Besides the barricades on sidewalks, police on horses and a barrage of D-list online streamers, spring break on Fort Lauderdale Beach didn’t look much different from any other day.
After a week of bleak, rainy weather, spring breakers finally got a nice beach day on Friday. The sky was beautiful, the sun was out but the wind was harsh, whipping up sand in sun bathers’ faces.
“Why is it cold?” one girl shouted at her friends as they walked toward the popular bar Elbo Room.
It was a relaxed end to a relatively relaxed spring break week in Fort Lauderdale. (The most scandalous thing to happen all week was the arrest of a Florida State University football player at Rock Bar.) After Miami Beach’s infamous break-up with spring break a couple years ago, Fort Lauderdale seems to be the real spring break hot spot. But it’s nowhere near as chaotic as the Miami Beach spring breaks of old, although two spring breakers were killed Wednesday night when they were hit by a driver in North Beach.
READ MORE: One of the two spring breakers run down in Miami Beach was a star IU student
In Fort Lauderdale, a cast of characters lounged, surfed, played volleyball and wrestled Friday afternoon until police closed the beach for cleaning. Here’s how they spent their break:
3:45 p.m. – Beaches, booze and girls… kind of
A bright red “DANGER RIP CURRENT” flag waving in the wind kept most people out of the water, but 18-year-old Gabriel Titensky saw an opportunity.
Carrying his skimboard, which is like a cross between a boogie board and a surfboard, the University of South Florida freshman waited for the right moment to run into the waves, try some tricks and fall in the freezing water. “Did you see that flip?” he shouted.
Titensky, who is from Fort Lauderdale, said he’s enjoyed spending time at the beach and with his parents while on break, though the weather dampened the mood a bit. “It’s a good place to come for spring break,” he said. “Everybody comes here.”
Gabriel Titensky, 18, a student from University of South Florida, rides a skimboard at Las Olas Beach during spring break on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Nearby in the sand, a large group of male friends, mostly from the University of Illinois, disagreed. They said they came to Fort Laudedale for beaches, girls and booze, but they weren’t happy with their spring break.
“Fort Lauderdale is one and done. It was disappointing,” said Carl Sos, 19.
Since the weather kept spring breakers from the beach, bars and clubs were overcrowded. They ended up spending much of their time waiting in long lines to get into bars, even though they paid hundreds of dollars for VIP access.
Ryan Smith, 19, a student from University of Illinois, center, sits on Las Olas Beach alongside his friends during spring break on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Other complaints from the boys included rude police officers and strict rules. They said they heard that not even backpacks were allowed onto the beach, so they didn’t even try. “The new laws are just killing us,” said Ryan Smith, 19.
But the group had plenty of fun dancing in Rock Bar two nights ago, so much so they were surprised to see “like 100 police cars” outside once they left. The DJ was so good they didn’t notice the ruckus outside. “The music was ripping,” said Luke Lippe, 21.
One highlight for the guys? Clavicular, a streamer obsessed with his own looks, was in town.
4:30 p.m. – Enjoying the single life
Elbo Room was bursting at the seams. There wasn’t an inch of balcony spared from a sunburnt spring breaker. Vacationing students and stubborn locals crowded into both floors of the popular bar, where the sound of the crowd was louder than the music.
Jacenta Evans, 27, sat outside, enjoying the scenery. She’s not the typical spring breaker, she said. Evans came to Fort Lauderdale for the first time to go on her own spring break. Since she was in a long-term relationship throughout college, she never traveled or went out to bars during her week off school.
But now she’s single and making new friends. “Look at me now!” she said.
“I love it so far. The people are nice. The cops are keeping it under control so far,” she said. “But the traffic is insane.”
A1 Brass performs as people make their way down Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard during spring break at Las Olas Beach on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com 4:45 p.m. – How long can you hang?
The cost: $25. The challenge: hold onto a bar and hang there for 140 seconds. The prize: $140.
Taylor Katsube, a 21-year-old D1 field hockey athlete, wasn’t interested in paying the $25. She just wanted to test the bar and her strength. “I think I can last a minute,” she said. “I saw a bunch of guys fail that.”
Katsube and her friend, who booked a last-minute hotel for $1,350, had a hard time getting caught in the rain this week but still had fun meeting new people.
“I would’ve preferred better weather, less wind, less rain, but you gotta make the most of it,” she said.
Carlee Fitch, 18, a student from the University of Florida, tries to do a pull-up while visiting Las Olas Beach during spring break on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Raivis Ordway, who was running the hang-time contest, asked 18-year-old Carlee Fitch how many pull-ups she could do. “Go Carlee! Go Carlee!” her friends cheered.
The result: 1 1/2 pull-ups.
Fitch, a nursing freshman at the University of Florida, said she’s been enjoying her time in Fort Lauderdale so far, but the men? Not so much. They just won’t leave her alone, she said.
“They’re annoying. They think I’m interested, but I’m not. I got called ‘boring’ today by this guy because I didn’t want to talk,” Fitch said. “Like, go to rejection therapy or something.”
Still, she’d come back to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, especially if the weather was nicer.
“It’s not been affecting my time. It’s been affecting my tan,” she said.
5 p.m. – Too much rain, not enough ‘celebrities’
The beach was crawling with aspiring social media content creators filming themselves and other spring breakers on their phones.
Edward Arreaza, a 21-year-old University of Central Florida, wasn’t impressed. Most of social media’s better-known streamers went to Houston this month instead of South Florida, he said.
People visit Las Olas Beach during spring break on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
“Compared to last year, this year is a 3 out of 10,” Arreaza said. “Last year was 9 out of 10. It was sunny, no wind, no nothing. All of the celebrities and streamers were outside.”
The weather was a huge setback for Arreaza and his friends. Instead of going to the beach, they spent a lot of time streaming themselves. Arreaza said his friend has 200,000 followers on Instagram.
“The weather really canceled it this year,” he said.
5:10 p.m. – Spring breakers love horses
Law enforcement officers mounted on horses rode onto the sand next to a lifeguard stand. They were getting ready to start escorting people off of the beach for cleaning, a rule the City of Fort Lauderdale put in place for spring break.
Though the horses were hard at work, spring breakers crowded around the officers asking to pet them. Some were more apprehensive than others. Abby Blake, 19, asked her friend Kenyah Walker, 19, for a cute picture of her with the horse, but she jumped back when he shook his head a little too fast for her liking.
“It’s a big animal!” said Blake, a Morgan State University student.
“They can kick you in the face and you’re out,” said Walker, a Broward College student.
Brian Sherry, a student from the University at Buffalo, pets Titan, as horse-mounted police units from Fort Lauderdale and Davie patrol at Las Olas Beach during spring break on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Besides conquering their fear of horses, the Broward natives said they’ve had fun all week, riding on ATVs and partying on a yacht. After a beach day on Friday, the plan for the friends was to hit the club.
“Pretty much just party, party, party,” Walker said.
When asked if they got a cute picture with the horse, Blake wasn’t sure. “I tried my best!” Walker said.
5:30 p.m. – “Do it! Do it!”
A group of spring breakers sitting on the white Wave Wall were approached by a large man carrying a wad of cash and a championship boxing belt.
The man was surrounded by his posse who was filming him on a phone and carrying a bag of boxing gloves. He singled out the young man in the group, about half his size. “Do it! Do it!” someone taunted.
“Do what?” one of the girls said.
Eventually the content creators left. The friends explained that the man, who was livestreaming himself on the beach, was trying to get the young man to box him on the sidewalk for $180.
“He was huge! Do you see how skinny my friend is?” one of the girls said.
5:45 p.m. – Party’s over 
Police officers ask people to leave a section of Las Olas Beach for cleaning during spring break on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Farther down on the beach, the horses (and the officers riding them) lined up to begin their sweep. Everyone had to get off the beach so that workers can clean up the litter.
“What? It’s closed?” some spring breakers asked as they rushed to fold up their towels and put on their flip-flops.
“Wait!” one young woman said to a police officer. “Is the horse friendly?” The officer trotted away.
Within 15 minutes, much of the beach was cleared of spring breakers. Seagulls flew down to the sand looking for scraps. All that was left behind was red plastic cups, crushed cans of RedBull and dead disposable vapes.
This story was originally published March 21, 2026 at 12:01 PM.