More students head to Lake Havasu for spring break, not Mexico due to fear

LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ - Many college students have decided to enjoy their spring break in Lake Havasu instead of Mexico because of a fear of violence.

“There’s no way we’re going to go back to Mexico,” said Arizona State University senior Trista Hahn.

She and a few friends had gone to Mexico last year when she said a friend had a run-in with a member of a drug cartel.

“One of the people we were with left the club by himself and ended up getting stabbed by people in an alleyway,” she said.

Hahn and many others have decided not to go to Mexico due to drug cartel violence.

Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan noted many of those students who would have been in Mexico have instead descended upon Lake Havasu.

However, deputies have been ready to enforce the laws regardless of how many students show up for spring break.

“It seems to me their mindset is to come out [and] have a good time,” said Mohave County Sheriff Deputy Ed Trafecanty, who patrols the lake. “I don’t want to say all of them like to drink, but it is something a lot of them like to do.”

He said their biggest concern with college students is many of them don’t know all the boating rules and regulations. He also said he hasn’t seen any increased problems on the lake this year.

“This, on any weekday we’re out here, as far as I’m concerned, isn’t all that bad,” he said.

But others have certainly felt an increase in the number of students.

“It feels like things are getting better,” said Molly Willis, who owns Action Sports, a retail shop near Lake Havasu.

She said this is the most students in the area she has seen in many years.

“Five [or] six-thousand more students this year than we had last year,” she said.

And this is a trend many students feel will continue.

Hahn said she recommends other students to go somewhere other than Mexico during spring break and still have a great time.