Spring Break in Palm Springs today is pretty tame. Pool parties are controlled, downtown is quiet, and most visitors are here for golf, spas, or a polite buzz by sunset.

That was not always the case.

For a stretch in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Palm Springs Spring Break turned into a full-on Spring Break free-for-all. Tens of thousands of college students descended on downtown, Palm Canyon Drive became a nonstop street party, and the city quickly realized it had a situation on its hands.

What Spring Break Used to Look Like

If you’re trying to imagine it, think: convertibles packed with people, scooters weaving through traffic, water guns everywhere, and zero concern for what this might mean long-term.

The videos below capture what Spring Break in Palm Springs looked like before the city stepped in and shut it all down.

Spring Break in Palm Springs (1989)

This footage is peak chaos. Ignore the soundtrack if you can and focus on the scene: packed sidewalks, nonstop cruising, and a city that had clearly lost control of the moment.

So many bikinis. So many water pistols. So many decisions that probably looked better at the time.

Spring Break on Palm Canyon Drive (1990)

Shot mostly along Palm Canyon Drive, this one shows just how dense the crowds became. Cars barely moved. People barely cared.

It’s fun to watch now, but it’s not hard to see why locals and city leaders started panicking.

Why It Ended

Eventually, the city decided enough was enough.

Under then-mayor :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}, Palm Springs took deliberate steps to shut Spring Break down. Concrete barriers went up. New laws were passed. Motorcycles were restricted. String bikinis were banned downtown.

The message was clear: this was no longer that kind of town.

The result was a dramatic shift in the city’s identity. Palm Springs leaned into being a resort destination instead of a Spring Break hotspot, and that decision still shapes the city today.

Is This Better or Worse?

Depends who you ask.

If you were a college kid in 1989, this probably felt like paradise. If you lived downtown, it likely felt like a month-long endurance test.

What’s undeniable is that Palm Springs chose long-term livability over short-term chaos — and that choice is why Spring Break here today looks nothing like these videos.

If You Like Old-School Desert Videos

This isn’t the only time the desert looked wildly different than it does now.

If you enjoy these kinds of time capsules, you can find more old-school Coachella Valley footage here:

Old-School Desert Videos on Cactus Hugs

Watch them, laugh a little, and then be grateful you don’t have to drive through that traffic.