Spring Break is almost upon us. Students and teachers love it while everyone else hates it, especially if you live in certain parts of Florida.
While the time frame of Spring Break can vary depending on the school in question, the peak of the season tends to occur in the mid-to-late part of March. Otherwise well-intentioned articles such as these help Spring Breakers make their plans: 2023 Spring Break in Florida: Top 10 spots, hot tips.
Articles or no, they would come anyway though. And you can't blame them. Florida is sunny and full of plenty of cool things to do during Spring Break, and those tourism dollars are great for the state.
But what if you're someone who just wants to avoid it all? Living in Florida means you can enjoy these places almost any time of the year. So, why bother going during Spring Break?
The touristy areas of Orlando
Places to certainly avoid would be theme parks like Disney World, Universal and Sea World. Better to wait until the latter part of April or May.
Keep in mind that summer will usually see a huge pick-up again, especially in late July and August. October and November tend to be better months to visit, aside from any holidays where the kids are out of school.
Other places to avoid would include International Drive and maybe Downtown Orlando on certain days.
Alternatives: If you live in Florida, the ideal thing to do is merely plan some quality home time. However, if you're just dying to get out, why not try the northern areas of the Orlando metro area, such as Lake Monroe in Sanford, Green Springs Park in Enterprise, Mount Dora or explore the beautiful St. John's River with a lovely tour.
Not sure about places like Wekiva Springs during Spring Break... seems like this would be a popular destination for the kiddies to head.
Popular beach areas like Daytona and Cocoa
Many of the most popular names in Florida beaches are places to avoid. Some might not mind going to the beach when it's crowded. Others love to go when they have plenty of space and no one right next to them being obnoxious.
If you belong to the latter group, then avoid places like this during Spring Break.
Alternatives: Some might consider Flagler Beach or New Smyrna Beach to be suitable alternatives, but you could also head to one of the many beautiful Florida lakes to explore and have fun, such as Lake Louisa State Park, or if you truly want to escape the crowds and get in touch with nature, Lake George and Lake George State Forest.
Miami and Ft. Lauderdale
If you're looking for the ultimate in crowded, high priced party scenes that Florida has to offer, South Beach, Miami Beach and Ft. Lauderdale are the places to be. During Spring Break, the prices just skyrocket, but if that's your scene then I suppose it's all worth it.
Alternatives: If this isn't your scene, you could always head up the coast to places like West Palm or Vero Beach or out to The Everglades, although some areas of The Everglades too could get a bit crowded as well.
The Keys
Reportedly, the Florida Keys do not tend to get as crowded during Spring Break as some of the other destinations mentioned in this article, although it might still be wise to avoid planning any kind of vacation during this time, especially to certain areas like Key West and Key Largo.
Some of these places will still be crazy expensive as well, just because of the season.
Alternatives: Big Pine Key and The Lower Keys are known for being less-crowded alternatives, although personally I would still wait until the end of April or into May to plan anything, if you can swing it.
Conclusion
If you want to avoid high costs and crowds, there are alternatives to be found to the standard Florida Spring Break tourist traps. Check out lesser-known areas or, best yet, just plan to have a lot of BBQs and game nights at home.
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