap-skate friends are having not as good a Spring Break back in the U.S., you can chill in the tropical island Caribbean paradise of the Dominican Republic where the weather is fine, the beaches are spectacular, and so many locals sport such beautifully bronzed toned bodies. Who knows, you might even be able to pay for your vacation with your casino winnings! Check out: http://www.studentcity.com/spring-break-punta-cana.html
7. South Beach Miami Florida: In most of Florida, you still run some risk of cool cloudy weather putting a damper on your Spring Break, but that risk goes down as you head way down the coast to Miami, where the weather is warmer and the beach scene is hotter. Ocean Drive in South Beach is full of classic beach hotels, great restaurants and bars, and there's a wealth of hot nightclubs just a block or two off the beach. South Miami Beach is the best beach scene in the U.S. of A. Check it out: http://www.southbeach-usa.com/
8. Montego Bay Jamaica: Today's weather forecast for Montego Bay is sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s. Meanwhile, you're freezing your rear end off studying for an exam. Need I say more? I could tell you about all the great rum drinks they serve in Montego Bay, or the sexy lilting sound of a soft Jamaican accent. I could even tell you about eating fish so fresh that it was still swimming just 2 hours before dinner, or about the great nightclubs all around MoBay....but then, you'll find out about all that anyway. Check out: http://www.seejamaicacheaply.com/springbreak_jamaica.html
9. Mazatlan Mexico: Okay, okay, so the weather isn't QUITE as warm in Mazatlan as it is in Puerto Vallarta or Cancun, but it's still a great party town with great beaches, plus there's some outstanding bargains on spring break trips....including party buses departing from Arizona and Texas for as little as $399 for transportation AND 5 nights hotel. Vamos a festear!! Check it out: http://www.mazatlanexpress.com/
10. South Padre Island Texas: The beaches are nowhere near as nice as Cancun and there's nowhere near as much to do or as many parties, but South Padre does have the advantage that you can drive there if you can't afford a plane ticket, and there are always a LOT of college students --- especially from Texas universities --- to party with. Check it out at: http://springbreak.sopadre.com/main/index.php
Deciding Where to Go...
My top 10 list is built around beaches and only beaches. In my opinion, Spring Break is all about escaping the winter doldrums, so I don't even THINK about going anywhere cold. That eliminates Canada, all ski resorts, most of the United States and most of Europe --- all of which could be fun and affordable for the right kind of traveler, but not really my idea of a blow out beach party spring break. Once I get beyond the bare beach element, my selections are based on 4 primary factors:
* Warmth: What's the point of paying for a special spring break only to run the risk of cold weather keeping you off the beach? By March, this is still a problem for most coastal areas in the United States, though south Florida and south Texas give you reasonably strong assurances of sunshine and warmth.
* Economy: I look for places that have good potential for low-cost vacations. Lots of flights are good, lots of moderately priced resort hotels are good...available charter flights and plentiful package deals are even better.
* Drinking Age: I'm a firm believer that college students should be treated like adults and that they're mature enough to party with an international crowd that's never known excessively high drinking ages or draconian enforcement of trivially minor offenses. Escape the controlling mentality of the U.S. and have a few chilly brewskis on the beach, a cocktail or two with dinner, and another beer or two in the nightclubs. Repeat until Spring Break is over and have a blast! The drinking age is 18 in Mexico, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. Why party in the U.S. only to be hassled by overeager cops looking to bust some spring breakers???
* Experience: I love traveling for new experiences and attitudes. I like meeting people who are very different from me, with different outlooks and different tastes. Makes life interesting! That's another reason my top 10 spring break list leans heavily towards non-U.S. destinations. Better attitudes, better chance of meeting exciting people, better chance of experiencing new foods, drinks, and dance moves.
Scoring a Deal...
Getting a great price on a great spring break deal is a simple matter of doing your research, recognizing the good offer when it comes along, and jumping on the deal before it gets away from you.
Easier said than done.
Here's a few suggestions for places to look for good deals on warm spring break beaches:
* Student Travel Specialists: These are the companies that advertise on college campuses and take out ads in college newspapers. They often survive by making sure their prices are as rock bottom as possible, though it still pays to compare with charter operators and special promos from airlines and destinations, just to make sure you're really paying the lowest price possible. For starters, check out STA Travel (www.statravel.com) and STS Travel (www.ststravel.com).
* Charter Operators: You can often book inexpensive package deals that include airfare, hotel, meals, and ground transportation. Some operators give you seats on scheduled commercial flights, others provide charter flights to popular destinations. There are charter operators who do business throughout the U.S. (like FunJet, www.funjet.com) and there are many others who either deal exclusively in one region, or whose strongest deals are from particular regions. Some of these include:
- New York: ww2.libertytravel.com
- Mid-Atlantic: www.applevacations.com
- Dallas: www.worryfreevacations.com
* Low-Fare Airlines: If the big airlines aren't giving you the kind of deals you want, try one of the budget carriers and see if they can't do better. Here's a couple that I know fly to some GREAT Spring Break beach destinations from various U.S. gateways:
- Minneapolis to Cancun, Cozumel, Montego Bay, Mazatlan, more...: www.suncountry.com
- Fort Lauderdale to Cancun, Nassau, Punta Cana, more...: www.spiritair.com
- New York to Cancun, Puerto Plata, St. Maarten, more....: www.jetblue.com
- Denver to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta....: www.frontierairlines.com
* Discount Travel Websites: Keep an eye open on the sites that help you spot travel deals to and from various parts of the country. Set reminders and alerts when you can. Two of my favorite are:
- Airfarewatchdog: www.airfarewatchdog.com
- TravelZoo: www.travelzoo.com
Have a great Spring Break! I'll see you ON THE BEACH!!!
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