Take a look: Spring break marches on in Miami Beach with fewer crowds, more restrictions
Spring break crowds shuffling along Ocean Drive and enjoying the sun on Miami Beach’s sandy shores haven’t yet measured up to the throngs of people who attended spring breaks of years past.
On Saturday, locals and visitors alike were met with the city’s strict restrictions and a heavy police presence. By 10 p.m., the crowd appeared smaller than on the average Miami Beach weekend night, even more so for peak season.
Barricaded streets, closed beach entrances and vigilant officers seem to have contributed to the noticeably lighter crowd.
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That didn’t stop the fun for spring breakers who saw the city’s “stay away” messaging and came anyway.
Amia Campbell, a 23-year-old postgraduate student at Delaware State University, was practicing acrobatic moves and stretches on her last day in the city with local resident Hivo Gonzalez, whom she had just met, on the grass of Lummus Park.
She arrived Wednesday, and while she saw the city’s advisory video, she already had plans booked for her first visit to Miami Beach. While her trip went on without incident, she is wary of what’s to come.
“We got here before the crazy — there is still next weekend and after,” she said. “I think it will definitely get crazier after.”
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Jada, a 19-year-old at Morgan State University, couldn’t understand why the city took such harsh action for spring break.
“It was so lame,” she said about the viral commercial. “Spring breakers give [Miami Beach] money. How can you say no to money?”
At the same time, she said she was happy to see the security measures in place and the high visibility of officers.
While crowds were minimal Friday and early Saturday night, Miami Beach police and other agencies have been hard at work enforcing the city’s tight restrictions, Miami Beach police spokesperson Christopher Bess said.
Since March 1, officers have made a little over 100 spring break-related arrests, he said.
“As far as expectations are concerned, we are enforcing the ordinances and state statutes and will be charging accordingly if they break the law,” Bess said.
Just after 7 p.m., traffic slowed on Fifth Street as Miami Beach police, with help from Florida Highway Patrol troopers, began pulling over cars at a DUI checkpoint between Meridian Avenue and Washington Street. Of the four lanes, the checkpoint took up three.
As they did Friday, officers were handing out citations, conducting sobriety exercises and detaining some drivers.
Luis Ferolito, a 20-year resident of South Beach, said he welcomed the city’s crackdown.
This year’s spring break “is a beautiful thing for the locals: no violence, no craziness,” he said. “Everybody is welcome, but ... we need to understand that we [shouldn’t] have violence in this world; just enjoy.”
