March 12, 2o11
We're now on the middle weekend of our 2-week trip in California and now settled here in Long Beach. Since it's the weekend, we planned of going to Catalina Island. It so happened that our hotel was just 5 minutes away from the Catalina Express Ferry Station.
We bought tickets for the 11AM schedule going to Avalon, and took a quick brunch at the ferry terminal canteen since we still had few minutes of waiting.
The ferry trip is one and a half hour before reaching Avalon. This is when you are boarding Catalina Express at downtown Catalina landing in Long Beach, CA.
Once you're in Avalon, you can already see the scenic view around the area. Awesome views!
There are lots of discovery tours that can be done in the island, so if you want to experience all of them, one day isn't enough. Hotels are also in the island, so when you want for a few more days of R & R, you can choose to check on the hotels and the packages before going there. I am not sure if they can accept walk-ins but the island is really busy and can be crowded during peak days.
We signed up for the "Skyline Drive Tour" where we had the bus tour with a narrated journey by the tour driver himself. We were taken into Catalina's protected wilderness area as we ascended ten miles where spectacular vistas, deep canyons, quiet coves, the blue ocean and the exciting part was seeing the island's largest inhabitants at a close range...the buffalos!
We bought tickets for the 11AM schedule going to Avalon, and took a quick brunch at the ferry terminal canteen since we still had few minutes of waiting.
The ferry trip is one and a half hour before reaching Avalon. This is when you are boarding Catalina Express at downtown Catalina landing in Long Beach, CA.
Once you're in Avalon, you can already see the scenic view around the area. Awesome views!
There are lots of discovery tours that can be done in the island, so if you want to experience all of them, one day isn't enough. Hotels are also in the island, so when you want for a few more days of R & R, you can choose to check on the hotels and the packages before going there. I am not sure if they can accept walk-ins but the island is really busy and can be crowded during peak days.
We signed up for the "Skyline Drive Tour" where we had the bus tour with a narrated journey by the tour driver himself. We were taken into Catalina's protected wilderness area as we ascended ten miles where spectacular vistas, deep canyons, quiet coves, the blue ocean and the exciting part was seeing the island's largest inhabitants at a close range...the buffalos!
This tour lasts 2 hours and 15 minutes and has a bus stop at the Airport in the Sky. This is an old airport that is no longer operating, except that some private planes are still using it. It is here where you can shop at the small shopping store and they have a a food shop too. Restrooms are also available.After we got back from the tour, we walked around a little bit and we toured some shops as well. There are lots of them in every street, including food shops and other business establishments.
How I wish we could have just spent few days there, but next time is always a good chance! ;).
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