It's the picture perfect epitome of Southern California surf and car sub-culture that permeated America through song and film from The Beach Boys "Surf City" with two girls for every boy and the beach-a-rama silver screen fun fest, "How To Stuff a Wild Bikini" which is exactly what Annette Funicello was doing in "Beach Blanket Bingo" as the former Mousketeer outgrew her Mouseketeer ears and started stuffing her own wild bikini before our very eyes. This sand and surf paradise was also the setting for the Rockford Files and more recently, gave us the backdrop for those babes of "Bay Watch" on the small screen.
It's no wonder then that the Malibu mystique is embedded in the American psyche as Surf City, USA and has the heritage to prove it. Surfing in Southern California was imported from the Hawaiian Islands in the early part of the Twentieth Century. Land developers were building beachside communities and to help attract buyers to this outdoor paradise hired surfers to put on exhibitions to thrill the throngs. Soon Malibu was king of the waves when it came to surfing and an entire sub-culture of surfing competitions, surfing songs and even a song about a Surfing Bird grabbed the world of pop culture by the balls and wasn't about to let go anytime soon.
Malibu today is a hangout for the hang ten perfect wave crowd and there are surf schools and shops up and down the Malibu coast where the novice can take lessons to take to the paradise of the Pacific on a long board or short board of their choice. The Surf shops have an awesome selection of surf clothing, and equipment including body board, skim boards and even kayaks to set sail on the ocean blue. The culture and history of surfing is preserved in the Surf Museum located in the library at Pepperdine University in Malibu. It houses a variety of vintage classic Malibu surfboards along with interpretive displays that highlight the Darwinian evolution of surfing, surfing technology and surfing in pop culture. While most beaches are devoted to sun worshippers and Surf Gods and Goddesses, many are also pet and family friendly so grab Fido and the suburban nuclear family and soak of the rays of California's natural solar power station and relax by doing nothing or build a sand castle or enjoy the local competitors try to out surf one another. Soaring like an eagle or a Pacific pelican in this west coast case is easy as you can take to the skies in a tandem paraglider and launch from the beach or a mountain top on your own personal magic carpet glide ride over the magnificent Malibu landscape.
The beach is an integral part of the Malibu experience and the ocean offers plenty of opportunities for coastal boat tours or a naturalists trip to watch the whales cavort and snort and spout from massive blow holes as they create one of the most impressive displays of nature on earth. Volleyball anyone? Game on! You can beach bum it as well while beach combing barefoot looking for sand dollars or for nothing in particular at all. Some of the beaches are clothing optional for the "nakes" as nudists are called in surfer lingo, but be advised it is not legal but tolerated to some degree, but the sheriff does patrol and sometimes citations are issued and arrests are made for that dazzling display of flesh. Law and order keeping us save from our own nudity and enjoyment of natures own bounty of butts and bods!
Eco issues are also on the plate in Malibu. In addition to "green" bed and breakfasts and plenty of camping opportunities which is about as green as it gets, there is also he annual Eco-Homes tour. Other activities run the gamut from the Annual Wine Tour Event, an Arts Festival, surfing competitions, and a good old fashioned western cowboy chili cook-off to excite the taste buds and set fire to the gastronomical forest.
Spas to cater to your physical well being and tattoo parlors to adorn your canvas of flesh with body art are waiting to cater to your needs, and shopping is about as eclectic as it gets. There are art galleries and museums to get a culture fix. Nightlife with live entertainment and venues that rock and roll, and when in need, there are at least two medical marijuana dispensaries in Malibu to take care of the travelers needs. For locations check out medicalmarijuanalocaters.com. Dining is varied from the well done western steak, to healthy seafood straight from ocean and the vegetarian can relax at veggie and organic restaurants with a plate full of tofu and seaweed!
Tired of boogie boards and paragliders? Saddle up a horse and take to the Malibu Trail Ride. It is one of the most fantastic city slickers ride on the west coast. You ride through the mountains and forests, by meandering streams and placid lakes, and even an evening starlight ride for magnificent wide open clear views of space, the final frontier. Eventually the trail leads to the old Paramount Ranch outdoor studio where they filmed movies and television shows, the most popular of which was M.A.S.H. Somewhere in the clearings the pre-cable TV ghosts of Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John are hoisting another glass of homemade gin in a place lovingly referred to as the "swamp"
Malibu has beach and a beach needs a pier with activities and diversions, and there are many along the coast of California strung out like old Spanish Missions along the Camino Real. Malibu is no different. The Malibu pier extends out into the waters of the Pacific and is a treasure trove of shops and restaurants and awesome vistas that create a nautical warmth inside the soul. Whether it's Scooby Do Bongo's or Beach Blanket Bingo's, Malibu is Surf City where you can wax your woodie in public and no one will think twice about it, unless of course, you are a woodie waxing nake! !