Spring break! Those two words will give visions of scantily clad coeds screaming at some massive beach party, doing keg stands and engaging in poor impulse decisions. For towns that are spring break destinations, it is the first opportunity to make some much needed cash after a long hard winter.
While not every college student jumps into a car packed full of party favors and drives off like every typical spring break movie, over 40% do. It brings an estimated $1 billion dollars of revenue into the popular hot spots around the globe.
Each year, the website tripsmarter.com compiles all the spring break schedules of the colleges and universities into one neat spread sheet.
Here is a breakdown of the totals by week:
| Week 1 | February 24 – 28, 2014 | Total: 91,539 |
| Week 2 | March 3 – 7, 2014 | Total: 664,357 | Week 3 | March 10 – 14, 2014 | Total: 2,714,999 |
| Week 4 | March 17 – 21, 2014 | Total: 1,485,093 |
| Week 5 | March 24 – 28, 2014 | Total: 681,745 |
| Week 6 | March 31 – April 4, 2014 | Total: 179,367 |
The full list by college can be found here
While there isn’t much hard data about where people go, here are the most mentioned spring break spots in the past few years. We included a quick good and bad.
Miami Beach, FL
Good: Hottest People on Earth
Bad: Massively Expensive
Panama City Beach, FL
via http://springbreakguide.com/panama-city-beach/
Good: Massive Parties
Bad: Rednecks
South Padre Island, TX
via statesman.com by Jackie Reeves
Good: Top Party Spot
Bad: It can be dirty
Cancun, MX
Good: Tons of non-party related actives
Bad: It's dangerous outside the tourist areas.
Lake Havasu, AZ
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
Good: The colleges in Arizona have some of the hottest women in the US
Bad: It's a lake and you will need a boat.
Punta Cana, DR
Via wikipedia.org by User:Masur
Good: One of the best Caribbean spots for spring break.
Bad: You will need a passport.
Puerto Vallarta, MX
via http://www.discoveryvallarta.com/
Good: Electro Beach festival each week!
Bad: High crime outside tourist areas.
Las Vegas, NV
via http://beyondboulevard.wordpress.com
Good: Sin City!
Bad: No Beach
Myrtle Beach, SC
Good: Inexpensive!
Bad: Weather can be iffy.
Daytona Beach, FL
via http://www.codb.us/
Good: Old School hot spot.
Bad: The town hates you.
Nassau, BS
via usatoday.com by Krause, Johansen AP
Good: Emerald Waters
Bad: The weather isn't as warm as you think during spring break.
New Orleans, LA
via www.strengthsinternational.com
Good: Mardi Gras!
Bad: Mardi Gras is over before spring break is.
Key West, FL
via www.rentittoday.com
Good: Jimmy buffet paradise!
Bad: The beach is the size of a postage stamp.
Acapulco, MX
via rcmultimedios.mx/
Good: Beautiful and exotic
Bad: Drug wars outside the tourist areas.
Negril, JM
via http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethndp/8356130088/ by Elizabeth Panko
Good: It's super chill and quiet.
Bad: It's super chill and quiet.
