Dolphin Smoote is the leader of the "Surf Dawgs," a group of young, ultra-cool Southern California surfers who observe the True Surfers’ Code. The code, which dates from the heyday of Sixties surf culture, dictates that whether they are riding waves, chasing girls, or facing other challenges, they have to be both "casual" and "radical."

Dolphin is smitten with the new girl from out of town and longs to impress her, but acquiring a job would interfere with his casual, radical lifestyle. When his crime-writing Aunt Clementine leaves him her beach home for the summer—an unusual old house designed to ward off ghosts—Dolphin sees the perfect solution to his problems. But his real problems are just beginning, as he and the Dawgs find themselves facing ghosts, a rival surf gang, and a high-tech crime mystery that even Aunt Clemmie would be proud of.