Ten years after the events of Surf's Up, the now 27-year-old northern rockhopper penguin Cody Maverick lives in obscurity on Pen Gu Island, where he teaches children to surf in his own surf school alongside gentoo penguin Lani Aliikai, opposed by his former rival Tank Evans, who also runs his own surf school. As a result of winning the Big Z Memorial, Chicken Joe has become a world-famous surfer, performing in competitions around the world. Now Chicken Joe must teach a new team called "The Hang 5" all about how to surf just as well.