Spring Break in Mexico:Alcohol, Drugs, Beaches -- and Bloodshed

Thousands of American college students will flock to Mexico for spring break as that country's drug war grows more bloody.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory Friday warning of an "increasingly violent" conflict between the government and drug cartels.

"Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat," the advisory said. "Large firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico."

Spring break can be a stressful time for parents of college students. Not surprisingly, students on spring break outings with friends dramatically increase their alcohol consumption, the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugsreported this fall. Last year, the medical journal Chronobiology International published a study tracking patterns of sexually transmitted disease. Among the trends they found were prominent peaks in March and May. The authors speculated these increases could be associated with the sexual activities of young adults during spring break, which commences as early as late February and concludes as late as mid-April.

Alternatively, if you’re looking to vacation this month or next anywhere but a mainstream spring-break locale, we are here to advise.
First tip: Skip Cabo San Lucas, and head instead to Loreto, a Gulf of California city that Times staff writer Ann Brenoff called “a deep-tissue massage for the soul.”
Following are other quiet zones, away from tequila poppers and till-dawn parties:
- In the Yucatan, Cancún might be a scene, but Bacalar offers respite among ruins
.- On the Pacific Coast, pass on Puerto Vallarta, unless you’re just stopping through on your way to sleepy San Blas.- 

Other spots to consider include Puerto Escondido in the state of Oaxaca; the “unassuming, ancient town” of Guanajuato, an hour from San Miguel de Allende; and Mexico’s Sonoran villages, where, according to L. A. Times staff writer Susan Spano, “wildlife and the old ways flourish.”