SANTA CRUZ -- Whether daydreaming at the office or picking a place for a family vacation, a high percentage of people are plugging "Santa Cruz beach" into the Yahoo search engine, according to data provided by the Sunnyvale company.

In a seven-day snapshot ending April 16, Santa Cruz beach was the fourth most searched beach on Yahoo, only beat by South Carolina's Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach and Panama City Beach in Florida.

The search company was unable to provide specific numbers, and would only say the data was based on the volume of searches over seven days in which a spike was seen for Santa Cruz.

"Every April we start to see people searching for beaches," said Carolyn Clark, a Yahoo web trend analyst. "We like to keep a pulse on what people are searching for. People are deliberate in their searches."

On a balmy Thursday without a cloud in the sky and the rumble of Boardwalk rides echoing across the warm sand at Main Beach, it was easy to see why folks are seeking out the laid back surf town online.

"It's a nice big beach with a lot of sand area versus the more rocky beaches," said Stephanie Randazzo, a resident of the Los Gatos mountains visiting Santa Cruz with a group of new mothers. "It's a fun environment with the Boardwalk right here."

The search engine spike is welcome news to the many businesses in Santa Cruz that depend on tourist traffic to survive, especially during the upcoming summer months.

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The Boardwalk has a slew of new additions to keep drawing fans, including the new $6 million roller coaster called Undertow, which should be running by June.

The amusement park also will put in a new Cyclone and add Jungle Climb, a game in which guests climb a string ladder and press a button at the top to win.

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Santa Cruz beaches make Yahoo's list of most searched