These Almost Vintage Photos Of Spring Breakers Will Make You Feel Drunk
If you spot your parents here, fun dinnertime conversation!
In the 1990s, beach spots like Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach became hot spots for a specific type of college student — the spring breaker. Capitalizing on hot young college students in thong bikinis (style is cyclical!), the music video channel MTV set up temporary operations for a week in March 1986, broadcasting live coverage for up to eight hours a day. In a lot of ways, this coverage was a run-up to the reality shows we see now and turned into a massive production that drew throngs of students and young people looking for a good time every year. We looked back at some early photos of spring break in Florida as it turned into all-caps SPRING BREAK in the ’90s and into the 2000s.

Competitors at a spring break bikini contest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, circa 1985.

Jonathan Yates (left) of Daytona Beach, Florida, and Karl Rose, of Columbus, Ohio, play a jousting game during spring break activities on March 14, 2001, in Daytona Beach.

College students enjoy spring break at Daytona Beach, Florida, where driving is allowed on the beach, circa April 1986.

Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach, Florida, with its wall-to-wall motels, condominiums, bars, arcades, restaurants, and shops, was the perfect atmosphere for college students on spring break, as photographed on March 13, 1998.

Left: College students drink beer through a funnel and tube near the pool during spring break in Palm Springs, California, circa 1985. Right: A college student photographs her friend as they enjoy spring break on the shore at Daytona Beach, Florida, in April 1986.

A young woman poses for a spring break crowd during a swimsuit contest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in an undated photo.

A man lowers his underwear during a spring break competition in Daytona Beach in April 1991.

MTV veejays Pauly Shore and Kari Wuhrer sport headscarves while dancing on an outdoor stage for a crowd of students during spring break in 1991.

Le Anne Payne and Amanda Razee, both from Orlando, watch as a stream of spring breakers walk along Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 16, 1997, as thousands of college students hit the sand and surf on the world's most famous beach.

Spring breakers on South Padre Island, Texas, on March 24, 1991.

Crowds gather along Daytona Beach for the annual spring break festivities in spring 1991.

Members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes play beach volleyball in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 15, 1999.

A couple in Daytona Beach in 1991

AT&T recruiter Cherly Klein of Atlanta (right) takes résumés from college students in bathing attire during a career fair at a Radisson hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 11, 1999.

John Sterner, a junior from the California University of Pennsylvania, tries some moves with a hula hoop on the beach during spring break in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 12, 2001.

Students indulge in drinking during spring break in Daytona Beach, 1991.

Megan King, 18, winces as she crams herself onto the dashboard of a Volkswagen Beetle to join 26 people in the car in a contest during spring break in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 14, 2002.

College students sunbathe during their spring break vacation in Daytona Beach, 1991.