How is 30A in Florida during metro Atlanta spring break?

[beach43ofus]

When we lived in Atlanta, and our Son was younger, we'd go to Hilton Head for Spring Break...loved it...Sea Pines out near the end....usually a condo, walk to beach and the Salty Dog for nightly music & family dancing. Rode bikes every day all around the Sea Pines Plantation. If it rained, there's a movie theatre and arcade to keep them busy.

When he got into High School, he started bugging us to take him to 30A, so we took him Jr. & Sr. year, & rented a place for a week in Seaside so we could park the car and walk to stuff. It wasn't cheap.

The drunk teens came out after dark, & hung on the beach until the police ran them off...happened every night. If you are inside by 9pm, you won't see much of the rowdies. If you are in a condo, get top floor, & ask about rental policies to avoid the party places.

[AlwaysBeachin]

Horrible; found out recently that the entire metro area of Atlanta also overruns and wipes out the pleasant month of October for locals to visit. I'm from a short distance away, so we'll get away from our beaches over to 30A for a change of beach scenery and a laid back mini-vacation. I didn't realize the whole fall break thing during a previous visit. It was like summertime. Counties stagger their breaks, so the entire month is like that. I was speaking with a cashier at Publix last time asking what in the world was going on, and she explained how tough it is on them.

I've heard stories about spring break being even worse. I don't dare venture over there during that time. Because 30A is comprised of tiny beach communities, it doesn't have the infrastructure or police force to handle the droves of crowds that now have discovered it. Walton Co. Sheriff's Office has to deal with all the communities. Being an expensive place doesn't affect the affluent Atlanta suburbanites that descend upon the area. To them, it must be a status symbol vacation?

Unfortunately, our small, secluded areas of paradise are no more. Head over to the SoWal local forums, search for spring break, and you'll really get an ear full from how the locals feel about ATL spring break.

[AlwaysBeachin]

Originally Posted by Go Blue 99

Thank you for the info all. I guess it may be better to do our 30A trip during fall break (mid-October). It sounds like we'd have cheaper rents, lower restaurant wait times, and fewer partying teens.

November. See my post above regarding October. I made that mistake as a local.

[Go Blue 99]

Originally Posted by AlwaysBeachin

To them, it must be a status symbol vacation?

Yep it's definitely a status symbol thing. Parents have told me their kids make them go to Seaside (or wherever) to make sure they buy the Seaside branded apparel.

[AustinTraveler]

Originally Posted by Go Blue 99

Yep it's definitely a status symbol thing. Parents have told me their kids make them go to Seaside (or wherever) to make sure they buy the Seaside branded apparel.

Parents are really stupid if they do what their kids demand.