The spring semester has reached the halfway point and some students are thrilled for a week-long break to escape the same daily routine of going to class, doing homework and preparing for exams. Spring break is a time for students to travel with their friends and spend some days away at a tropical destination to feel the soft white sandy beaches and a warm sunny climate.

Top rated spring break destinations around the United States and Mexico do their best to host an estimated 3.7 million college students that travel for their spring break, according to a survey by Orbitz Worldwide. Students are also choosing their destination by how much money they plan to spend; 93% of students would be willing to consider changing their trip if they found a cheaper destination.

“I think this would be the perfect time to take a break from school and go somewhere warm with a beach,” Maddie Puchek said, a first-year student at Elgin Community College. “I’m not sure exactly where I would go, but I think it would be fun to have a trip planned with my friends.”

Spending a week away from the classroom gives college students a chance to plan a short getaway with their group of friends. Popular destinations offer an environment that can make a spring break trip an unforgettable vacation. They promote all-inclusive resorts that supply unlimited food, drinks and also free access to the resort’s clubs, bars and exclusive spring break events.

With a vacation package that includes an endless service of drinks at the resort, guests will often get caught up in their own sense of freedom and lose control, says Alex Hernandez, a security guard for eight years at the Al-Ritmo Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

“No doubt the spring breakers in Cancun are getting more and more out of control with the mass groups of partying each year,” Hernandez said. “It’s a hotel party that never ends and there are crowds of people everywhere you go. We have to take precautions to protect our guests and ourselves, I’ve realized that anybody over 18 is capable of becoming a disturbance, and I believe it’s the spring break environment that causes it.”

Cancun is the top-rated destination for a spring break vacation, according to US News. Students from all over are attracted here not only for the tropical climate but also for the party that sounds like it could never end. All it takes is a plane ticket to the Southeast coast of Mexico, and you can experience it for yourself. Cancun keeps its royal reputation at the top of the spring break list by hosting the televised MTV Spring Break week-long episode, which is classified as the biggest spring break event in the world for 2019.

Celebrity guest appearances get booked all around the city to provide a mix of entertainment to the beachfront resorts. Cancun also hosts the Inception Music Festival every spring break. It doesn’t matter which week in March your spring break falls on, you can experience this music festival at any time of the month. Inception goes on for 30 days and 30 nights with a wide range of headlining artists performing for the thousands of spring breakers flooding the city.

“It all starts the first week of March,” Hernandez said. “Spring break means that we will have no time off for the staff in any department of the resort. Our busy schedule means six or seven days a week and mostly working doubles those days. Our management gets help with more security from other hotels just because we need it. There are huge crowds of people everywhere you go and the city is full of traffic.”

According to Hernandez, he feels like the massive crowds during spring break temporarily take control of the city of Cancun. He makes it a priority to warn guests to stay together with their groups when they’re walking around and just because everyone is drinking around you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know your own limitations.

A flood of thousands of college students with high expectations for their vacation in your city takes time and money to prepare for. Resorts try to take spring break to a new level each year with better inclusive promotions and trying to book more entertainment with guest appearances to keep the resort fun and exciting, according to Daniel Salazar, the General Manager (GM) of the Isla Grand Resort in South Padre Island, Texas.

“The preparation never stopped after last year,” Salazar said. “Spring break in South Padre is only getting bigger and I’m sure we are fully prepared to keep everyone safe and offer our guests a great spring break experience.”

According to Salazar, the Isla Grand is the safest place to stay on the island. After 20 years of experience as GM, Salazar assembled a team for this spring break at the Isla Grand with a total of 40 security guards on the property all at one time. Salazar hires two outside security companies including his own staff to keep up with the masses of college students coming to visit South Padre.

“We advertise directly to college students to book their spring break trip here,” Salazar said. “I work with outside booking agencies like StudentCity that help us with promotions that attract more guests. Each year, there’s more we can offer with the entertainment we have at the resort, and it’s already brought in 15% more guests into the Isla Grand than last spring break.”

Resorts in these tropical spring break destinations take on an ambitious amount of responsibility, accommodating thousands of college students that are there to have fun. They come to visit these destinations from all around the world with the presumption that this vacation will be a highlighted memory for their college experience. With enjoyable attractions and resorts that offer affordable all-inclusive vacation packages, college students have the opportunity to explore a tropical destination with their friends and occupy their time away from school relaxing in the warm temperatures before their spring break comes to an end.