Surfers probably have been debating the merits of one wave over another since the first hot-dogger climbed on a board. Chris Dixon, online editor at SURFER Magazine, says asking one surfer to name the best beach is like asking one skier to name the world's best mountain. But he will say this -- it all started in Malibu, California.

"It's got a perfect peeling, long, right-hand wave that just goes on and on. That beach is where the whole beach culture thing started. It's where the original hot-doggers, the predecessors of Gidget, grew up surfing. They watched Malibu go from their little domain to sort of the center of the surfing universe. It's probably not the best waves in the country but it's the most quintessential surfing beach."

One more thing: Did you know Gidget was a real person? The movies about the perky teen-ager were "very loosely" based on a real Malibu girl who grew up surfing there with her friends. "They didn't stand around and dance in bikinis or anything but they did grow up surfing there and led a pretty idyllic life," Dixon says.