
1. The Endless Summer (1966)
Could there be another contender for our No. 1 spot? Bruce Brown's iconic surf doc takes young West Coast surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a 'round-the-world search for the perfect wave. They find it, too, on a then-unknown break off Cape St. Francis in South Africa, now one of the world's most famous surfing sites. Brown's narration is fun-loving and witty (though not always super PC by today's standards, be warned), and his footage perfectly captures the adventure, cameraderie and pure joy of the sport. We may not have enough time or money to follow an endless summer around the world, but with Brown's film (and an insanely good theme song by the Sandals), we can drop in anytime.