For decades, college students have been flocking to Central Florida and its beaches for spring break. Especially Daytona Beach.
Daytona Beach’s spring break glory reached its zenith in the late 1980s and early ’90s when it became became spring party headquarters for MTV, the cable TV music channel.
Things got a little out of control with crazy crowds and scores of under-age drinkers, so the city kicked out MTV and tried to discourage spring breakers from coming.
A decade later, in 2002, the college kids were back as attendance crept up. It’s still hard to keep college kids away from spring break at the World’s Most Famous Beach.
Check out these photos of spring break at Daytona Beach through the years.
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Spring breakers were out in force doing what seems to be the most favorite thing to do, walking and cruising along the beach. This scene, looking north fro the Main St. Pier. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA., VOLUSIA WILD OR WITH GIVENS: Chris Overmyer, 19, a Pennsylvania spring breaker, attempts to chug a cup of Strawberry / Watermelon nectar, hands-free, at a team chugging juice contest on Daytona Beach on March 9, 1999. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Sherry Hines and Carla Denny from Gainesville, FL, enjoy the sun as they ride in a hatchback along Daytona Beach on March 28, 1986. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Spring breakers check out a 15-foot inflatable condom package at Daytona Beach. This unusual signage marks the spot for concerts and beach activities sponsored by the makers of Trojan brand condoms. (Feature Photo Service)
Jason Lucas, left, and Bobby Smith take part in a boxing match during spring break ’97 in Daytona Beach. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Students visit Daytona Beach for Spring Break on March 30, 1964. (SENTINEL STAR FILE PHOTO)
Christopher Spinzing, left, and Bjorn Green and Billy Ganey and sister Hodi Ganey take part in spring break ’97 activities in Daytona Beach. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Alan Awe, from Western Michigan University, plays in an air guitar contest with his band called the “Dud Crew” at the International Hotel, Daytona Beach, FL. 3/11/1988. (CHRIS USHER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
High school student Brittany Syphers, 17, right, puts the finishing touches on fellow students she and her friends buried up to their necks on Daytona Beach during spring break from Twin Lakes High School in Monticello, Ind., Tuesday, March 22, 2005.(AP/Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Jim Tiller)
Bill Manning, left, sits bundled against the wind as he watches spring breakers, from foreground right, Amanda Grudzien, Nikki Moskwa and Mike Rochowiak, all on break from Oakland University in Michigan, walk by, seemingly not bothered by the cooler temperatures on the beach, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006, in Daytona Beach. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Nigel Cook)
A backpacker heads down the Boardwalk of Daytona Beach during Spring Break, 1980. (RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
A spring breaker pours his booze onto the sand under orders from the Beach Patrol during Spring Break at Daytona Beach on Wednesday, March 9, 2010. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Visitors gather and mingle along Daytona beach during Spring Break in March 1964. (ORLANDO SENTINEL-STAR FILE)
Reformed cocaine addict Bob Hanus, 39, of Utopia, TX hands out brochures of his life story to Anna Brogan, 17, left, and her fellow Lyman High School friends in Daytona Beach on Thursday, March 24, 2005. Hanus was himself a Daytona Beach Spring Breaker in 1985, but now returns to Daytona Beach with a different mission. He has been carrying his cross for the past 13 years. (Sara A. Fajardo/Orlando Sentinel)
Female beachgoers cheer and yell from a hotel balcony to visitors below during a concert at Spring Break in March 1989. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
A large crowd of college students take to the beaches of Daytona during Spring Break week on March 12, 1991. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
In March 1990, Beach Patroler, Ranger Nick Wesner, signals to a co-worker that he has made another “bust” on Daytona Beach during spring break. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Driving on Daytona Beach looking south from Main St. Pier, the beach becomes a parking lot as drivers and beachgoers crowd the beach in March 1989. (LARRY VAUGHN/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Victoria Gangemi, 20, and Adam Grant, 21, enjoy Easter weekend and Spring Break at Daytona Beach, on Friday, March 21, 2008. Gangemi s a UCF student. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel)
Crowds on Daytona Beach during Spring Break in March 1978. (Orlando Sentinel file)
The division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco has collected more than 250 fake in only four nights of Spring Break in Daytona Beach on March 10, 2003. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Guests gather for events sponsored at Spring Break in Daytona Beach on March 20, 1984. (RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Springbreakers with a beer bong on a balcony of the Desert Inn in Daytona Beach. College students at Daytona Beach for Spring Break. Nearly half of college students binge drink according to a 4-year study. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Not all students who flock to Daytona Beach for Spring Break picked sun-shiny days to be on the beach. On March 28, 1980, it was a gray day, but these girls from Illinois decided to catch up a little homework by the pool. Dawn Newell just wrapped herself up in a big towel and took a nap, but Diana Sanderson and Jeanine Dale kept at the books. (MARK LOSEY/SENTINEL-STAR)
Crowds gather along the beach in Daytona during Spring Break in 1964. (SENTINEL STAR FILE)
These cold beers are the casualties of a bust by the Beach Patrol during Spring Break at Daytona Beach on Wednesday, March 9, 2010. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Vacationing students crowd the beaches of Volusia County in 1974. (SENTINEL STAR FILE PHOTO.)
Cars drive up and down the beaches of Volusia county during Spring Break in 1973. (STEVE VAUGHN/SENTINEL STAR)
Kay Anderson (blonde) and Emily Badget, both students at University of Kentucky, sip beer through straws during a drinking contest at a Daytona Beach, Florida, pool deck Sunday afternoon, March 14, 2004. Thousands of college students have invaded the world’s most famous beach to party with and make new friends. Miss Anderson won the contest. (Daytona Beach News-Journal, Jim Tiller)
Visitors, traffic, and food vendors along the beach during Spring Break on April 12, 1968. (SENTINEL STAR FILE PHOTO)
Mike Sowers, a Michigan State University sophomore, Tom Montulet (nickname: Tonto) a sophomore from Rutgers, George Sowers, brother to Mike, grad student at Michigan State, doing beer bongs on the beach during Spring Break 3/25/1984. (DENNIS WALL/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Supermodel Veronica Webb helps students register for a chance to win a $10,000 college scholarship by voting for their favorite flavor of new Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats Squares, Peanut Butter Chocolate and Cocoa. The new flavors were introduced Tuesday, March 16, 1999, at the Cool Out Cabana during Spring Break in Daytona Beach, Fla. (Feature Photo Service)
Visitors stock up on beer during Spring Break on March 14, 1988. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
John Hucke, from Long Island, NY, gets a poster at a Miller Beer Giveaway on March 10, 1984 (RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Beer confiscated by Volusia County Beach patrol on Daytona Beach 3/15/07 during spring break. College students at Daytona Beach for Spring Break. Nearly half of college students binge drink according to a 4 year study. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Debbie Malin of Ft. Lauderdale wears a big hat during a walk on Daytona Beach with friends on March 6, 1974. (SENTINEL STAR FILE)
Sue Eleski from Rock Island, IL., and Katy Montford, from Moline, IL., get a tan and blow bubbles near the pool during Spring Break in Daytona on March 30, 1986. (RAY MADREN/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Michael Palmer, 22, Rob Ksiazkiewicz, 22 and Dimitri Tournas, 21, all seniors at Penn State, are having a good time partying at Daytona Beach on 3/15/07. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Marty Spiegel (on shoulders) and classmate, Rob Howell, writes a message on the Budweiser message board in Daytona Beach. They are from East Carolina University on March 13, 1988. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
The Desert Inn in Daytona Beach was one of the hot places for spring breakers. Dennis Devlin, manager of the hotel in March 2004 talked about recent arrests and police harrassment. Devlin says he has been unfairly targeted by police in their efforts to improve the image of the city during Spring Break. ( Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
Spring Breakers at Daytona Beach. Spring Break event sponsored by Budweiser. n March 1988. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
A large crowd of beachgoers pile on a vehicle driving on the beach at Spring Break on March 12, 1964. (SENTINEL STAR FILE)
Students visiting from Chicago decorate the Whitehall Motel in Daytona Beach during Spring Break in April 1986. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
An unidentified woman climbs a rock wall at the “Cliffhanger” exhibit during Spring Break in Daytona Beach in 1983. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
College Expo ’78. Contests, games and assorted freebies help attract thousands of college students to the College Expo at Daytona’s Holiday Inn Surfside. (MARK LOSEY/SENTINEL STAR)
Friends Meghan Wheeler, 18, Tony Love, 18, and Victor Lopez, 20, look on as Paul Merck, 32, a co-owner of the shop, prepares to pierce ( r ) Cory Sheldon’s nipples on Friday, 3/19/04. The students are all from SUNY at Oswego. Body piercing is very popular among the spring break college crowd. However, there are no piercing shops beachside in Daytona , so one shop, The Corner Body Piercing Studio, just outside the city limits, offers free van service for their customers. (Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
A crowd cheers at one of the many concerts scheduled at the Daytona Beach Bandshell. during spring break in April 1987. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Thao Le, 19, from Eastern Kentucky Uninversity, Lauralee Crain 19, of Transylvania University (Lexington, KY) and Esther Thompson, 20, of Transylvania University (Lexingotn, KY) were having a fun time on Daytona Beach 3/11/ 08. They are in town for Spring Break. (Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
A concert at a Daytona Beach bandshell attracts a large college crowd during Spring Break in Daytona Beach in March 1984. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Spring break from undated photo
BULK BABES, BULK RAYS
Spring break, the annual college Bacchanalia, is exploding on the beaches of Florida and California, where hundreds of thousands of students are trading books and term papers for Beach Blanket Blast.
As reveler Greg Johnson, 20, of California put it: “It’s awesome! Bulk babes, bulk rays and bulk brew!”
Yeah, and bulk jailings: Cops in Daytona Beach, Fla., say they’ve already jugged 500 beer-soaked bozos.
About 400,000 students were living it up in Daytona Beach (Official beachside mottos: “Party till you drop” and “Sun your buns”).
Crowded beach at spring break at Daytona Beach. Undated photo
Youths on beach during spring break. Daytona Beach, FL.
Freebies are advertised during Spring Break week in Daytona Beach in April 1984. This is for a Dodge Daytona Turbo-Z. (DENNIS WALL/ORLANDO SENTINEL).
Pepi Greil of Austria flys skyward with spring breaker Jackie Miller, 16, of Leesburg, in the Daytona Skyrider ‘Ejection; Seat’ ride at Ora Street Park on Daytona Beach on March 21, 1997. Pepi runs the ride, invented in Austria, through Spring Break for T.S. International. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Sam Cranston)
Students pack the Desert Inn Motel in Daytona Beach on Atlantic Avenue on March 23, 1980 for Expo America. (MARK LOSEY/SENTINEL STAR)
Eminem performs for a Black Entertainment Television taping at the Bandshell in Daytona Beach, Fla., in this March 30, 2001, file photo. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Nigel Cook, File)
College students on spring break can find entertainment of a different kind at Expo America, held in the Plaza Motel on U.S. Highway A1A in Daytona Beach. Kim Dulin of Wisconsin has her arms full of hats, T-shirts, suntan lotion, and whatever else manufacturers and handing out at the expo. Taken March 26, 1982. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
Chuck Penrod, owner of local nightclubs in Daytona Beach, aids Daytona Beach police officer Wayne Lurcock, as he explains fake IDs used by students during Spring Break in April 1986. They addressed over 100 employees of Penrod’s establishments to better inform employees of proper procedures in handling situations of fake IDs. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
Julie Ashby of Daytona Beach gives away posters at the Miller beer booth during Spring Break on March 30, 1984. (RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
A group of college students play frisbee football on Daytona Beach during Spring Break on April 8=7, 1981. (MARK LOSEY/SENTINEL STAR.)
Students could use a spelling lesson as they hang over the pool deck at the Texan Motel in Daytona Beach to watch a volleyball game in March 1988. (graffiti on the wall is spelled wrong. Should be ‘INDUBITABLY’) ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
An unidentified man wearing sunglasses on the beach in March 1988. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
A woman naps in her hatchback on Daytona Beach during Spring Break on March 27, 1979. (MARK LOSEY/SENTINEL STAR)
College students party on a Daytona Beach pool deck Sunday afternoon March 14, 2004. Spring break 2004 draws tens of thousands of college kids eager to hit the beach, make new friends, and enter contests. (Daytona Beach News-Journal, Jim Tiller)
Spring Break 1990. Daytona Beach. Contestants in the inner-tube race in the swimming pool at the Texan Hotel, Daytona Beach, race to the finish line as other beer drinking college students cool off in the pool at the hotel. MTV, which helped put Daytona on the Spring Break map, is back as well as the usual assortment of sporting events including volleyball, concerts, wet T-shirt contests, bathing suit contests. The Chamber of Commerce officials estimate that students will spend some $120 million during their stay in the area. P(GARY BOGDON/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Dennis Gormeley (right) laughs uncontrollably with friend Eric Vonderlieth as they enjoy a party with classmates from Villanova at Spring Break on March 11, 1988. (CHRIS USHER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Crusing up and down the beach is popular during spring break at Daytona Beach on 3/13/07, the second day of spring break at Daytona Beach. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Lauri Novak hula hoops while her friends kazoo their way into some gifts from Ronrico Rum on March 19, 1981. The girls are from Tennessee Tech. (GEORGE REMAINE/SENTINEL STAR)
Thousands of spring breakers pack Daytona Beach during a concert by the Bangles in 1989. (Orlando Sentinel file)
FLORIDA MAGAZINE PHOTO CONTEST 1999. Runner-up. Mark Paulissen of Daytona Beach sure was in the right place at the right time. While shopping in Daytona during Spring Break, he saw our party dog in a party van – howling for a good time. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Bikers and other visitors gather along Main St. in Daytona Beach on March 22, 1967. Photo is shot looking toward the Main St. Pier and the beach. (ALAN ROBERTSON/SENTINEL STAR)
Playboy Playmate, Michele Deake, autographs a photo for Steve Kaplan of Plattsburg State, NY. Spring Break: Daytona Beach, 3/19/1981. (GEORGE REMAINE/SENTINEL STAR)
Visitors to a Daytona Beach hotel during Spring Break on April 27, 1964. (SENTINEL STAR FILE)
Ron Briggs and Rick Curry, of Bucks County, PA, were dressed for some serious partying on Daytona Beach. on March 22, 1988. (LARRY VAUGHN/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
A pickup truck full of college students enjoy themselves driving on the beach at Daytona during Spring Break on March 6, 1988. (LARRY VAUGHN/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
(l-r ) Lauralee ( cq ) Tucker 18, and Cory Sheldon, 20, both students at SUNY at Oswego, had their bodies pierced Friday, 3/19/04, at The Corner Body Piercing Studio in Daytona Beach. They are outside by the van that will take them back to their beachside hotel. Body piercing is very popular among the spring break college crowd. However, there are no piercing shops beachside in Daytona , so one shop, The Corner Body Piercing Studio, just outside the city limits, offers free van service for their customers. (Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
A Daytona Beach police officer makes a routine search of beachgoers on April 12, 1977. (SENTINEL STAR FILE)
University of Tennessee students Brian Hightower and Chac Long whoop it up at a pool side party during spring break in Daytona Beach on March 23, 1988. (BOBBY COKER/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Spring breakers cruising up and down Datyona Beach on 3/11/08. Spring Break 2008 in Daytona Beach is just starting to get underway this week. (Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
MTV host Martha Quinn is dwarfed by NBA great Wilt Chamberlin. Chamberlin was a judge for a slam dunk contest at the Texan Hotel in Daytona Beach where contestants jumped off a platform and dunked a small basketball into a floating hoop on March 18, 1990. (TOM MEDLEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Jeff Herbig of Cincinatti, Ohio digs out a chaise lounger in the sand and takes a nap at spring break on Daytona Beach on March 27, 1979. (SENTINEL STAR FILE)
A contestant in the ‘Slam Dunk’ contest on Daytona Beach during Spring Break on March 25, 1990. (TOM MEDLEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Spring breakers and their cars crowd Daytona’s famous beach Sunday, March 20, 1994 in this view looking north from the Main Street Pier. Even with the annual gathering of college students being somewhat scaled down from years past Spring Break is still alive in Daytona Beach. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Pam Lockeby)
Ed Smorey, Rob Urquhart, J.R. Walcott, Scooter Whitman, and John Mallard all visiting from Meadsville, Pa., except Walcott who is from Daytona Beach, Fla., work on the left side of their shark sand sculpture while Tim Galford gives finishing touches to the right side during Spring Break ’95 in Daytona Beach, Fla., Monday Feb. 27, 1995. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Joanna Kaney)
Cassandra Heindl celebrates with other female students after defeating an all-male team in a tug-of-war on Daytona Beach, Monday, March 21, 2005. Cassandra attends Marshall University in West Virgina, (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, JIm Tiller)
Crowds fill the beach during the annual college spring break Sunday, March 14, 2004, in Daytona Beach Fla. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, JIm Tiller)
With the pool ringed by fellow spring breakers a belly flop contestant heads for a wet landing Wednesday afternoon, March 17, 2004, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Jim Tiller)
Joey Callahan, 21, a junior at Clemson University, sits in the back of his pickup truck and surveys the action on Daytona Beach on March 22, 2005. (Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
Joey Callahan, 21, a junior at Clemson University, sits in the bed of his pickup truck and surveys’s the action on Daytona Beach on 3/22/05. ( Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
A truck flying the confederate flag drives down Daytona Beach during spring break, on Thursday, March 12, 2009. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel)
USF students Kaylynn Hemmerlein, right, and Kelsey Hill have the beach nearly to themselves ontheir spring break as they brave the chilly weather to catch some sun on Daytona Beach on March 13, 2014. (Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel) ORG XMIT: ORL1403131641140167
-Spring Break 1987 in Daytona Beach. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Joe Smardt and Steve Portan of Indiana, cross a swinging bridge at the Amazon Adventure exhibit in Daytona Beach during spring break on March 27, 1983. (MARK LOSEY/SENTINEL STAR)
Jungle ‘explorers’ race against the clock to change a Jeep tire while others cross a swinging bridge in the ‘Camel Amazon Adventure’, an exhibit at Daytona Beach’s Plaza Hotel on 3/27/1983. Sponsored by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the exhibit offers college students a tropical rain forest while competing for Camel product prizes. (ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE)
Checking T-shirts for 1987 Spring Break, Dwight Selby, Chamber of Commerce Acting Executive Director, TC Costa, and Scott Studner, area businessmen, donated money to attract MTV to Daytona and raised $37,500. MTV donated the T-shirts for chamber and businesses to sell to recoup their donations. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Taking advantage of a break in the weather, Spring Breakers from around the county show their muscle during the Trojan Tug-O-War Event on the beach in Daytona Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 12, 1996. (Feature Photo Service)
A vendor booth sponsored by ‘Two Fingers Tequila’ at the College Expo, Plaza Motel in Daytona Beach during Spring Break in April 1983. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students, from left, Will DuBois, 19, Daniel Martin, 19, Marcus Newbury, 18, and R.J. Bartolai, 18, hold up signs rating women who pass by them in Daytona Beach, Florida, during spring break on Monday, March 15, 2004. BARBARA V. PEREZ/ORLANDO SENTINEL
Annie Sparpaktr, 21, left in striped shirt, and Anna Brenkley, 20, in blue shorts, are the last two of 27 people to cram into a Volkswagen Beetle in a contest during 2002 Spring Break in Daytona Beach, Florida, where businesses are seeing less revenue than normal. (EILEEN MARIE SIMONEAU/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Deanna Werinski, 19 ( L) looks on as her friend Shauna Hartrich, 19, gets a henna tatoo on her abdomen today, 3/15/04, from Beau Sutton, 22. The two girls are from Canisius College in Bufffalo, New York are spending spring break in Daytona Beach. It is not as wild and crazy as it used to be on Daytona Beach during Spring Break, but the beach is still filled with people ready to party. ( Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
Jason Losee, 25, Indianapolis, shows off his beer bong style on Monday, March 12, 2001. The Purdue University engineering major and his buddies joined the poolside Spring Break activities at the Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach. (Eileen Marie Samelson/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Breakers, from schools throughout the country and Canada, hit the sand and the surf in Daytona Beach on Monday, March 12, 2001. (Eileen Marie Samelson/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Breakers still hang out on the balconies at the Desert Inn at 900 N. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach, despite the fatal fall of a Kent State University student on Saturday, March 21, 1998. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Jason DiLoreti, 19, Ft. Meyers Master’s College, screams in delight at his second place victory in the Spring Break Riptide Rush. Along with partner Philip Smith, 20, they competed in the snowshoe spring, smowball smash, Mt. Riptide Rushmore, Igloo Intensity and purple plunge. 130 tons of purple snow blanketed Daytona Beach for the event. Thursday, March 19, 1998 ORG XMIT: 9802516
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA., MARCH 18, 2000 – WILD – Early breakers catch the sun Saturday morning, poolside at the Plaza Resort and Spa. By 11 am Daytona Beach was clouded over with rain. ORG XMIT: DIGITAL
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA, MARCH 13, 2000 – Motels along SR A1A welcome in Spring Breakers alongside the remaining biker crowd. ORG XMIT: DIGITAL
Spring Breakers chill out on at Daytona Beach with concealed mixed drinks and beer on Monday, March 10, 2003. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Breakers chill out on at Daytona Beach with concealed mixed drinks and beer on Monday, March 10, 2003. Dan Hausmann, 21, Eastern Illinois University, sips a Milwaukee’s Best Lite beachside. His Spring Break goal is to have sex with “at least three girls.” (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Breakers chill out on at Daytona Beach with concealed mixed drinks and beer on Monday, March 10, 2003. Dan Hausman, 21, Bryan Radavich, 21, and Chadd Murray, 21 en joy their beer on the beach. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Breakers chill out on at Daytona Beach with concealed mixed drinks and beer on Monday, March 10, 2003. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
It’s hot out there. Daytona Beach is crowded with spring breakers Tuesday, March 11, 2003. About 100,000 college students are expected during the 3-week event. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Break festivities are in full swing along Daytona Beach on Thursday, March 14, 2002. Spring Breakers party and dance poolside at the Plaza Resort and Spa on Thursday, March 14, 2002. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Megan King, 18, Lake Howell High School is crammed into a Volkswagon Bug, atop the dashboard, wincing in pain, along with 26 other people during a Spring Break Bug-Stuffing contest at Daytona Beach on Thursday, March 14, 2002. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Break festivities are in full swing along Daytona Beach on Thursday, March 14, 2002. The Sexy Legs Contest, poolside at The Plaza Resort and Spa attracts a crowd. (Eileen Marie Simoneau/Orlando Sentinel)
Spring Breakers party on a packed dance floor at Razzle’s in Daytona Beach on Thursday, March 20, 2003. (Phyllis Redman).
Spring breakers party on a packed dance floor on Thursday, March 20, 2003, at Razzles, a popular nightclub in Daytona. (Phyllis Redman).
A staff member at Razzles nightclub in Daytona watches over the packed crowd on Thursday, March 20, 2003. (Phyllis Redman).
Megan Boda, right, and Aime Randero watch the happenings on the beach at Daytona during spring break on the afternoon of March 13, 1999. (Orlando Sentinel file)
The sands at Daytona Beach are alive with activity in afternoon, despite the departure of some spring breakers.
Spring breakers from Penn State walk by one of the many concession stands along Daytona Beach Tuesday afternoon. Left to right are Troy Ulzheimer, Jason Krick, and John Oleski, all seniors at the school. (Orlando Sentinel file)
It takes a lot of work to keep the world’s most famous beach looking spiffy, especially during spring break. Lenny Walsh, of Florida Recycling Services ( Daytona Beach), picks up one of many trash cans along the beach that is loaded with garbage on 3/19/99. (Orlando Sentinel file)
(l-r) Matt McGovern, 18, of Ocala, Stephanie Chesley, 17, of Daytona Beach, Britney Dowling, 17, of Daytona Beach , Evan Hooker, 20, of Ocala, Katelyn Snow, 18, of Daytona Beach, and Theran (cq) Parker, 16, of Ocala, cruise down Daytona Beach during spring break Spring break in Daytona Beach is nearly over and some local residents and local officials would like for the whole thing to just go away completely. ( Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel )
It’s Spring Break in Daytona Beach and many officials say this this will be a quiet event as students go to other destinations. It’s not too crowded today, 3/14/06, on Daytona Beach. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Today, 3/12/07, is the first day of spring break in Daytona Beach. So far, it is not as crowded or wild and crazy as in past years. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
(l-r) David Lacy, 21 a junior at Kentucky State University, Laura Bass, 19 a freshman at Transylvania University ( Kentucky ), Shea Gatewood,18, freshman at Unviersity of the Cumberlands ( kentucky ) and J.W. Brown, 19, a sophmore at Georgetown College ( Kentucky) play ” Cornhole” a bean bag tossing game. They were on Daytona Beach today, where Spring Breaks crowds are lighter than past years. It’s Spring Break in Daytona Beach and many officials say this this will be a quiet event as students go to other destinations. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
(l-r)Andrea Shingledecker, 21,a junior, Ashley Nuqul ( cq ) 21, a junior and Laura Yuska, 19, a freshman, all from East Carolina University sit on the beach and do some people watching today, 3/14 in Daytona Beach, It’s Spring Break in Daytona Beach and many officials say this this will be a quiet event as students go to other destinations. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Noah Wethington, 22, ( l) of Purdue University, and ( r) Kyle Dixon, 22 of the University of Indiana at Indianapolis, are having a great time partying at Daytona Beach during spring break. Today, 3/12/07, is the first day of spring break in Daytona Beach. So far, it is not as crowded or wild and crazy as in past years. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Jose Grajo, 23, a senior at Franciscan University of Steubenville ( Ohio ) plays his guitar while on Daytona Beach today 3/14 during spring break. It’s Spring Break in Daytona Beach and many officials say this this will be a quiet event as students go to other destinations. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
A tug of war contest for springbreakers on Daytona Beach, sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ ( headquartered in Orlando ). Today, 3/12/07, is the first day of spring break in Daytona Beach. So far, it is not as crowded or wild and crazy as in past years. ( Barbara V. Perez / Orlando Sentinel )
Rosemarie Green of Detriot sits on a bridge and watches traffic on April 23, 1973. (TOM NETSEL/SENTINEL STAR)
Dan Willette of East Lansing, MI, scoots a wooden camel around a figure eight course at the Camel Light Grand Prix at Expo America in Daytona Beach on 3/20/1980. during Spring Break. (MARK LOSEY/SENTINEL STAR)
AT&T recruiter Cherly Klein, of Atlanta, Ga., right, takes resumes’ from college students in bathing attire during a Spring Break Career Fair at the Raddison Hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla., Thursday, March 11,1999. College Spring Break in Daytona will continue through the first week of April. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal,Roger Simms)
Members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) play volleyball on the beach in Daytona Beach, Fla., Monday, March 15, 1999. More than 200 members of the FCA are in Daytona Beach during spring break to play sports and fellowship with mainstream spring breakers from across the country. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Brian Myrick)
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Spring breakers were out in force doing what seems to be the most favorite thing to do, walking and cruising along the beach. This scene, looking north fro the Main St. Pier. (MARK LOSEY/ORLANDO SENTINEL)
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