Winding south and east from Long Beach, Hwy-1 continues along the coast past a series of natural marshlands and small-craft marinas. The first real point of interest is the town of Huntington Beach (pop. 189,594), one of the largest communities in Orange County. Founded in 1909 by Henry Huntington as a stop along his legendary Pacific Electric “Red Car” interurban railway network, Huntington Beach is best known as the place where surfing was first introduced to the U.S. mainland. To attract Angelenos down to his new town, Huntington hired Hawaiians to demonstrate the sport, which at the time made use of huge solid wooden boards, 15 feet long and weighing around 150 pounds. Huntington Beach, especially around the pier, is still a very popular surfing spot—though contemporary surfers slice through the waves on high-tech foam-core boards, a third the size of the original Hawaiian long boards and weighing under 10 pounds. The history and culture of West Coast surfing, with examples of boards then and now (plus special collections highlighting “surf” movies and the creation of “surf music” by local heroes Leo Fender and Dick Dale), is recounted in the small but enthusiastic International Surfing Museum (daily noon–5 pm; $2; 714/960-3483), two blocks from the pier at 411 Olive Avenue, in the heart of the lively downtown business district.
Nearby, within a few blocks of the pier at 421 8th Street, is the handy Colonial Inn Youth Hostel (714/536-3315), with dorm beds for $13 and double rooms for $30.
