Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach area has been attracting visitors since 1874, when the only way to get there was by tramp steamer and the only hotels were located in Ormand Beach along the intercoastal waterway. At the turn of the century, as the automobile began to grow in popularity and drivers began to "feel the need for speed" the hard-packed sand of the Ormand beach became the worlds first drag strip.

March 26, 1903, brought the first time trials on the original "Measured Mile" - on which Alexander Winton set the first record of 68.198 mph in his "Bullet" car. The racing moved steadily south down the beach to Daytona Beach Shores, where Sir Malcom Campbell made history by setting five land speed records on an 11-mile stretch attempting to break the 300 MPH. As automobile racing became more organized, the first NASCAR course was created in 1948, using the beach-and starting with Ponce Inlet as the straight-away.

As Spring Break in Ft Lauderdale, began to attact national attention because of the 1960 movie classic "Where the Boys Are" the city of Daytona Beach decided to get its fair $hare of this new form of tourism. The city fathers may have been mislead by the wholesome behavior of the actors in the film. College students are not required to meet the guidelines of behavior dictated by the Hayes Commission or the MPAA's guidelines for film ratings. Despite the stories of bozing and sex and the hassles created for beachside residents, the economic impact of Spring Break made it an important event for the city.

In the early 80's, MTV made its first trip to Spring Break in Daytona. By the mid '80s Daytona had become the "Capital of Spring Break", with over 500,000 students visiting the city and tripling the population each March. Law enforcment was streched-and local residents were complaining, but the city's businesses had a sellers market. The price for hotel rooms increased along with the demand for space. Spring Break in Daytona Beach, had evolved to a point where both the students and the locals were unhappy with the situation.

Students began to look for alternative locations that would be more receptive. The pied piper of satellite music delivery and tour operators like Inter-Campus Programs, helped to lead the parade to Florida's northern gulf coast beaches. Once MTV started broadcasting from Panama City Beach, it was clear that the migration of Spring Break to PCB had begun.

Daytona Beach, is still a part of the "Spring Break Tradition", but you need to make sure you are in the right location. Daily events are normally found at the hotels where booking is provided by tour operators or near the Bandshell located at the end of the boardwalk. Inter-Campus Programs (ICP) is the largest domestic tour operator and is your best bet on pricing. Many of the hotels are booking directly, so do your best to get a competitive price. Remember, that traffic will be a (*&#*&^* , so check the location of the hotel you are evaluating to the clubs and the boardwalk. You will find a good map for this on the ICP site.

Activities each year include about a half a dozen concerts mid-March located at the Bandshell or at the Plaza hotel. There are generally some daytime activities like giveaways and contests by corporate sponsors. There are also scheduled Spring Break parties at several of the nightclubs. You will want to get a "Gold Party Card", to get entry to the parties, along with free cover and express entry to the clubs.

If you are up for making day trips, Daytona, is close to Disney World, Seaworld and Universal. ICP used to have scheduled bus trips from their hotels to the Orlando Theme Parks. Daytona also has DaytonaUSA, a local attraction celebrating the history of NASCAR and the Daytona International Speedway as well as the Kennedy Space Center just down the road.

Remember to check back here for a Calendar of Events in January and links to Coke, Hawaiian Tropic, Playboy and MTV in our "News Listings".

Click Here if you would like to check on available dates and pricing from a reliable Tour Operator.