ok--i just met a couple at a restaurant in chicago who told us to STAY AWAY from cancun(march 10-15) because it will be filled with kids aged 17-22 ONLY!! they were there last year as a chaperone with there college kids and they said it was crazy. We were hoping that MArch 10-15 was early enough in march so that we would avoid the college kids. not completely but mostly. we are a group of gals in our late 30's going for 5 days of fun. should we switch to playa del carmen??
we are staying at the sun palace. is this a non-spring breaker hotel? believe me, we love to PARTY but were not 22 years old!!! its not too late for us to switch hotels--any advise. thanks!!

Yes. Change if you can. This is a major spring break week for students (and just the ones in Texas who fly out of Dallas and Houston are enough to fill the place up). Yes, it will be very wild and loud and totally 24 hour every single day party. You would enjoy yourselves more at PDC. . .even there you'll probably have some spring breakers. . .but Cancun is just SO notorious! Good luck!

Approximately 750,000 college students will be on spring break the week of March 8, and Cancun will be wild.

That's the #2 week for spring break, surpassed only by the week beginning March 15, when ~785,000 college students enjoy a break.

It will only be worse than your wildest imagination, so you might want to reconsider.

Good Luck!

i knew it--i just had a gut feeling we should change out plans after talking to that couple in chicago! thank you for the info!

Come on live a little and join the party.....

This has been one of the most popular spots for 10 or more years. Thought everyone had heard about this.

bamatex - I would definitely reconsider Cancun during this time. i'm not a fan regardless of Spring break. However, i really like the PDC area extending all the way down to Tulum...have not had the chance to make it any further South.

Can you switch your reservation to the Aventura Spa Palace? I don't do AI's, but it's supposed to be very nice and I doubt many Spring breakers will be at that resort. Another Palace option is Xpu Ha.

The Riveria Maya is pakced with great beaches, history, shopping, good restaurants and fun bars. I feel it's a little more authentic than Cancun.

Enjoy your trip!

Hi Gekko. Can you tell me where you got your numbers so I can check for trips for me?

I have been trying for years to find a good website with the numbers info and dates and just can't seem to track one down.

bamatex, I actually think you will prefer PDC anyway. Maybe go up to Cancun for one day to shop, and then you will see what you will be glad you missed.

In PDC, check out Blue Parrot, Deseo and Frida's for really cool and fun bars that are all different from each other but great.

I have a hard-copy list of colleges/dates from a party promoter with whom I work.

What do you want to know?

Well, I was basically just looking for a breakdown - by week - of the number of students on break from the beginning of the Spring Break season to the very end.

It sounded like that is what you had access to.

THANKS!

It is. What week(s) will you be traveling? 2005 data is not available yet, only this year.

(See my rest. suggestions to you in another post.)

I travel to the Caribbean saveral times per year and basically just need the info for any year available just so I'll know which time frames to avoid this year and in the future. Any kind of breakdown at all would be appreciated!

Gotcha.

College spring break begins the last week of Feb but the numbers are so low it's nothing to worry about. The first 3 weeks of March are when 90% of college students have spring break, particularly the middle two weeks.

After the 3rd week, the number plummets again and ends the first week of April. Only 73,000 students are on break the week of 3/29-4/2, for example.

Bottom line -- the month of March is college spring break.

(And many thanks for the great restaurant suggestions.)

I'm no Cancun expert but generally speaking I think you can minimize the spring break impact by what type of hotel you stay at. I've been in Puerto Vallarta many times during this period, and by staying in cheap local hotels (not resorts at all) downtown, nary a student in sight! I'd assume this would work in the opposite direction by picking a high-end more expensive hotel, one that isn't offered on the package air/hotel/AI deals that most students use.

I also think PDC and exploring south along the coast would be preferable for your group.

THANK you Gekko! That's just what I needed. I'll make some notes.

Enjoy Cancun.

Also you might like Azucar. It's a nightclub right next to the Camino Real and features live salsa in an upscale and less "girls gone wild" atmosphere. (NO foam cannons)

Also very good seafood at El Pescador downtown and fun times at Perrico's downtown. Great breakfast buffets at Iguana Wana and Fisherman's Cove.

Just to make it simple stay away from Mexico during the Spring Break.

Also do not go to Costa Rica during the Easter week ( holy Week).

I have been caught up in the Spring Break and I know what it is like.. the students take over the lounges and drinking places and they are loud.!!!

I was their age once ..so I do not blame them.. but I just do not want to partake in their Festivities!!!
Percy

Hi, Diana. I found a website with spring break schedules a few years ago. I put it in my favorite places list and found that it updates from year to year, so you might want to do the same. It's geared to drawing breakers to Panama City, FL, but gives a list of the weeks, colleges and number of students on break at that time. Hope this helps. By the way, I go to Cancun 3-4 times a year. Last year for the first time I went during the height of spring break and was totally surprised because it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, but this year could be different.

http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacit...sbcalendar.htm

Thank you Helena!
I really prefer the off-season for travel anywhere, but end up due to scheduling sometimes having a window to travel in, and would like to minimize the chance of having "issues."
I think Cancun was not as bad last year as in years past because they have really started to crack down on underage drinking and the type of behavior that was going on.

We were at the Sun Palace during spring break a few years ago. This is NOT a spring breaker hotel (the only palace hotel that seemed to have breakers was the Cancun Palace). Out only encounter with them was when we took the hotel snorkel tour to Isla, our tour to Tulum did not have spreag breakers either. The Sun Palace (as of a few years ago), seem to cater to mostly couples, upper 20s through 40s.

You do not need to avoid Mexico during Spring Break. We went to PDC last year during that time frame and we saw almost no spring breakers. We actually stayed in Playacar and most hotels in that area do not allow them. I think you will like PDC better than Cancun anyway. We are leaving in two weeks to go again.