Only a 14 mile ferry ride off the coast of surf-haven Montauk, NY, the island welcomes world-weary travelers a place of refuge.

FORBES: Visit Block Island: "A Last Great Place"

The artificial surf reef off the Dorset coast at Boscombe, which has been shut due to safety concerns, is thought to have been damaged by a boat propeller.

BBC: Boscombe surf reef 'damaged by boat propeller'

Swim, snorkel and surf, but do not leave without tackling the Na Pali Coast's amazing Kalalau Trail.

BBC: How to choose a Hawaiian island

Likewise Tim Winton's and Robert Drewe's novels -often set along the southern coast of Western Australian - vividly evoke the primal sensuality of the surf and its ability to calm and inspire, but also destroy.

BBC: Shore thing: Australia��s beach obsession

Furthermore, fliers can't even use their laptops for the first and last half-hour of flights, so unless you're flying coast-to-coast, you may assume that only having an hour or so to surf just isn't worth the hassle.

ENGADGET: 1 in 10 fliers using in-flight WiFi, Aircell 'thrilled' with repeat usage rate

"It's just an easy eco-friendly way of traveling, " said Duguay, who plans on hitting for the first time the West coast of the United States, mostly California, where her boyfriend wants to surf.

CNN: Procrastination pays off for some summer travelers

Liquid Robotics, the Silicon Valley startup that makes the surfboard-sized robot called a Wave Glider, announced Wednesday that Papa Mau arrived off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on Nov. 20 after surviving storms, sharks and 25-foot surf while its solar-powered sensor arrays collected terabytes of data on ocean and atmospheric conditions during the year-long journey.

FORBES: Ocean Robot Completes Record-Setting 10,000 Mile Journey