Boone Daniels, a laid-back private investigator, gathers with his surfing buddies on Pacific beach. There's no surf, but the Dawn Patrol are out in force regardless...it's what they do. Having no work to do, and no real reason to go to the office, Boone stays for the second shift on the daily surfing clock - the Gentleman's Hour; and ends up taking on a hated matrimonial case. But that soon becomes the least of his worries.
When The Sundowner, a symbolic icon of the San Diego surf scene, sees a murderous dispute between a young surfer and a member of the territorial Rockpile Crew, the painful truth that violence is seeping into the surf community can no longer be ignored. So when asked to help on the defence by current love interest Petra Hall, Boone knows there will be outrage from both the community, and the rest of Dawn Patrol.
As the two cases overlap in unexpected ways, an isolated Boone finds himself struggling to stay afloat as the water gets deeper...and more deadly.