It features guest appearances by Johnny Depp as the voice of Jack Kahuna Laguna, Bruce Brown as the narrator, and Davy Jones as himself.

Patrick tries to climb onto the board, but he causes it to tip, it collides into a large wave and sweeps the five friends up into separate places: SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward go to an island with young surfers, Mr. Krabs ends up stranded in the middle of the sea with his cash register and encounters the Flying Dutchman, and Sandy is taken to a small island where she builds a helicopter from the supplies.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward are told by the young surfers on the island that the only way to get back to Bikini Bottom is to surf there; unfortunately, they do not know how to.

Twitch, one of the surfers, tells them that there is one person who can possibly teach them how to surf: Jack Kahuna Laguna (JKL).

The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 17, 2009, as part of the series' tenth anniversary celebration.

[6][7][8] According to Sarah Noonan, vice president of talent and casting for Nickelodeon, Depp accepted the role because he and his kids are fans of the show.

[9] Nickelodeon animation president Brown Johnson said "We're excited to have Johnny Depp guest star on the SpongeBob TV special that kicks off the series 10th anniversary celebration[...] This is a big year for our porous pal, and some of the biggest celebrities are helping us honor him in a special way throughout the year.

The episode was Nickelodeon's fifth highest-rated telecast in total viewers so far that year and garnered significant ratings increases among all kid and tween demographics.

"[24] Ian Jane of DVD Talk said "[the episode] is absolutely worth a watch thanks to the series high standard of quality, quirky animation, and multilayered humor.

"[25] Erich Asperschlager of DVD Verdict called the episode "a fun take on beach bunny surf fare, and is backed by a decent sextet of recent SpongeBob adventures.

"[26] David Hinckly of the New York Daily News gave the episode 4/5 stars and said "It's all good when you never forget to have fun.

In his review from TV Shows on DVD, Gord Lacey said that the video quality is "fairly good" and the audio was "decent, but the surround track from earlier releases is better.

The Big One: Beach Party Cook-Off, a video game based on the episode, was released for Nintendo DS.