Swampthings make way for Spring Breakers

The pleasures of beach living come with some inconveniences, but certain Winter Texans who park their RVs on South Padre Island say it’s the vacationing college students that push them off the beach.

A storm surge last month brought the Gulf of Mexico’s chilly water to the RV doorsteps of the Swampthings, as the RV residents are known on the beach.

The Swampthings have lived at the Gulf’s edge since January, periodically relocating up and down the beach, they said Friday. They need to move their campers every week or so to avoid getting stuck in the thick sand and the water, the Winter Texans living just north of Cameron County Beach Access 5 said.

They mentioned overflowing trash cans, and cocaine and marijuana bundles from ocean-routed drug smugglers that have washed up near their living spaces.

Despite all of those irritants, combined with the isolation and electricity issues that come with beach living, most of the residents of these five RVs said their tipping point is Spring Break, either because of the timing or because of the partying.

The annual event celebrating youthful debauchery has already begun to leave its mark, although Texas Week will not be for another week, Island officials said. And early indication from Island business officials is that Spring Break should be close to what it was in 2008, profitable but not comparable to the Island’s peak Spring Break years.

"It’s 2 o’clock, 4 o’clock, 5 o’clock (in the morning)," Jean-Jacques Auger said. "In Spring Break, they party all night long."

Auger, a Winter Texan from Quebec, has been coming to the South Padre Island shore for nine years. And he will be making his return trek to Canada this week, he said.

Auger’s experience of beach living attracted Ernie and Darlene Bernick to park their RV next door, the Winter Texans from Illinois said.

"What’s to be scared of?" said Darlene Bernick of the isolation of beach living. "I saw 10 police cars drive down the beach in one day here. Back home, you can go three months without seeing police."

The Bernicks will be returning to Illinois this week to prepare for spring crop planting and to take care of their grandson, they said.

The Swampthings, who earned their name for their resilience during the storm surge’s high tides, said they plan on staying through April.

"I’ve done my fair share of partying in the past," said Dean Krenske, a Winter Texan from Minnesota. "As long as they don’t go hurt anyone, I don’t see a problem with it."

Dean and his wife Mary Krenske have a nice setup going at their RV. They power it with a windmill, solar panels and a gas generator. Their two dogs frolic in the sand during the day. Dean has a soundboard and speakers set up so he can work — he said he’s in the "music business."

The Krenskes should expect between 40,000 and 50,000 Spring Breakers this month, said Dan Quandt, the director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

"Things are looking good for Spring Break," Quandt said. "Texas Week is looking pretty good for the hotels. We still aren’t going to be filled to capacity, but things are looking good for the hotels."

Spring Break attendance dropped off between 2007 and 2008, about 30 percent, Quandt said. It had been about 85,000 until the decrease estimated at 25,000 in 2008. The economy and the effects of Hurricane Dolly dropped the number even lower in 2009, when the crowd was estimated at 40,000.

Quandt said that Spring Breakers have been providing a boost to local condominium rentals, as opposed to staying in hotels.

Chad Hart, director of Inertia Tours is repsonsible for some of that transition from hotels to condos.

Hart has been putting together Spring Break tour packages since 1999, the Austin native said.

He decided to get into the travel business while he was on Spring Break in Cancún, Mexico, he said.

Spring Breakers have been attracted to Cancún because most of the resorts do travel packages that include food, flight, drinks and lodging, Hart said. So he brought that business model to the Island.

"I approximated every element of these trips, and it’s been very successful," said Hart, whose company sponsors trips to Colorado, Jamaica, Mexico and Florida. "Cancún in my opinion is very safe. But it’s not as safe as South Padre is. I can tell parents that (their kids) aren’t going to some sketchy town in Mexico."