When 15-year old surfer Tommy Stern retaliates against his alcoholic father’s violent attack, he thinks he has killed the man. In response to his crime the boy grabs his surfboard and hitchhikes south, all the way into Baja. Once there a family of commercial fishermen adopts him. He surfs perfect, empty waves while learning the ways of a caring family and the art of fishing. After five years his conscience disturbs him and he smuggles himself back into the U.S. where he expects to face murder charges. What he finds upon his return, however, alters his life forever.