Photos: 1. Skimboarder sees a wave and runs for it. 2. He tosses the board down on an outgoing wave, jumps on and begins to head toward the sea. 3. He catches and surfs a wave. 4. He heads back on the beach to look for the next exciting, incoming wave-ride.

LAGUNA BEACH, CALIF.--The birthplace of skimboarding offers visitors an opportunity to see where it all began. Laguna Beach is the skimboarding capital that started with lifeguards looking to get down the beach fast without having to walk. They came up with these flat boards that don't have fins like a surfboard does. Applying some of their skateboard knowledge, they experimented with a board design shaped like a surfboard but nearly half its size. Broader than a skateboard, the skimboard glides on the sand at the ocean's edge where there's water to move it along, and in the hands of skilled boarder, it is used like a surfboard to catch the waves that break near the beach...read more>', 'Skimboarding More Fun to Watch than Surfing on Cal Coast http://www.seecalifornia.com/traveltips/?p=6993