In the opening scene, Bobby (Demian Slade), a 14-year-old punk teen wearing black leather clothing with a few facial piercings, narrates the story about his parents; his father (Frankie Avalon) was known as the Big Kahuna, a professional surfer from southern California who was also a teen idol and pop singer in the 1960s. His mother Annette (Annette Funicello) as a former "Mouseketeer" on the original Mickey Mouse Club TV series whom met and got married and moved to Ohio. Bobby is constantly in the throes of teenage rebellion against his seemingly square folks. Bobby's father Frankie (though he is never called by name in the film) currently works as a stressed out car salesman having left the surf scene in California while Annette bottles her own sense of angst up in a bevy of shopping. One day, the family decides to take an early spring vacation to Hawaii, deciding to stop in Los Angeles, California to visit their 20-year-old daughter Sandi (Lori Loughlin). After arriving at LAX and renting a convertible auto, they drive past their old beach and to a pier where Sandi lives in an small apartment above a bait shop. Sandi hasn't told her parents that she has shacked up with a local surfer named Michael (Tommy Hinkley), and only learns about her parents arrival after hearing a phone message on her answering machine announcing their arrival. When she sees them approaching, Sandi throws all of Michael's clothes out a window and into the ocean along with his surfboard and Michael himself. Frankie, Annette and Bobby know right away about Michael's presence in the apartment, so Frankie drags Bobby with him to find the "surf bum" while Annette stays behind to comfort Sandi who confides in her about living with Michael for the past six months. Annette offers to take Sandi out shopping. On the beach, while looking for the surf bum, Frankie accidentally knocks over a row of surfboards belonging to a punk surf gang led by Zed (Joe Holland) who takes a liking to the smooth-talking Bobby, but a dislike to Frankie whom he insults Frankie's thick retro hairstyle as a "hair helmet". Frankie is not intimidated by Zed and his gang's implied threats and walks away, only to knock over their surfboards again. Reunited with Annette and Sandi, Frankie and Bobby drive away. That evening, the family passes by a beachfront club called Daddy O's where Sandi works as a waitress to drop her off for work. Annette sees an advertising poster of Dick Dale and the Del Tones still appearing after 25 years and wants to go inside to visit, but Frankie refuses for they have their connecting flight to Hawaii to catch, but he decides to go with the family in the club anyway. In the club, a young surf bum named Troy (John Calvin) flirts with Annette, who refuses his advances. Just as Frankie drags Annette away, they have a run-in with Connie (Connie Stevens) the owner of the club and one of Frankie's old love interests. Connie shows Frankie and Annette a shrine she had put up in honor of Frankie as The Big Kahuna compositing of his old nine-foot-long surfboard and several records and memorabilia. Annette is hardly able to hide her jealousy when Connie insists that Frankie get up on stage with Dick Dale to sing a song. Frankie, wanting to relive his musical days, does so and sings a duet with Connie and Dick Dale and his band his version of "California Sun". After the musical number is over, an angry and jealous Annette tells Frankie that they just missed their plane to Hawaii and wants to leave, but Frankie wants to stay and get into a big row where Annette walks out on him. Back at Sandi's apartment, Michael shows up wanting to spend more romantic time with her, but she tells him about her parents argument and that her mother will be staying with her for a few days which begins an argument of their own leading Michael to walk out on Sandi. As Annette tries to comfort Sandi over her problems with Michael, she throws a "pajama party" for Sandi and all of her girlfriends who show up. The pajama party is briefly interrupted when several punk surfers crash the party, but Annette along with the other girls team up to drive the punks away. Meanwhile, a distraught Frankie is back at Daddy O's getting drunk and rambling on to Connie as well as the familiar looking bartender (Bob Denver of Gilligan's Island fame) about his failed life and crumbling marriage. The next morning, Frankie wakes up on the floor of a loft surrounded by several young men whom are surfers whom live together with Mountain (David Bowe) the leader of another surf gang of clean-cut friendly youths who surf at the beach every day. After the surfers get up and disburse with their surfboard to "catch the waves", Michael stays behind with a hung-over Frankie and serves him a "pick-me-up" drink to sober him up and then reveals his identity about being Sandi's boyfriend. Frankie is appalled, but comes to accept Michael when he sees that he is a nice guy. Later that day on the beach, Annette talks with Sandi about her husband's row and jealousy and shows her how Frankie would respond to anything. Annette approaches Troy, the same guy who tried to pick her up the previous night, and flirts with him, unaware that Frankie is standing nearby watching the whole thing. Annette then walks back to Sandi and her friends to prove her point. The distraught Frankie goes back to Daddy O's bar to confide in Connie about his marriage problems only to discover that Michael is in fact Connie's son. Frankie then leaves to check himself into a local hotel. The next day on the beach, Bobby is seen becoming more chummy to Zed and his gang of surf punks when Bobby shows them how to make cherry bombs to blow up toilets. Nearby, Frankie is with Michael, Mountain, Webby, and other surf bums talking about having fun, while further down the beach, a distraught Annette decides to show off her own singing skills to Sandi, Robin, Briggette and other "surf chicks" by singing her own version of "Jamaica Ska". Annette's singing takes command of the presence of the other beachgoers and all of them join the singing and dancing, and head off down the beach, leaving Frankie all by himself. The following day, a rainstorm hits which leads to the beaches being closed. Frankie spends his time somehow aquiring an ice cream cart and selling ice cream. He arrives at the end of the day at Michael's workshop where he sees the potential that Michael has in making surfboards. However, Michael tells Frankie that he makes surfboards only for principle not for purchase. Being a smooth-talking car salesman, Frankie encourages Michael to find his potential by selling surfboards to make an honest living. That evening at Daddy O's, while watching singing guest star Stevie Ray Vaughan (playing himself) performing alongside Dick Dale, Frankie suggests to Michael that they throw a luau-themed beach party in the hopes to lure their women back to them. Michael tells Frankie that the harbor master will not give them a permit to have any party on the beach after dark, so Frankie decides they try their sales-skills on the harbor master. The next morning, Frankie and Michael visit the trailer beach home of the eccentric Harbor Master (Don Adams) where, after failing to persuade him to lend them a permit for a beach party, convince him that the party is a ceremony to honor him for being "harbor master of the year". The Harbor Master agrees to give them the permit. That evening, the Hawaii-themed beach party is well under away. Annette and Sandi arrive, where Michael approaches them to introduce himself to Annette as well as make up with Sandi who tells him about him starting his own surfboard selling business. While, Annette looks for Frankie, she spots him talking with Connie by the grill and, consumed by jealousy once again, seeks out and begins flirting with Troy. When the Harbor Master arrives and realizes that Frankie and Michael tricked him into throwing the party for themselves, he threatens to shut the party down until Michael persuades Bridgette to flirt with him to make him change his mind. When Frankie sees Annette going on a evening surf excursion with Troy, he becomes jealous himself and confronts and punches Troy when whey they return from the water. However, this act only makes Annette even more angry and she walks away over Frankie acting so immature. Annette then confronts Connie where she convinces Annette that she has no interest in her husband but that Frankie loves only her. Annette then goes back to Frankie where they both apologize to each other over everything that happened and finally make up. Just then Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) appears from out of nowhere and sings a flashy version of "Surfin' Bird" leading to the Frankie, Annette and the whole party dancing with him until he literally takes off on a surfboard and vanishes as when he appeared. As the beach party winds down, Frankie finally tells the attendees about his "surf accident" and why he never goes back in the water. Frankie explains that 20 years ago when he went surfing he encountered a huge wave which knocked him off his surfboard and landed him in the hospital, which is why he moved away from California and never surfs again. Just they, the surf punks crash the beach party by showing up on four-wheel beach rovers. Bobby is now with him sporting a multi-colored Mohawk hairstyle having joined their gang (by purchasing the rovers with Frankie's stolen credit card). A full-out gang fight between Zed and the punks and Mountain and the beach bums is avoided when Frankie steps in an argues an old fashion way to settle it: a surfing competition for full rights for the beach. Each gang will pick their best surfer to compete against the other. The punk's gang leader Zed picks himself, while Michael volunteers to represent the surf bums only for Frankie to accidentally drop a bongo drum on Michael's left foot, breaking it. The next day on the big climatic surf competition, with Michael unable to surf due to his broken foot, Frankie volunteers to surf in his place using his old surfboard. With two judges (Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers) judging the surfing, Zed goes first out and does an impressive surfing of one large wave. When Frankie's turn comes, history begins to repeat itself when the "humongous wave" appears once again, leading even Zed to flee from the water. However, Frankie finally overcomes his fear and becomes "the Big Kahuna" once again and surfs the wave, winning the contest and proving that he still is king of the surf. In the final scene, Frankie and Annette, along with Sandi and Michael are back at Daddy O's to celebrate their victory where Sandi and Michael announce their engagement and plan to have their wedding on Christmas. Bobby, with new found respect for his father, sheds his black leather fatigues and adopts his father's "hair helmet" hairstyle and clothing in a total makeover for himself. The whole cast then gets up on the stage to sing the final song "We'll Go on Forever".
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