Catalina Island

Catalina Island is easily accessible by boat for an hour and by helicopter for 15 minutes from the Southern California mainland. It is situated across the beautiful Pacific Ocean from the Southern California mainland.

It is the perfect place to unwind, for a romantic getaway or just spending fun for the entire family.
The island is said to be 21 miles or approximately 76 square miles with its width at 8 miles at its widest point (Long Point) and half mile wide at its narrowest point at Two Harbors at the Isthmus. It also has a coastal perimeter of 54 miles.

History wise, you will have to learn a lot more of the island's history if you are interested about it.
Avalon is one fo the island's significant permanent civilian settlement and with quaint Mediterranean charm.

The entire island is mostly ideal for outdoor activities where you can get a lot of new adventures and experiences as you go for further exploration.
You can get to enjoy various Discovery Tours such as exploring and discovering the crystal clear waters through diving and snorkeling, trail hikings, zip lining, kayaking, ad more.
It is recommended to try all the different types of tours they offer. Just in case you want to experience them, one day isn't enough.

Our Catalina Island Experience

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!

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! ;).