Ever wonder what your children do during spring break? Shocking pictures reveal the outrageous antics of college students gone wild at 'largest beach party on the planet'

By Daniel Bates In South Padre Island, Texas

PUBLISHED: 13:14 EST, 18 March 2013 | UPDATED: 11:22 EST, 19 March 2013

These pictures show just what happens when 60,000 college students descend on South Padre Island, Texas for their annual Spring Break, a non-stop orgy of drinking and partying.

For days on end they assemble at the notorious Coca-Cola beach for sun, sand, sea and no parents in sight at what the Travel Channel has called 'the biggest beach party on the planet'.

MailOnline has discovered that the carnage is so bad that it needs a 32-bed mobile hospital to deal with the wreckage.

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Can't stand up: A severely intoxicated girl is helped by police and a male friend after too much partying during spring break. One medic said the scene inside the medical tent is worse than what he saw in Iraq

Police officers haul off a severely intoxicated girl and rush her away for treatment at the medical tent, where 32 beds are set up for patients. Others go to the vambulance --- an air conditioned van for the walking wounded

In one day alone, there there were more than 60 casualties including at least 15 people who had taken drugs.

Among them was a girl of 19 who 'freaked out' while on ecstasy.

Dozens more, many of whom were underage, had drunk too much and either passed out or collapsed in the arms of medics.

One one woman does a keg stand, drinking directly from the keg while being held upside down, as another reveler, wearing a red sombrero is taken to the medical tent. One day last year saw 93 people need to go to the tent in just one day

Padre, as it is known, was recently voted the second most trashy Spring Break destination by Code Magazine (Las Vegas was first) and it wasn’t hard to see why.

The mood could be summed up by the T-shirts on sale in the stores, all of which were in garish neon capitals.

They ranged from: ‘You only live once’, to the partygoers’ manifesto: ‘Alcohol and Molly (another word for ecstasy) and party and sluts.’

Another bestseller reads: ‘Don’t tell your madre what happened in Padre.’

Over the last weekend there were things obvious to even the most casual observer that would make any parent deeply concerned.

But what was perhaps most shocking was the attitude of the authorities - who seem compromised by the huge amount of money that the partying brings to their economy.

Coca-Cola beach sits in front of the Isla Grand Hotel on what should be a picturesque part of the Texas coast on the border with Mexico.

Instead it is littered with rubbish including thousands of discarded beer cans which are collected at the end of each day by Mexican immigrants (they get 65 cents a pound for the recycling, one told me with a smile).

Dirty dancing: Clubs stay open till 2 a.m., making for a full day of partying which can lead to this scene of two girls kiss as one man holds one of them in mid-air as others look on. The days of partying bring in approximately $20 million to the town

Given that cocktails cost up to $9.50 each in the bars, the culture is all about drinking on the beach, which the local authorities have helpfully authorized.

That puts them in the bizarre position of having thousands of underage girls and boys breaking the law under their nose, but anyone who brings glass on the beach gets a $500 fine.

Partygoers stock up on beer and liquor at stores like Ben's Liquor where you can get 1.75 liters of 40 per cent proof vodka for $11.99.

They buy a beer bong for 99c at a beachfront store and then head to stage where they dance around to ‘heart-thumping music.’

VIDEO On the beach at Spring Breakers party at South Padre Island

Spring Breakers party at South Padre Island

Three revelers party on South Padre Island, Texas where 1.75 liters of vodka sell for $11.95 at local liquor stores but individual drinks go for $9.50 at clubs

Around 1pm on Saturday things were still good natured.

Groups of college students had dug trenches in the sand to make a table on which they were playing beer pong.

Different colleges had planted their flags in the sand and there were cheerful reunions as football teams who had played each other that season toasted their each other over a Bud Lite.

Corporate sponsorship was everywhere. Aside from the Coca-Cola signs on the stage, Vitaminwater sunglasses were being handed out and there was a Vitaminwater stage where you could have your picture taken.

The National Guard had sponsored a basketball court where games of 3 on 3 were underway. Razor company Bic had set up a stage where you could get a free shave.

The crowd cheered during the sexiest man and sexiest woman contest.

Hip hop blared out of the speakers.

It seemed like good fun, but the darker side of things was never far away.

A female reveler is groped on her left breast as she puts her hands in the air at a pool party near Coca Cola Beach on South Padre Island, Texas, during Spring Break where 60,000 college students descended

Groups of men often gather round a woman and chant for her to take her top off, as this woman has just done

A crowd of beach goers gathers around as a woman lifts up her top, prompting a shower of beads and beer during a Spring Break party. One beachgoer recalled seeing another woman fall over and then groped by men who walked passed

Daniel, a secondary school math teacher who was on holiday with his friends, told how during last year’s Spring Break in Padre the girls he was with fell over on the ice chest and as they were on the floor some men started trying to grab their tops off.

When Daniel remonstrated with them he was rebuked and told: ‘What’s your problem?’

Before everyone tucked into an orange vodka jello shot, his friend told me about his wild night the previous evening.

Beach goers spray beer into the air as they party on Coca Cola Beach, where groups of students play beer bong after digging ditches in the sand to set-up tables

‘She texted back: ‘OK, let's f***.’

‘She came over and we had sex and I fell asleep. She said she wanted to stay but I told her no as she didn't have a wristband for the hotel. I had snuck her in the back otherwise it would have cost $30 for a night pass which I didn’t want to pay, so she left.’

A reveler drinks directly from a keg. Students set up flags in the sand to 'honor' the colleges they come from

A pair of revelers meet up in the street at closing time after partying at Louie's Backyard

A female party goer flips off the crowd as she gets booed and jeered for refusing to show her breasts as many other women do

By 4pm, the mood on the beach had changed.

Arms flailed everywhere, bodies writhed and dozens of teenagers danced in mobs to the pounding techno music.

In front of me a teenage girl suddenly grabbed her female friend and started grinding against her.

A crowd of men formed and began shouting ‘t**s out! t**s out! which she did after initially refusing to do so.

Her 'reward' was a slap on the buttocks from a male companion.

Another girl in another ‘t**s out!’ circle flashed her breasts and was given a can of Bud Lite by a man who said: ‘She’s one baddass b****!’

The 25,000 strong crowd would inexplicably roar at something, which caused others to roar too and spray their beer into the air.

A teenager sitting on someone's shoulders bit into two cans of Bud Lite at the same time, sending a shower of beer all around him.

Party's over: A police officer handcuffs a party goer as police try to clear revelers off of Coca Cola Beach

She's getting down: Crowd members cheer as a participant performs in a dance contest at the Isla Grand Hotel

During an aborted attempt to drink out of a beer bong, a girl ended up covered in Budweiser. He male friend said, pointing to her t-shirt: ‘You got it wet, take it off!’ He added, pointing to his large bottle of Miller Lite: ‘Whatever he says is the rules.’

Soon after the casualties began to appear.

A portly woman who could no longer stand was hauled out of the crowd by two male companions where she became abusive towards them.

A teenage girl collapsed behind the toilets with saucer like eyes and vacant look to her face.

Helpless: Police assess a severely intoxicated girl before helping her off of Coca Cola Beach

Most of them ended up at the medical tent behind the main stage, which was actually two 16-bed mobile units which are designed to be deployed in wars or natural disasters.

Each was staffed by a nurse and paramedics and was set up to relieve the pressure on hospitals and stop the teenagers being slung in a ‘drunk tank’ in the local jail.

It was a disturbing sight.

One girl said she had been doing CPR on her 19-year-old cousin after she collapsed whilst dancing because a stranger had given her a white pill with ecstasy inside.

A teenage boy was led in saying: 'No drugs. I'm not dumb I'm just drunk.'

A boy of a similar age was hauled in dripping with water having been hosed down outside to cool him down, again that distant look to his eyes.

Other cases were wheeled in and wheeled out.

A teenage boy in a red sombrero who had vomited over himself was unable to talk coherently and only managed a zombie-like groan.

A pale-looking girl who looked no more than 20 wearing a bandana was pushed out on a stretcher wincing with pain.

Revelers who need medical attention are brought to this make-shift tent at Coca Cola Beach

A man in his 50s had apparently been taking Vicodin and drinking and had to be restrained when he got violent. He wore a t-shirt with the slogan: 'Drinking alcohol comes with responsibilities.' The woman he was with burst into tears.

Those who were treated on site were put in a cubicle made of plastic sheets, hooked up to an IV to rehydrate them and left to sleep it off for however long it took.

Looking down the corridor of feet sticking out in the sickly yellow light streaming through the tent ceiling, it looked like a makeshift morgue rather than a hospital.

An EMT shook his head and told me: ‘We had some military guys here who have served in Iraq and they said they had never seen anything like this.'

A Texas State Trooper orders a drunk reveler to leave as police work to clear the beach

Two girls enjoy their time away from the classroom as they dance with each other at a nightclub on South Padre Island

The party continues into the night as partiers head off to Louie's Backyard where they dance, and of, course, drink more

By 4pm the triage tent had handled around 60 patients mostly aged between 18 and 22. Some 24 had been taken to hospital in the ‘vambulance’ --- an air conditioned van for the walking wounded, but others had been taken by ambulance.

But it seems that day was not the worst of it - the previous year up to 93 patients came through the doors of the tent every day, of which 34 had to be taken to hospital.

Meanwhile at the La Copa Inn nearby the party continued with the pool so packed with dozens of partygoers dancing to more ear-splitting techno that it was almost impossible to get in.

Two girls on the shoulders of two male companions kissed each other to the cheers of the crowd.

One girl was groped by two different men as she cheered with her arms in the air, oblivious to what happened.

Anyone wondering why she had so many beads round her neck only had to recall ‘local custom’ that if you give a girl some beads she has to show you her breasts.

Party goers dance on the outdoor deck at Louie's Backyard

The party doesn't always end after the club closes. Often, people continue the celebration back at their hotels, which cost around $40 per night

As per the routine on Padre, come 9pm most people went back to their hotels for a bit, had a snooze, a shower and hit a club until 2am.

This included Clayton’s, the largest beach bar in Texas, where Paris Hilton recently made an appearance and where over the weekend Trojan condoms were launching their new brand, called ‘Pure Ecstasy.’

After that, who knows.

As late as 3am, a group of men were burning the tire of their motorcycle right outside the door of their Super 8 Motel room, making a racket that would have woken up the entire hotel.

The following day Coca-Cola beach was closed because last year at the site on the same day Derek Madrigal, 21, a Brookhaven College journalism student from Dallas, was stabbed multiple times by alleged Mexican gangsters.

The thinking was that if the beach was closed there wouldn’t be a stabbing on the beach (though clearly it could just as easily happen elsewhere).

Instead thousands of teenagers assembled there anyway because they had not been told otherwise.

Wild crowd: A contestant pulls off her T-shirt for the crowd as she participates in a bikini contest at Louie's Backyard

With no music to focus the crowd’s energy, circles formed around teenagers fighting each other including one yob with tattoos and a bloody cut to his head.

Circles also formed around girls with up to 30 men shouting ‘suck his c***!’ as opposed to yesterday’s ‘t**s out!’

One girl who showed her breasts was showered with beer, the symbolism of which was hard not to read in crude sexual terms.

When the police moved in there were a few flare-ups and we saw one student put in handcuffs after police waded in and drew their batons to drag him away.

Around 50 officers separated the crowd of 2,000 and kept them moving along the beach until they dispersed into the side roads.

Fun: Spring breakers dance the night away at Louie's Backyard

A female party goer drinks from a beer bong. Entire trips to South Padre Island can cost just $200 for college students

Back at the triage tent there had only been seven casualties as the crowd had been moved on, but they did include a man who was so drunk he didn’t realize his swimming shorts had fallen down to his ankles.

At that stage, only the most committed partygoer could have taken any more.

Our stay in Padre lasted for two days and two nights but some people had been there for a week.

The attraction is simple to understand - if you book in advance it can be very cheap, and once you arrive the people are happy to sell themselves cheap, especially it seems if you are a woman.

The Isla Grand offers packages for $39 per person per night for a cabana including a free bracelet for entry to the hotel, which normally costs $20, and free entry to another bar.

With Love2Padre.com The Saida Towers nearby offers rooms at $35 per person per night for a condominium right on Coca-Cola beach.

Springbreak.com advises travellers that they need to budget between $200 and $300 per person per trip spending money.

So assuming that the 60,000 people who visited spent all of that and were paying just $39 per person, Spring Break would bring in $20m to the local economy.

The reality however is likely to be significantly higher.

The Padre Island tourism board was unable to provide a total figure for how much it brought in and could only say that sales tax and hotel taxes raised nearly $1m.

Even that is a lot of money for the permanent residents, who number just 2,800.

People in the crowd cheer and take photos and video as a participant in a bikini contest takes the stage at Louie's Backyard

Locals claim that Spring Break is a blip - especially last week as it was Texas Week, when all the Texas colleges come - and that for the rest of the year it is a family orientated resort.

And Padre Island wasn’t always like this, of course.

It was first settled in 1804 when, according to the National Parks Service, Catholic priest Padre Jose Nicolas Balli founded a ranch 26 miles north of what has become the tourist area.

Unusually for a man of the cloth, his religion did allow him to make a profit on the land, which he duly did by raising large herds of cattle, sheep and horses.

Come the 1980s, that mercantile spirit seems to have resurfaced when ski instructors from Colorado came down to Padre in the summer because of the windsurfing.

Word got out and here we are 30 years later with South Padre Blvd, the main road through the island, packed bumper to bumper in both directions from afternoon until the wee hours with more pick up trucks than a rodeo parking lot – and more pick ups than a Columbian brothel.

Traffic is so bad it can take two hours just to get over the bridge to get onto the island, which is just 2.3miles long.

A college student chugs a beer in a crowd of Spring Break revelers at Coca Cola Beach on South Padre Island, Texas, where there were 1,000 DWI arrests during last year's spring break

Padre tourism spokeswoman Mary Hancock did not reply to requests for an interview.

When MailOnline ran into her at the medical tent backstage from Coca-Cola beach she said that she ‘does not take much notice’ of lists like the one which ranked her island as the second trashiest place to Spring Break.

She said that people like that ‘have to have something to talk about’ and that Padre was going to be on the list because of the limited number of places that could be.

She added: ‘We are working very hard to un-trash it’ before excusing herself and moving away to deal with a French film crew.

Another official who seemed remarkably calm about the madness unfolding around him was South Padre Island Fire Chief Burney Baskett.

Emergency medical technicians try and lift up a drunken reveler after they hosed him off on the grass. Officials estimate that they have to double the number of emergency personnel during spring break compared to the rest of the year as there are five times the number of 911 calls

He said that Spring Break was a ‘yearly ritual’ that the town goes through and that it cost his department $30,000 each year.

The number of staff more than doubles including the beach patrol, which is his responsibility.

Emergency calls also go up from between five and 10 a day to more than 50 with most for partygoers who have been out in the sun too long and have collapsed through dehydration.

Chief Baskett said that the partygoers were a 'pretty well behaved crowd’ --- thoughts that, in fairness, were echoed by local shopkeepers.

He told MailOnline it was a ‘fine line’ as to whether to ‘tax impact’ outweighed the negative impact on the community.

‘It’s the continuous argument we have with ourselves. Is it worth the cost in terms of money and what’s happening?

‘My personal assessment is if they didn’t come here they would go somewhere else. It’s not like you’re going to stop them partying so they might as well come here.

‘This has been going on in Padre for 30 years, we have a lot of experience. We know what to expect.’

A party goer is taken into police custody. There were over 400 felonies during last year's spring break

Another unspoken consequence of the partying is crime.

According to the South Padre Department of Public Safety there were 1,000 DWI arrests during last year's Spring Break, 9,400 speeding citations, 1,500 seat belt-related offenses and 12,500 other citations.

There were a total of 545 fugitives who were arrested - that’s people on the run from the law who were picked up - and 402 felony arrests.

Over the weekend I was there there were no stabbings but there was a horrific DWI wreck which saw several people airlifted to hospital with broken collar bones, a broken pelvis and internal bleeding.

A 19-year-old who was on probation for resisting arrest was held by police.

Padre Island police chief Randy Smith was not available for interview, neither was anybody from the Isla Grand Hotel or Coca-Cola.