Canyoneer
TRAVEL: 20 MILES
Hook up with Alpine Training Services ($120; alpinets.com) to rappel down 70 feet of cascading waterfalls in the San Gabriel Mountains' Little Santa Anita, a bolted canyon located in the Angeles National Forest (fs.fed.us/r5/angeles). Or, for a bigger challenge, try tackling nearby Fox Canyon (natural anchors only), where the highest of more than eight waterfalls drops 100 feet.

Surf
TRAVEL: 66 MILES
Score some uncrowded waves on the back side of Channel Islands National Park (nps.gov/chis). Island Packers ($85; islandpackers.com) runs ferries from Ventura Harbor to Bechers Bay, on Santa Rosa Island. From there it's a seven-mile hike past marshland and through Island Chumash archaeological sites to East Point, where a strong south swell can produce six-to-ten-foot waves. After a day in the surf, camp in the backcountry, less than half a mile from the action (reservations required; call 805-658-5730 for availability).

Mountain-Bike
TRAVEL: 156 MILES
Test your skills on Pine Valley's Tour de Noble (mountainbikebill.com/tourdenoble), just east of San Diego. The three-trail network covers more than 30 miles of singletrack, including ten miles of Southern California's classic Noble Canyon Trail. After conquering the grueling climb known to locals as "L' Alpe d'Wheeze," recover with beer, local wine, and homemade ratatouille (all complimentary) at the nearby Orchard Hill Country Inn (doubles from $195, including breakfast; orchardhill.com).

Eat
TRAVEL: 161 MILES
Nourish your soul (and kitchen acumen) at La Cocina Que Canta, the new farm-to-table culinary school at Baja California adventure spa Rancho La Puerta. The 4,500-square-foot school sits on a six-acre organic farm a two-mile hike from the resort—the perfect setting for learning how to prepare seafood skewers in a curry corn sauce (classes from $125; doubles from $411, seven-night minimum; rancholapuerta.com).