"In the latter half of the 19th century three Hawaiian princes introduced surfing to California; they would ride the waves along Santa Cruz on boards handcrafted from local redwood. The trend caught on and led to the first Pacific Coast Surfriding Championships in 1928, but it was in the 1950s when surfing really took off in LA, helped along by the release of surfer-themed songs and films such as Gidget. Between 1956 and 1962 the number of California surfers rocketed from 5,000 to more than 100,000. Surfing is still an essential part of the southern Californian lifestyle today. One of the best surfing beaches is Malibu Lagoon State Beach, also known as Surfrider Beach; you can pick up a board from the Malibu Surf Shack down the road."