"Whatever you do in Cancun stays in Cancun". This call to lose all inhibitions and party with a capital "P", sent out from the driver's seat of our mini bus to the hotel, was something we were to hear with hypnotic regularity during our stay on this Mexican pleasure peninsula. In his little induction talk, our driver also tells us that the worst offence we can commit while we are here is to look sad - excessive drinking, taking drugs (just don't get caught) and having sex in public are all fine. One final plea, which reminds you not to abandon your conscience completely, is to resist the temptations of the American fast food and retail outlets that seem to corner every street in favour of the more subtly located local businesses instead.

With "an atmosphere that is simultaneously exotic and as American as apple pie", as described by one US student travel agent, it is not difficult to see why 120,000 teenagers and young adults on Spring Break (and three million Americans in total) flock to Cancun each year on competitively priced all-inclusive packages of sun, sea, alcohol and sex. With all the ingredients for self abandon in an Americanised setting, they get more than their money's worth. A major selling point is that the drinking age is 18, as opposed to 21 in the States, and, as one student travel website encouragingly notes, this is "rarely enforced". At the "adult only" Blue Bay Getaway on Cancun's famous, if not notorious hotel strip, where the daily mantra is "nobody knows you and nobody gives a shit", the busiest place is behind the poolside bar, where bartenders seem to be unceasingly whisking up free cocktails and refilling the flasks that people have packed among their holiday essentials. Following the evening entertainment at the hotel, such as the "kissing competition" (all I can say is the pictures I have were unpublishable), you can bebussed to an all night club and drink all you want until dawn, and all for $25.

I'm not averse to a tequila or two myself, and surely a bit of debauched fun on holiday is nothing to be sneered at. After all, we Brits don't exactly have a great reputation in holiday resorts abroad. But alarm bells are starting to ring in the States regarding the health hazards of Spring Break. The Department of State's Consular information Sheet for Mexico notes that "excessive alcohol consumption [in Cancun], especially by Americans under the legal drinking age in the United States, is a significant problem", and that "In Cancun, Americans have died in automobile accidents, after falls from balconies, after falls into open ditches, by drowning, and in water-sports mishaps, among others." It also states that there "has been a significant increase in the number of rapes reported in Cancun" and "acquaintance rape is a serious problem". A government Fact Sheet on Spring Break in Cancun adds that "crimes against the person, such as rape"sometimes involve alcohol and the discotheque environment".

In 1998, the Journal of American College Health reported that on Spring Break, men drank an average of 18 drinks per day and women 10. Of the 442 women and 341 men surveyed, over half of the men and more than 40 per cent of the women drank until they became sick or passed out at least once. A survey published the following year on College Alcohol Use, found that among frequent binge drinkers (men consuming more than five drinks and women consuming more than four), 58.9 per cent were subsequently injured and 52.3 per cent engaged in unprotected sex. Extend this beyond campus confines to the dedicated hedonism of Spring Break and the figures are likely to be higher. There are 12 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease in the States each year, with 67 per cent occurring in the under 25s. A decline in sexual health has of course also been noted in this country. In June this year, the House of Commons Health Select Committee reported that one in 10 sexually active women are infected with Chlamydia, Syphilis has witnessed a 500 per cent increase in the last six years and Gonorrhoea rates have almost doubled in the same period. It also noted that HIV diagnoses exceeded 6000 cases in the last year. Campus health personnel have reported that, after skin damage, the next most common complaint is sexually transmitted disease.

Binge drinking, along with (or usually followed by) casual and anonymous sex does indeed seem to have become synonymous with Spring Break, which is partly a result of some heavy marketing by the tourist and alcohol industries. After all, sex and alcohol sell. These industries came under attack last year from the American Medical Association which conducted a poll revealing that the majority of parents are unaware that their children receive large amounts of Spring Break promotions through email, campus advertisements and direct mail. Increased efforts are being made to raise awareness in colleges of the dangers of binge drinking and health and safety issues surrounding Spring Brea, including the provision of "survival kits" which include a packet of condoms.

Three million Americans in total flock to Cancun each year on competitively priced all-inclusive packages of sun, sea, alcohol and sex. With all the ingredients for self abandon in an Americanised setting, they get more than their money's worth. A major selling point is that the drinking age is 18, as opposed to 21 in the States

Meanwhile, Spring Break alternatives like involvement in a community-based projects are also being promoted, no mean task considering the glamour, not to mention the voyeuristic appeal, that has accrued around the existing alcohol and lust fuelled option. MTV hosts a Spring Break party in Cancun every year and broadcasts from different beaches. This year, the makers of its reality TV show, The Real World, released the "world's first reality feature film", The Real Cancun - an "unscripted and uncensored" portrayal of 16 college students let loose in "the number one fantasy destination for Spring Break".

The "fantasy" actually turns out to be quite an inane and predictable orgy of indulgence and probably says less about the "real Cancun" than "real young Americans".