The Dos and Don'ts During Spring Break

Spring break is always a wild, fun, week of beach lounging and partying. Because of this, it’s easy to lose your cool sometimes and do something stupid. Knowing a few things before you go can help save your butt from getting into real big trouble, or simply help keep you from social humiliation.So before you dawn your fanciest swimming suit and come to the emerald green waters and sugar white sand of the beach, let your Panama City real estate friends help you have a great, fun, SAFE, week! And may we be the first to welcome you! Welcome to our beach!

Walking is usually the fastest way to get from one point to the next during spring break, as traffic is usually hitting top speeds of 5 mph during periods of extreme acceleration. Most humans walk at roughly the same speed or a little faster. Heat from engines, body’s, and the sun will drive you crazy as you sit in traffic, wasting gas. If you need to drive, then drive, but if not, it’s best to walk. BONUS: If you walk, you can’t get a DUI. Additional Bonus: Not driving also means no fender benders as well, as others may not be paying as much attention to the road as you are. Additional additional Bonus: You will save gas money by staying out of traffic.

They are already here. The red-as-an-apple tourists, who didn’t apply sunscreen the first day of their week here and they are already covered head to toe in sunburn. If you want to stay a week, miserable and burnt, in paradise, then skip the sunscreen. But if you’re like most humans, even a thin layer of sunscreen will help some to prevent you from looking like a ready lobster. BONUS: Using sunscreen will make you look like a beach pro.

Although it looks small on the outside, Shipwreck Island is actually a 20 acre water park offering fun for the entire family, from toddlers to grandma and grandpa. This oasis of awesomeness offers some of the gulfs best water rides, slides, and pools, and is the best water park locally. Prices are cheap, so lines for tickets can get long. Buying tickets online can help with that. The park is open limited for spring break, and opens full time during the summer. BONUS: Buying tickets online will help speed your entry into the water park.

There is a reason that the US military even uses the buddy system. Simply put, it’s safer. There is strength in numbers, and with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country all within a small space, a little extra security can’t hurt. Keep tabs on your friends, and let them know where you’re going and what you’re doing. You might not think that it is cool, but with recent stories on the news about kidnappings, etc, knowing where your friends are can help prevent them from being the next hot topic on the 6 o’clock news. BONUS: You will always have someone who has your back.

There is a reason water covers 2/3 the face of the planet. And there is a reason you need to drink water constantly while here visiting the beach. Just like applying sunscreen, drinking plenty of water will keep you from getting dehydrated. Dehydration at the beach is one of the most common 911 calls, and is the easiest to prevent, by bringing AND drinking water all day, every day. If you plan on spending hours in the sun, in 90+ temps, add in the humidity, and possible drinking, and you’re a ticking time bomb for dehydration, and it will happen faster than you expect. Just remember, the hospitals locally don’t allow partying in ER rooms. BONUS: Save money by avoiding ambulance rides and hospital bills.

If you bring it in, pack it out. Pack a garbage bag in a cooler for empty’s, and trash cans are strategically placed roughly every 5-10 feet or so, for your convenience. USE THEM. This ain’t your home, and your momma ain’t going to clean your mess up. Local PD won’t put up with litter bugs either. Also, if you leave something on the beach overnight, don’t expect it to be there in the morning. Local laws state that anything left on the beach overnight gets thrown away, no exceptions. So be kind to not only the other spring breakers, but the locals, and the local ecosystem, and pick up your trash, and throw it into one of the conveniently placed trash receptacles. BONUS: The trash cans can be incorporated into games, if creative enough, such as hoops games with empty cans.

If you’re coming to spring break, you’re coming to have fun. Smarting off to the local PD, or your bartender, or store clerks won’t make you popular, and might even end up with your party ending right then and there. If you want to have a good time, come with a good attitude. Remember, there are people who live here all year long, and are raising their family’s here. BONUS: You might just meet someone cool you could have missed during one of your famous temper tantrums.

Just because you look like Michael Phelps doesn't mean you swim as good as he does. Usually, alcohol is a contributing factor for those with this hair brained idea, but local beaches can have intense currents even if the seas are as flat as a beer pong table. BONUS: No midnight snack for Jaws.