The weather is getting warmer, the snowbirds have begun to fly back up north and Help Wanted signs are posted up and down Hwy. 98. All of these signals point to just one thing; Spring break season is right around the corner. In preparation for the great influx of visitors, everyone on the Emerald Coast is gearing up for the busy spring break season. The Destin Log caught up with several local businesses and agencies to see just what it takes to prepare for the busy spring season.
“We’ve got our beach patrol unit that is out there anyway, but during spring break our school resource officers will also be assisting,” said Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Michele Nicholson. “We will also be supplementing them with a marine unit and community policing and we’ve put out the call for posse members, which is our volunteer group.”
Also patrolling the waters will be the lifeguards of the Beach Safety Division of the Destin Fire Control District.
“We start our patrols on March 7th and we will be in service seven days a week from 9:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.,” said Beach Safety Chief Joe D’Agostino. “We’ll have up to seven people on patrol from the Walton County line to the East Jetty excluding Henderson Beach State Park.”
D’Agostino said the busyness of the spring break season however, really depends on the weather.
“For us, it is, ‘How fast does the water get to 70 degrees?’” he said. “If the water stays cold everyone just stays on the sand, but if it gets warm we have a really busy spring break.”
In addition to the strong beach force, Nicholson said the Sheriff officers will be on the look-out for signs of underage drinking.
“That’s the biggest issue we run into at spring break,” said Nicholson. “Spring break here, for as long as I can remember, has always had a no-tolerance policy towards underage drinking.”
As for areas known as party hot spots, Nicholson said the beaches are the main party scene, but the Sheriff’s Office has become quite well-versed in cracking down on the law breakers.
“Last year at Crystal Beach, spring breakers tried packing as many people as possible into the single family residences for house parties,” she said. “Where before, they used to be strictly in hotels and condos, now they renting houses, but that didn’t work either.”
As for the numbers, Nicholson said last year actually saw a decrease in underage drinking arrests citing less than 400 arrests compared to more than 600 in year’s past.
“Last year was actually sort of a down year with underage drinking more of an issue in Walton County than in Okaloosa County,” she said. “Maybe that is because we had held such a hard stance over the past few years that it pushed them across the county line.”
Nicholson added that besides underage drinking there generally is not much added crime during the spring break season.
“There have been some drug arrests for marijuana and a few cases of cocaine, but typically misdemeanors and underage drinking are what we are dealing with,” she said.
On the whole, Nicholson said the Sheriff’s Office is ready for the seasonal visitors, and said there is no difference in how the agency runs during the busier tourist seasons as opposed to the rest of the year.
“As long as they come here and play by the rules, we will have no problem,” she said. “We have a game plan entrenched for every season so there is no surprise on what to expect during spring break.”
As for the city, Public Information Manager Doug Rainer told The Log that crews have already been working to fix up the beach accesses and city parks for the season.
“For the last several weeks our parks crews have been making sure our beach accesses are functioning as they should be with new boards on the boardwalks and they have been making sure all the facilities are functioning correctly,” he said. “Our parks have all gotten a special clean up to make sure they are ready for our special guests. We are making sure that they are first-class ready.”
On the hospitality side, local resorts, condominiums and hotels are gearing up for the migration of families and young college students free for a week from school. But the industry is divided as Bruce Craul, general manager of the Emerald Grande, explained that the rentals differ from resort or condominium units to the hotels.
“The average hotel rents to people who have reached the age of majority which is 18 years old,” he said. “Their issues are a lot different than ours. We don’t rent to those under the age of 25 so we really don’t do anything any different than what we normally do.”
Craul said that for Destin this is a good thing, as the area attracts more of a wholesome family atmosphere.
“The Emerald Grande is a facility that caters to families that come here so as far as the connotation of spring break with partying like Panama City that’s not us,” he said. “We get geared up to accommodate the business that comes and go the extra mile to show them that this is where they should come back to in the summer time. We like to be ready for the business and love to cater to the families. We all have to represent that Destin is a special place for them.”
Spring Break Weekly List
Feb. 28-March 7
Florida State University
University of Florida
University of South Alabama
Brevard College
March 7-March 14
University of Central Florida
University of Georgia
Emory University
Mississippi State University
University of Mississippi
University of Southern Mississippi
Troy University
Baylor University
March 14-March 21
Georgia State University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Southern University
Clemson University
March 21-March 28
Auburn University
University of Alabama-Birmingham
Valdosta State University
March 28-April 4
Loyola University-New Orleans
Tulane University
Xavier University of Louisiana
April 4-April 11
Louisiana State University