"They're all over the place, some in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Panama City," said the 23-year-old from Franciscan University of Steubenville. "A few are in Cancun, lots in New Mexico. We even had a group that went to North Dakota."

DAYTONA BEACH -- Ohio college student Jim Wockenfuss savored his spring-break visit on Wednesday, enjoying the sun and the beach while singing along to the tunes strummed on the guitar by his friend Jose Grajo. But not all of their friends were in Daytona this year. "They're all over the place, some in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Panama City," said the 23-year-old from Franciscan University of Steubenville. "A few are in Cancun, lots in New Mexico. We even had a group that went to North Dakota." Such a wide mix of spring-break destinations may be one reason why the party in Daytona Beach is expected to be one of the smallest in years. Local business officials are expecting a smaller, quieter spring break this year. Though no one is offering attendance estimates, some say it'll be smaller than last year's crowd, which didn't even approach 100,000 people, and even that was a fraction of what the event used to draw. Other factors may be at play, too, including less of the cheap lodging that students once enjoyed. Many mom-and-pop motels have been demolished in the condominium rush. City leaders are also continuing to crack down on bad behavior. Yet the city's reputation as a beach haven for college students persists and still attracts some students, even while most Daytona Beach businesses no longer cater to them. "It's not thousands and thousands of kids on every inch of the beach, but there's still a crowd," said Volusia County Beach Patrol Capt. Scott Petersohn. "And it's a controllable crowd." Longtime spring-break promoter Scott Edwards said, "The convention and visitors bureau doesn't want to attract college students, and with other destinations paying top dollar to attract them, it all comes home to roost at some point." It's a far cry from the spring break heyday of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Daytona Beach took over the crown of top destination from Fort Lauderdale. But 500,000 students drinking, acting lewd, falling out of balconies and trashing the place was too much for the city to handle. Daytona Beach leaders cracked down on the party and quelled the influx of students to a more manageable size. Even the Plaza Resort & Spa, a former spring-break landmark that hosted pool-deck parties and free concerts and had a very popular nightclub, abandoned the youth-party business last year and is nearly complete in its conversion to an upscale condo-hotel. Many beachside businesses want to pull in more families and conventioneers. "We've made a commitment to quality tourism and to attract spring break would be the worst thing," said Paul Politis, a longtime beachside merchant and owner of Gator Gifts. The 2004 hurricanes have helped in that goal. The storms ravaged many of the aging budget motels, which are being torn down as part of the condo boom. "That was the catalyst, the hurricanes," said Petersohn. "Ever since then, the wrecking balls have been busy." Daytona Beach Mayor Yvonne Scarlett-Golden, who started a campaign to tone down the raunchy element of spring break and Black College Reunion, said that effort will continue again this year. She's not sure whether the campaign, with its slogan "It's all about respect," affected the attendance. "I think if those people are not going to come because we're going to enforce our policies for behavior, I don't think we've lost too much." Michael Palmer, executive director of the Student & Youth Travel Association, said young people these days simply aren't going to converge en masse on one spring break hot spot. Palmer said that the beach destinations for spring break are reporting flat or declining attendance. "Students are traveling to a larger number of destinations, which offer a variety of activities, and we're seeing more organized groups, such as school groups, or church groups, or sports teams," Palmer said. On Wednesday, hundreds of students congregated at the beach in Daytona, sunning or playing football and soccer, though they were joined by several families, some with young toddlers, a few retirees and even some holdovers from Bike Week. "There's still definitely a life out here in Daytona," said Wockenfuss, from Ohio. Despite the loss of some of the cheap motel rooms, plenty of students chose Daytona Beach because it was more affordable. "Our friends went to Acapulco, but it was a lot cheaper to come here," said Ashley Nuqul, a 21-year-old student from East Carolina University in North Carolina. "I don't see how some students can just take $1,500 from their parents for a drinking vacation in Mexico." Marketing companies skipped Daytona Beach this year too. There were none of the business booths and games set up on the beach that were common in past years. But most students thought the scene, with the sun, the beach and nearby nightclubs, was just right for them. "We love the atmosphere and everything here," said David Lacy, a 21-year-old student from Kentucky State University. "But we came from small towns, some of us in dry counties, so this place is off the charts."