Vietnam vets Cody Allen (Perry King), Nick Ryder (Joe Penny) were military police during the war. In their thirties they have trouble making ends meet with the tourist business they operate.
Cody charters his rickety boat for fishermen out of King Harbor marina near Los Angeles. Nick flies sight-seers in his decrepit helicopter. As a sideline they try their hands at being private investigators starting the Pier 56 Detective Agency.
But the handsome young men appear more adept at charming women than solving crimes. TV private investigators like Jim Rockford and Magnum got beaten up by baddies and stiffed by their clients. As the series opens we see Cody Allen (Perry King) get beaten up AND stiffed by a client.
Murray Bozinski (Thom Bray) - a video game designer and inventor with whom they served in the war joins them because he misses the camaraderie and likes the idea of living on a boat under the sun with beautiful women around. His tech knowledge gives them an edge but his irrepressible geekiness and stubborn streak occasionally wear on them.
They fall into a case of hijacking after a party boat called 'the Tradewind' owned by a vicious gangster sinks near a small island. Surviving passenger Kimba (Karen Kopins) is suspected of knowing more than she is saying. Cody and Nick like her and take her on as a client even though they don't fully trust her.
Himbo detectives who lived on a luxury boat, had a pink helicopter, a red sports-car and an orange robot? Come on! Dismissed as Charlie's Angels with guys or a poor man's Magnum P.I. Riptide was more of a satire of 1980s detective shows than one in its own right.
As it enticed a sizable young female audience in to watching along with male audiences who enjoyed detective shows it made it as an NBC replacement show in early 1984. It lasted for 56 episodes until it got cancelled in 1986.