brencara

My daughter and her friends wanted to go to Cabo for their spring break. The girls are 17-18 years old. Some of the parents are concerned that this might not be a good choice. We are worried about their safety as I am sure they will try to hit some of the hot spots in town. Any thoughts? Somebody else suggested Nassau - Bahamas - near Paradise Island as a compromise thinking that it might be safer. I've never been to Cabo and would like to know what you think. Thanks,

Bill_H

<b>We are worried about their safety as I am sure they will try to hit some of the hot spots in town. Any thoughts?</b>

They are 'safe' in that no one will attack them, but I'm sure many boys and young men will try to ply them with liquor or drugs and try to seduce them. Horny, drunken, persuasive young men of many nationalities ...

<b>The girls are 17-18 years old. Some of the parents are concerned that this might not be a good choice.</b>

LOL ... pretty young to be traveling on their own to spring break with college kids.

<b>Somebody else suggested Nassau - Bahamas - near Paradise Island as a compromise thinking that it might be safer</b>

Probably the same deal, maybe just less of a party scene ... dunno, haven't been there but Cabo is pretty wild even without the Springers.

Bill

TrvlMaven

ARE YOU COMPLETELY NUTS!?!?!? Young girls on the loose are one of the reasons I stopped going to Cabo years ago (the other being the boys plying the young girls with beverages, laced and otherwise). BE A PARENT HERE--(I have raised four kids and am a middle school teacher).

brencara

I am so glad that you posted that. My initial reaction was ABSOLUTELY NO, these girls should not be going down there alone- then, of course, I started to feel guilty. OK&lt; I am sticking with my original decision -there will be no Cabo. Thanks for reinforcing that for me.

hopefulist

Ya, what trvlmaven said, only I would have used stronger words, have only raised 3 kids, and am an autism specialist. Never in a million years would I have allowed that.

StanKase

I would say Cabo is party, party, party, party as is Cancun and Aruba almost as much. It has been several years since my kids went on Spring Break but I can tell ou my permission was the Spring of their Freshman year of college with a &quot;B&quot; or &quot;B-&quot; average no bizarre incidents in college before they went, that I knew of, and a mutual decision of where they went. Cabo would not have been on the o.k. list. Nassau, Freeport (a little tacky) Grand Cayman-7 mile Beach etc. All places in the islands and in the US will raise some &quot;hell&quot; but not like Cabo or Cancun.
But at 17-18 even Ft. Lauderdale would not happen in our home. But it's your home and it's for you to decide.

TrvlMaven

Stankase--good plan! I am so sick of &quot;parents&quot; trying to be friends and not providing guidelines/consequences tied to behavior. (can you tell I'm headed into parent conference week?)
Seventeen and even eighteen is not an appropriate age to travel without supervision of some kind. Stick to your guns on this one or it will be a VERY long senior year.

volcanogirl

We weren't allowed to go on Spring Break trips until college; I don't think kids that age are mature enough to handle everything that they could encounter.

suze

It's nothing specifically against Cabo... it's about teenagers being on their own for a &quot;spring break&quot; vacation with girls-gone-wild potential. Drunk &amp; trouble could happen in Florida or wherever just as easily as Mexico.

Now I know I'll sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but I didn't get to go to the Caribbean or have that kind of a trip until I was over 21, no longer living at home, had a job, and could pay for it myself.

hopefulist

That's our family's philosophy, too, suze. Plus we enjoy being together and traveled a lot together as a family, though not to touristy places like Disneyland or Cabo or Cancun - none of would have voted for that.

surfersmom

I'm sure you have heard enough, but my experience with our daughter who is now 22 is: We always went on the trips with her till she was 21. Went on a Royal Carribean Cruise at age 15 .. lots of trouble to get into. Went to an all inclusive in Mexico at age 16 ... what was I thinking .. as they say above they go looking for liquor and the boys will ply them .. only good part is that we were there and all over her. Then the lightbulb came on at age 17 and we took her to Costa Rica to a surf camp (also be careful if it is a party surf camp or a hard core 'we are there to surf' surf camp). Voila, they woke up at 5am, were in the ocean at 5:30, back for breakfast at 10am, sawing off logs in a hammock til 2 they were so exhausted (they means her and all the other surfers). Back out in the ocean for another set, home for dinner and in bed by 8pm. As parents we had a blast relaxing, watching or touring around. I think she had 1 beer that week and left saying it was the best holiday of her life. And the ripped bodies around the pool weren't hard to look at either
Guess what? At age 21 she went back on reading week with her girlfriend .. had more of the same .. and that was her best trip ever ... and in Jan we are doing a mother/daughter trip again (me for 10 days and her for 3 wks) to do it again. So watch your daughter .. go with her, it is a hard age and you just want them to get thru it relatively unscathed.

Bill_H

surfersmom, you sound like a wise woman and a great mother

danocross

I thought this was tongue in cheek, but apparently you really considered allowing this. I hate to be mean, but you can't be serious. Sorry, terrible idea, including the other options.

I can't believe how much trouble I got into even as a college &quot;spring breaker&quot;, so my views are jaundiced.

surfersmom

Thank you Bill. We all make are mistakes, but stick to them like glue. As well, never PAY for your kid to go away without you. If they are old enough to afford it, they likely are old enough to be responsible for what ever they get into.

Stewbear

This is a Joke Correct?

Stewbear

The more I think about this the more I am disturbed. Did the parents Learn Nothing For The Aruba Tragedy?

TERMINATOR

If your idea of good parenting is to serve your daughter up to a bunch of party dudes with GHB and/or see her on a Girls Gone Wild video, then I would say &quot;SURE, SEND HER&quot;

For god's sake, whatever happened to parenting in America. All I have to do is turn on MTV and watch the spring break parties, I don't even need to buy the &quot;Girls Gone Wild&quot; videos.

Yea, she will tell you that you are being &quot;unfair&quot; and that &quot;you don't have a clue&quot; or even that she hates you.

But maybe someday when she doesn't have a kid that was born while she was a teenager from a one night stand with some dude and she doesn't have any STD's and she still has some self respect since she was passed around by a bunch of guys in Cabo and hasn't shown up in a &quot;Girls Gone Wild&quot; video, well then she might even decide you were right.

Did your parents let you run wild? If they did you probably know why they shouldn't have, but if they did you probably wouldn't be asking this question, you would be shopping for airfares. If they didn't I think you probably know what the right answer to this is even if she is laying the guilt trip on you.

Too bad most parents in America have left it up to MTV to teach their kids right from wrong...

Ag3046

You don't seem to be a troll, but this post is so ridiculous as to suggest you are a troll.

I don't think anyone's underage children should go on a &quot;Spring Break&quot; without a responsible chaperone. Especially to a foreign country.

suze

&lt;Some of the parents are concerned that this might not be a good choice&gt;

Some?????? only SOME of the parents are concerned? WOW.

ruby_sage

brencara,
My vote is...don't let them go alone. If the trip is chaperoned by parents, you should be fine. We went to Cabo for spring break, with my parents, and to be honest the party scene scared me. I learned then and there that I was too young for that just yet.

To the rest of the fodorites that are calling this post ridiculous...it really isn't. Just talk with any teenager (not being too far from teenage years myself) or change the channel to MTV (specifically popular reality shows like Laguna Beach or The Hills). More and more teenagers are going on spring break, especially to Mexico. I don't necessarily agree with it, but out here in CA, it seems to be a popular trend.

brencara, I think it is great that you asked! I hope the others didn't scare you away. These message boards are a great resource.