Boys, babes, sun, surf and drinks that come by the foot. Spring Break recaptures all the passion of our ancestors’ vernal rites, but with a whole lot more skin. In the past, gays and lesbians had trouble finding their place in the sun, and as fun as it is seeing if the old joke about the difference between a straight boy and a gay boy being about six beers is actually true, Spring Break’s gone homo in a big way in recent years. Here are the top five spots we wish we had all-expense-paid assignments to (hint, hint, Boards of Tourism) this year.
Key West
The Scene: The biggest national gay Spring Break destination, Key West offers all the booze, boys and morning-after hangovers of regular Spring Break, but with a far greater hook-up potential.
Where to Stay: Dubbed “the best gay men’s resort in the world”, Island House Key West boasts a health club, cafe and a clothing optional policy.
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Fun By Day: That’d be the beach, bub.
Fun at Night: Key West’s Bourbon Street is where the action is.
More Info: Gay Key West
The Scene: Spring break in P.S. is a study in contrasts. For the girls, there’s the Dinah Shore Weekend, which draws an older crowd, while Jeffrey Sanker’s White Party brings out the circuit queens.
Where to Stay: There are a ton of gay resorts in P.S. Century is our favorite and caters to a young crowd. Alternatively, rent out one of P.S.’s many mid-century homes.
Fun By Day: Hiking Mt. San Jacinto, biking in town, lounging by the pool.
Fun at Night: Toucan’s on Palm Canyon Drive is a local hot-spot.
More Info: Palm Springs Gay
Tulum, MX
The Scene: A relaxed and affordable alternative to Cancun, Tulum, Mexico, is the famous party destination’s more authentic little sister. If long days by the beach, snorkeling and New Age spirituality is more your scene than wet t-shirt contests, Tulum is just your style.
Where to Stay: EcoTulum is right on the beach, very gay-friendly and offers everything from sand-floor huts at $40/night to luxurious cabanas at $200+/night.
Fun By Day: Snorkel in the local sinkholes (locally called cenotes), explore the Mayan ruins or soak up the sun.
Fun at Night: Downtown Tulum isn’t much to look at, but its collection of bars are solidly authentic.
More Info: Tulum
Puerto Vallarta
The Scene: If you want to party it up in mixed company, P.V. is the best of both worlds: plenty of drunken frat boys and sorority chicks, plus copious gay bars catering to your needs.
Where to Stay: Want to get your A-Gay on? Blue Seas Spa & Resort is the high-end and gay-owned hotel of your dreams, yet thanks to the strength of the dollar, one bedrooms run about $150/night.
Fun By Day: The gay scene by day centers on Playa Los Muertos, the gay beach. You’ll recognize it by the blue and green chairs– and you know, all the gay people you’re surrounded by.
Fun at Night: The colorfully named Zona Romantica is on Vallarta’s south side and home to over a dozen gay bars.
More Info: Gay Guide Vallarta
Aspen
The Scene: Who says Spring Break means bikinis and Speedos? Colorado’s skiing mecca offers up great skiing, hot tubs and a variety of apres ski opportunities for homosexual snowbirds.
Where to Stay: Rental opportunities abound, but if you’re looking to stay close to the action, Independence Square Lodge is downtown Aspen’s only lodge.
Fun By Day: We thought you might like to ski here.
Fun at Night: While Aspen offers plenty of apres ski joints, like straight folks, gay visitors to Aspen will want to take advantage of the stunning views and warm fires to create their own kind of fun. Maybe not the best spot for singles, but an excellent alternative for couples.
More Info: Aspen World Guide
Jason in WV
I’ve done Key West and Puerto Vallarta – now to work my way through the rest of the list!
burger king
we love Puerto Vallarta
heading back in August
Blue Chairs is sort of a flea bag hotel but you can’t beat the deal and it’s right on the gay beach
Z reveals
I really liked PV too
Condenasty
Do not bring your diva friends to Tulum, it it a bit too granola for them.
Buddy
Um, careful. Blues Seas is a timeshare next door to Blue Chairs. Blue Chairs is the classic gay resort – Blue Seas is a timeshare that that is trying to go gay to capitalize on the popularity of Blue Chairs but still has 90% hetero timeshare owners. Check out Tripadvisor for more details.
Buddy
Oh, and Blue Seas used to be Playa del Sol and looks like it’s about to be sold to become “One Puerto Vallarta” : http://blueseaspuertovallarta.blogspot.com/
Lakas
I recommend vrbo.com if you wanna rent a condo by the beach (next to blue chairs) in Puerto Vallarta. Some are gay owned. A better and cheaper alternative to blue chairs.
illuman23
First off. Blue Chairs doesn’t qualify as a “resort” by any stretch of the imagination. I’d qualify it as a 2 star beachfront hotel, complete with the associated local rent boys and mandatory rooftop drag queen bingo. Fun, but not a resort.
Tulum is also very nice, I’d suggest Mezzanine. It’s right on the beach, walking distance to the ruins, and is awesome. I just hope that they’ve resolved their occupancy rights with the Mexican government.
I also doubt that Mexico will be all that popular this year with the whole Secretary of State Travel alert that was sent out in February.
la super
Just got back from Puerto Vallarta. I must say, it is a wonderful gay little town (didn’t even come in contact with straight people. They seem to be cordoned off in their own little ghetto to the north). It seems to be a bit of an older crowd there though. We and a few others seemed to be the only ones in our twenties – creating a bit of an awkward vibe. Either way, you can’t beat Manana and those vendors on the beach selling, well, everything…
BrianZ
The hubby and I booked PV for late Sept. staying @ Dreams. I don’t really see much about Dreams: Anyone have some feedback?
West Palm is fun for sure. I love the variety of people you encounter there, any time of year.
RE: The picture for Palm Springs, uhm, what exactly is the boy in the middle holding on to with his left hand? ;o) No wonder the guy to the far right looks so happy!
RM
Ugh. This article sounded like it was ripped from the pages of any tacky gay magazine. If there were any left.
Please: More article about news, events, and culture, and not about consume!shop!spend!travel! junk.
sam
@RM: @RM:
clearly there is a market for articles of this nature. if you don’t want to read about travel destinations, don’t click on the link. simple as that.
there are still plenty of ‘news’ articles to be had. some people howeve,r also want less serious fare.
Tom
In Puerto Vallarta, the best, most luxurious hotel is Casa Cupula. The location and hotel are gorgeous, the staff was phenomenal, and the scene upscale but still relaxed. The Sayuri suite is out of this world!
Tom
http://www.casacupula.com
Ian
I need to get my ass back to Puerto Vallarta PRONTO!!
Tom
Hey guys… Stays4gays.com has some real cool gay places to stay. We just stayed at a cool one in Mexico City…6M9 Guesthouse and it was fantastic! We would not have known about it…. Check out if you can http://www.stays4gays.com
Tom
[img]www.stays4gays.com[/img]
Tim Wilson
Find all about GAY Puerto Vallarta here!
americanpv
Guys find out everything gay in Puerto Vallarta at http://www.gaypv.com
michaelj72
a few corrections and updates to the info on Puerto Vallarta. the Scene is to be found on the South Side or Romantic Zone, where the gay guys are, the frat boys and chicks mostly stay in the hotel zone and the Marina and party downtown while we party at such popular places as Paco’s Ranch, La Noche, CC Slaughters and the cabaret-bar The Palm, plus there are at least a dozen other gay bars and nightspots on this side of town. more info here discoveryvallarta.com/gaybars.html – try the Bar Hopping tour with Christian and Luis. Blue Seas Resort is gone meaning now named One Beach Street and it is rather modest accommodations, & as noted in the comments Casa Cupula would be the high end. The Blue and Green Chairs, along with the new El Lido Beach Club, consitute the present gay beach area – always expanding, with lots of info and photos here discoveryvallarta.com/gay-beach.html – Plenty of further info on Puerto Vallarta gay cruises and tours, shopping and restaurants, as well as details about the exciting art scene and town and much more at the main Puerto Vallarta Gay Guide, discoveryvallarta.com/guide.html which is the oldest gay and lesbian on-line resource, since 1998.