We're not easily wowed by hotel packages. Free overnight parking? Yawn. Access to the Executive Floor? Too much work. However, we recently came across a truly special hotel package right in our own backyard - or down by the beach, rather - that had us reading the fine print and waxing up our surfboard.
In keeping with the quirkily upscale aesthetic of all the Joie de Vivre hotels, one of the boutique chain's newest property, Laguna Beach's Pacific Edge, is offering the gnarliest surfing getaway we've ever seen: The Endless Summer Ultimate Surf Package.
Pacific Edge is now actually the official hotel of Endless Summer, the classic 1966 documentary that followed two young surfers (Robert August and Mike Hynson) around the world in search of the perfect wave. The two traveled everywhere from the U.S. to Africa, to Australia and the South Pacific, and the film became a touchstone that launched an entire movement of itinerant surfers traveling the globe following their passion.
Now, Pacific Edge has teamed up with one of the film's stars, world-renowned surfer Robert August, to offer their guests a unique insider experience. The Endless Summer Ultimate Surf Package is a one-day, one-on-one surfing safari with Robert August and his son, Sam.
The package includes accommodation for two, but the fun really starts when they get out on the water and spend the day shooting Laguna's famous curl with August himself, getting tips, perfecting technique and catching waves. But the day doesn't end there. Afterward, guests will hang out with Robert and his son Sam, a famous surfer in his own right, over cocktails and appetizers on the beach, and hear mesmerizing yarns about his globetrotting treks and about how surf culture has changed over the decades since Endless Summer, among any other topics of conversation.
Surfers also get a few other mementos of their special day: Bruce Brown's "The Ultimate Summer" DVD set, a six-pack of Karl Strauss's Endless Summer Lager and the option to add on one of Robert August's custom-made "What I Ride" surfboards, which start at $870 each.
The package includes overnight accommodation in one of the hotel's newly redone beach-front rooms (just as a note, Pacific Edge is one of the only hotels in SoCal that actually sits right on the beach, so the views are incomparable). It is available now through March 31, 2012 and starts at around $5,200 depending on availability and minimum-night-stay requirements. Bookings must also be made at least 21 days in advance.
Not a bad deal for surfing with a legend...and getting your own travel story to tell. Cowabunga, dude!
Pacific Edge
647 South Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949.494.8566
www.pacificedgehotel.com
