After the gruelling Leaving Certificate, thousands of Irish students look to let off steam in what has become a rite of passage: the post-exams holiday.
The Greek island of Zakynthos – better known as Zante – has become one of the most popular destinations, and this week it is buzzing with Irish teenagers enjoying blistering heat, booze cruises and beach parties.
“If I had children, I wouldn’t want them to go on a holiday like this,” says Sarah Gadaloff (18) from Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. She is staying by the Laganas strip in Zante, describing the nightlife there as “terrifying and good at the same time”.
“My mum didn’t want me to go,” she says, “but you have to let your children have fun after the Leaving Cert.” The island’s natural beauty, crystal-clear waters and turtle sanctuary are all incidental attractions. The main pull for Irish Leaving Cert holiday goers is meeting other students who have graduated from secondary school for one last hurrah. Gadaloff, a competitive showjumper who plans to work full time in the sport from September, says she went “because everyone else was going and that’s the whole point. To be with everybody.”
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For her boyfriend Victor Lace (18), the trip is a chance to meet former classmates. He did not sit the Leaving Cert last month, having opting instead to move to Poland to pursue a professional football opportunity six months ago.
“I have been away now for a long time, so I am excited to see all my mates, all my old friends, it has been amazing.”
Of the resort, he says: “When I first came it was a bit mad, like. It was hectic. There’s quad bikes flying around the place, people are in the clubs, and all this, but you kind of get used to it.
“You get different types of characters when you walk down the road. You can expect anything in Zante.”
Many of the local bars provide free drink to lure a crowd but one student who is not influenced in such offers is Ryan Treacy (19), who hopes to study commerce and Spanish in UCD in September.
“I don’t drink alcohol, actually. To be honest, it’s been the same as any other time I go on a night out. I just enjoy being around people I love, and all that kind of stuff. So it hasn’t changed my experience at all.”
That said, Treacy found one of the flagship parties in Zante, the “white party”, to be “disappointing at first”. He says: “It was so packed ... you couldn’t move, which I didn’t really like but then eventually I was around loads of people that I knew.”
The white parties – typically occurring each Sunday during the summer – are named after their dress code. Attendees don all-white ensembles at the Karma Club Zante, a venue with a 400sq m pool, 40 day beds, a DJ deck and a shisha lounge.
“I think Leaving Cert holidays are good because it’s the last time you get to see the whole year together in one place,” says Ryan Lynch, who is turning 19 on Saturday, and hopes to do a football course with the FAI in Clondalkin.
The teenager, who plays for the Ireland international six-a-side team and Leinster youth, says he is “mostly surviving in the extreme heat”.
“I was over in Moldova playing football in this heat as well. At least now I don’t have to run around in the heat. It’s a bit better,” he says.
Students have been warned about scams, and Lynch says: “I think it’s safer to use cash if possible. People can scan cards, so I’d be a bit wary of that.
“Make sure to use your safe when you got to a hotel because a lot of people complain about stuff getting taken from their room when I arrived,” he adds.
One scam that hasn’t fazed the Irish teenagers is the existence of street “challenges” along the Zante strip.
“Me and my friends, we did the football one. I think if you score three goals in a row you get a bottle of champagne. Of course when people are drunk they are wasting €100 on that and falling all over the place. It’s kinda funny,” says Treacy.
With Zante being the stuff of nightmares for most parents, what precautions are the group taking to put their elders’ minds at ease?
“Most people have their location on, just in case,” says Victor Lace.
“Even for me, I share my location with my parents and my friends. In case anything happens.”
Gadaloff has a similar policy. “My parents can track my phone but I think that’s more of a case of if I lose my phone not ‘Where are you?’.”
She adds: “Parents are definitely tracking their children and seeing what time they are home. I’d say some of the parents are a little bit dramatic with their tracking.”
Irish market manager for travel company Life is a Beach Party Seán Egan agrees with the wisdom of sharing your live location.
He warns against bars selling cheap alcohol: “If there’s a bar selling two drinks for €6 stay away from it. If you’re providing quality alcohol you’re not going to be able to sell two drinks for €6. Just be careful, look out for each other and stick together as groups.”
In his experience, the locals prefer Irish tourists to other nationalities. “I have been told this by a lot of hotel owners and managers: ‘The Irish, yes they are a bit rowdy, a bit noisy but as soon as you tell them to be quiet they listen’.”
The parting wisdom from students themselves is to enjoy the holiday – and not to get too caught up in the nightlife.
“I’d tell people not to get sucked in to focusing on the strip and wasting all your energy and not sleeping,” says Lynch. For him, it’s primarily about celebrating friendship.
“It’s like a reunion but in Greece. It’s kind of a last goodbye. Some of these people you will never see again. There’s so many people here from our year, there’s a chance that we are not going to see ever again.”
