Believe It Or Not, You CAN Enjoy Spring Break Sober

We heard you loud and clear—more travel, more options. That’s why EF Ultimate Break is launching a new collection of trips: Sober Spring Break. Sober Spring Break features three of our most-loved locations, Costa Rica, Thailand, and Egypt, and all the fun experiences that come along with them. From experiencing new cultures to thrilling adventures, these three tours have options for all, whether you want a chill or thrilling spring break. Bonus points: you’ll actually enjoy everything.

But seriously, sober activities during spring break are increasingly growing in popularity with Gen Z. Nearly 68% of 18–22-year-olds said that they were looking for sober activities during spring break, with the intention of learning about the people, places, and cultures they intended to visit. Along with meeting new people and having a relaxing break, young travelers don’t want to deal with the consequences of drinking when they could instead have a more enriching trip. Sober travel is for anyone—those who are sober-curious, those who don’t love to party, those who just want to relax, and everyone in between. 

And who better to try out a sober spring break trip than me—a 22-year-old fresh out of college who also happens to be the marketing intern at EF Ultimate Break? I wanted to be really different and mysterious, so I’m doing something no one has ever done before, a sober spring break. I’m so tired of my big travel experiences being marred by the night before, like missing the sunrise in Croatia because we stayed out too late. As much as I would like to be a #trendsetter it girl, I’m not the only one. 68% of Gen-Z are in the same boat, and they also want a sober spring break. Because travel is so much more enjoyable when you can actually enjoy it!

So, I’ll be going on our Sober Spring Break: Costa Rica tour. Totally booze-free. My goals for this trip are to be fully present and to push myself to focus on all the wonders Costa Rica has to offer. This means sunrises on the beach, lots of local coffee, exploring nature, and embracing la pura vida. This doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy a night out or two (because contrary to popular belief, you can have sober fun at a party). Check back as I explore a sober spring break with EF Ultimate Break and give you the rundown on if this dry travel thing is really worth the hype. Stay tuned, amigos!

Hola chicos! Intern Alex is back with a tan and ten days' worth of funny stories, friends, and good food.

Costa Rica, as expected, was amazing. I started my trip off by getting into Costa Rica pretty late and meeting some of my fellow travelers at the airport. Once we checked into the hotel it was lights out for me in preparation for hitting the ground running the next day. Our Tour Director, Eric, changed the itinerary a little bit due to weather, so we started our trip with a bang and went white water rafting as our first activity. This was such a fun way to get to know other people on the trip. I was in the raft with some girls I met at the airport and one of my co-workers Marta who works in the Ultimate Break Zurich office, we had the best time.

(Sidenote—imagine me rafting with a huge camera on my head. This is a COMMON theme this trip.)

Halfway through the rafting we stopped for swimming and snacks. This was my first taste of Costa Rican pineapple, and I genuinely do not think I can ever go back. The best thing I have ever eaten point blank period. Fittingly, our next activity was a pineapple farm tour that our Eric set up for us, and it was definitely one of the highlights. The local guide that owns the pineapple farm was amazing, and it was so entertaining, educational, fun, and of course, filled with unlimited pineapple. From there we headed to our Welcome Dinner and had such a wonderful meal connecting with new friends.

The next day—arguably one of my favorite days—started with a chocolate tour, followed by La Fortuna waterfall, and kayaking on Lake Arenal. One thing they don't tell you about La Fortuna waterfall is you have to take so many stairs down to the waterfall and take the exact same stairs up. Let's just say I reached my 10K steps.

It was so relaxing and so beautiful to kayak right at the base of the Arenal Volcano. Marta and I were in a two-person kayak together, and for some reason we could not get this kayak to go anywhere we wanted it to go. We were always in the back of the group trying to figure out how to use this kayak. I promise I have kayaked before! I blame it on faulty equipment (the faulty equipment being me, not knowing how to paddle).

Our Tour Director, Eric, really made this trip incredible . He went above and beyond to set up so many additional excursions for us, like the pineapple tour and local dance lessons. To break up the long drive from Arenal to Monteverde, we stopped at a local dance studio and learned four kinds of traditional Latin dances. It was such a fun group bonding activity, and you could see the passion that Eric and the instructor had for the dance. Things like this throughout the trip really stuck with me. It was touching to see how much the Costa Rican people love their culture and country and how much pride they take in their traditions.

Monteverde had so many thrilling activities for us to do. When we first arrived, we started with a night hike, which was a very interesting experience for me as somebody who absolutely hates bugs. We saw tons of spiders, frogs, and we did get to see a lemur. All in all, I'm glad I got out of my comfort zone, but I definitely have not changed my stance on bugs.

The next day, we went ziplining which was SO FUN. It was breathtaking to see Costa Rica from high above, and to do it with my new friends. At this point in the trip, we had all gotten pretty close, and I was really enjoying getting to know everyone a little bit more. I think one of the biggest bonding moments we had was at the hot springs after kayaking. We were there for about two hours and everyone just kind of came together and talked about anything and everything under the sun, and it really helped us get rid of the shyness of the group.

From Monteverde, we headed to Puntarenas for the beach portion of the trip. We paddle-boarded at the beach near our hotel and hiked to Manuel San Antonio, one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. We spent an entire day on a catamaran cruise, and since everyone had become super close by this time, and we just had the absolute best time on the boat. There was a slide, and we were able to jump off at a swim stop, plus there was a super yummy meal, and music, and fun! On the bus ride home Eric let us sing karaoke, 10/10. We wrapped up our last day with a traditional Costa Rican coffee tour and Farewell Dinner.

These ten days were especially meaningful because I was sober. Being able to focus on my health and well-being was such a great opportunity. Life gets so busy with work, friends, and other miscellaneous things that you have to do in your everyday life, that often we put ourselves on the back burner. Being able to spend ten days in Costa Rica and focus on myself and what I wanted to get out of this time was so much more rewarding than any other trip I could have taken. I was able to truly immerse myself in the Costa Rican culture, create friendships that will last a lifetime, and allow myself to take a deep breath and step away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Overall, taking a sober spring break was one of the best things that I've done, and I think this might become my new norm.