I know I graduated El- Segundo High by LAX Class of 79, surfed the entire CA cost, hunington/newport beach most weekends.

I do want to say though that your co-worker is right about Isabela, PR  as  short term rentals there and in some of the coastal towns ( especially by some of the hot surfing spots) are doing very well now with Airbnb and Homeaway etc, and I would highly encourage you to pay  us a visit here.  

Looking forward to doing a little surfing and hiking as always :)

So many of them are too fluffy and look good to an investor surfing the web.

The quants are out to monkey with our Internet usage by creating models to exploit our web surfing patterns.

sorry @Karen Margravejust re-read your post and realized I wasn't really responding appropriately (was surfing around on my phone, back at my desktop now).

Starry-eyed people come here with high hopes of living in paradise, in a beautiful house on the beach, surfing everyday, and sipping Mai Tai’s out of coconut shells. 

She enjoy surfing the internet reading news but not book and seminar.  

Hawaii has better weather, closer and better nature, less crowded beaches, world class surfing and diving better than any place in Cali, with better city life going to some (not all) of the Cali cities listed.Don't even get me started on California tax treatment and business friendliness.

Compare that to new entertainment-ready McMansions in Texas with 4 car garages, & I could fly to somewhere with good surf.