Ride the surf on America's west coast – on a road trip through California stopping at Malibu, Ventura, Morro Bay and Visalia

I'm taking my first surf lesson with Aqua Surf ($136/£105 for a one-and-half-hour lesson including boards and wetsuit hire; aquasurf.com) on Surfrider Beach in Malibu. According to regulars, this celebrity hot spot has one of the most consistent wave zones in all of southern California, meaning the surf is almost always good. Here, waves peel ...