NOT Following This Timeline Will Guarantee Spring Break Sunburn

Why spring break sun is especially dangerous

Sunshine is sunshine anywhere you go, right? Wrong. The truth is that we will burn far more easily on a tropical spring break vacation than we would in a typical hometown summer. For starters, the sun is at a much lower angle of elevation in the winter, so harmful UV rays are spread out over a wider area, reducing their intensity. People also spend less time outside, and when we do venture into the tundra, we’re bundled up from head to toe. Our skin is also much drier in the winter, and burns more easily than when moisturized. (Here’s how to moisturize dry winter skin.) All this means that when you reach those beautiful turquoise waves of St. Thomas or Jamaica, your burn potential is higher than normal. And you know burns have serious health consequences—just five blistering burns during pre-adult years shoot up your melanoma risk by 80 percent. Jonas Sickler, from consumersafety.org, explains how to prep your skin to prevent “sun shock:”