Catalina Island: Adventure & Charm

Hollywood stars? Yachts? Blue waters? Welcome to Catalina Island. Known for the frequent visits of Hollywood’s A-list celebrities in the 20th century, the likes of Marilyn Monroe. Catalina Island today is a tourist destination only an hour ferry ride from LA. The main town of Avalon resembles a more European town with a boardwalk, shops, and restaurants lining the water. It is a quick escape from LA but has such a different and slower pace of life than it’s LA counterpart.

It always surprises me that people who are born and raised in California have yet to make a trip out and many people from other states fail to realize there even is an island off of California, although Step Brothers ‘Catalina Wine Mixer’ has made Catalina a household name in recent years. Funnily enough, the Catalina wine mixer was a made up event in the movie, but after the movies popularity Catalina has started hosting a wine mixer event.

Outside of Avalon, the island is rugged back country filled with wildlife. Not to mention the beaches, marine life, and water activities that an island offers. There is something for everyone on Catalina that makes for a perfect long weekend getaway.

So what is there to do in Catalina?

Avalon

As mentioned above, the city of Avalon is the heart of Catalina Islands shopping and restaurant district. The town contains most of the crowds during the summer months when the tourists flock to the island. A fun fact, everyone drives golf carts around the island! Getting a permit for a larger vehicle is a some 30 year wait as they restrict the number of vehicles that can be on the island. Driving around on a golf cart makes the island have an almost Disneyland feel.

Descanso Beach

At the end of the boardwalk, past the Casino, in Avalon is Descanso Beach. The beach has a restaurant and bar and has live music depending on the day of the week! It is one of the only places in California you can legally drink on the beach! The water tends to be calmer here if you fancy jumping in for a swim, although it is pretty chilly for my taste. It needs to be a nice hot day to jump in. A lot of tourist bring floaties to hang out for a couple hours in the water. The island is actually naturally rocky, so sand is imported to Descanso.

Casino

The casino is a large round building that you cannot miss when walking around Avalon. It is actually not a casino that you are thinking of. No gambling, no black jack, or otherwise card games. It is a movie theater and ballroom, named a casino as that was the word for a large gathering place at the time of its construction.

I’d recommend doing a sunset casino tour. You get to walk through the movie theater, hear the acoustics, step back in time through dressing rooms, and end at the large ballroom which has a balcony that circles the whole building with an amazing view of Avalon. The tour guide had each of the girls learn to dance as they would some years ago in the height of Hollywood stardom on the island. Celebrities would come dance the night away on the ballroom floors. There was a also complimentary wine and cheese as you enjoyed the view of sunset over the water.

The casino really sets the atmosphere and mood of Catalina island and offers great history and views of the island, especially for first timers.

Two Harbors

My personal favorite town in Catalina is the lesser traveled Two Harbors. Two Harbors is popular for campers and hikers, offering secluded and beautiful camping. For those wanting to come for the day, Catalina has recently launched boats to go back and forth from Avalon to Two Harbors taking a mere 40 or so minutes. A lot of the times the boat stops to watch dolphins or something so it can double as a marine life expedition if you are lucky!

Two Harbors offers larger and less crowded beaches than Descanso. There is a restaurant from which you can rent beach chairs and they will serve you alcohol and food to your chair on the beach. It is easy to relax and enjoy fruity drinks while looking at all the boats and the water.

If you are feeling more adventurous, Two Harbors has it all: kayaks, snorkeling, hiking, and standup paddle boarding to name a few. When I was there, I spent the morning relaxing on the beach and the afternoon taking a kayak to the nearby coves and beaching my kayak to go snorkel. The visibility was amazing! There were lots of fish and kelp forests to explore. I would recommend taking a couple hours to really explore all the secluded coves you can! I really had such a blast on this side of the island.

It lacks the charm of Avalon but if you are looking for outdoors, seclusion in comparison to Avalon, and sunshine this is the spot to come!

Snorkeling and Diving

Outside of Two Harbors, there is a lot more snorkeling on Catalina. The casino is a popular spot to go especially for divers. You can also get on a charter boat for snorkeling or diving. The diving is supposedly amazing as it gets to depths of a hundred feet of large kelp forests.

Jet skiing

Jet skiing is a blast!! We got a two seater jet ski which I don’t know if I’d recommend because the person in the back has nothing to grip to which can be terrifying as the jet skis can go north of 60 mph. The ocean waves add an extra element as you have to make sure you don’t hit a wave the wrong way. I was yelling at my boyfriend the whole time that he better not dump us over into the ocean which he followed my warnings. Within 5 minutes of us switching and me driving, I dumped us! Made for a good laugh later that day.

We also found such amazing wildlife from the back of a jet ski! We found a pod of dolphins and slowly went along with them. I could literally stick my hand out and touch one of them! We were in the center of the pod of dolphins, it was a once in a life time moment.

Flying Fish Tour

Late at night, you can go out on a boat that blasts music and shines a huge spotlight into the ocean. The goal is to scare flying fish out of the water! I saw a couple that literally looked like they were soaring through the air they stayed so long above the water. Unfortunately we got unlucky that night and just didn’t see that many fish so it can be a hit or miss. It was a fun boat ride nonetheless, I enjoyed the fish and being out over the water at a different time of day with a nice view of the starry sky.

Jeep tour

Outside of Avalon and Two Harbors, there is still a whole untouched east end of the island that is rugged and full of adventure! There are a few different tours you can take, but the one I did we got picked up in Avalon in a huge 4 wheeler Jeep and taken to the east end of the island. The first few minutes of the trip was most thrilling because the tour guide floored it on this narrow road with bumps and rocks, oh and a giant cliff on one side! He would go through turns so fast it felt like the back side of the Jeep (where I was sitting!) would just spin right off of the cliff. I think he did this on purpose to get everyone’s adrenaline going in the beginning! It calmed down after this first portion. We also asked, and he said these roads were like driving on the freeway for us, totally comfortable and easy!

After the first thrill, it became about seeing the island and its landscape and wildlife. The back island is rocky and hilly. Not too much in terms of greenery as the island has suffered wildfires in the past and experiences little rainfall. Every few feet would open up to an epic view of Avalon thousands of yards away on the backdrop of the ocean. Keep your cameras out for this one!! At one point we stopped to get out and take pictures. What views!

Finally, the last leg of the trip was to see the buffalo! The buffalo, not native to the island, were brought in for a movie set! The buffalo were never removed from the island after the movie, although the population had to be watched. We were able to find a watering hole where a couple buffalo were hanging out and grazing. The combination of wildlife, views, and thrill made this a great tour, especially for first timers!

Zip Lining

Zip lining is one of my favorite activities on Catalina! It’s a combination of thrill and another great view of the island! It really is not scary for those who are worried about it being too thrilling. I almost find it relaxing gliding down the zip lines and taking in the sight of the water! I highly recommend this activity. There was a picture of me but last time I went I was too cheap to pay $15 for the picture and later that day I regretted it and tried to purchase it but the shop was closed!

Lunch at Mt. Ada

Okay while not an activity per say, it really is so much more than lunch. Mt. Ada is the former Wrigley Mansion. For those who don’t know, the Wrigley’s have owned the island for a long time and built themselves a mansion overlooking the water, Avalon, and interior of the island. They even used to host spring training on the island for the Cubs! Eventually, the Wrigley’s turned their mansion into a hotel and opened up a restaurant.

For $60 a person, you get unlimited drinks and a three course meal. More than that, you are there to hang out for a few hours and the pace of lunch is slow and relaxing. So pop a bottle of champagne and take in the sunshine on the patio of the mansion. It really is an experience that you have to have at least once! I know so many of these activities have to do with views, but once again this offers another unique view of the island. It feels almost like you are at a winery or something with the atmosphere of hanging out and drinking wine or champagne (although they have more than that if you are tired of these drinks). And at such a good price!

Golf cart tour of the island

Next is a self-guided golf cart tour of the island! You can pick up a map and follow the tour path that takes you up through the hills, the interior part of the island, past the golf course on the island, and to of course more views! This is a neat way to see the island all from the back of the golf cart. On the tour path, is the botanical gardens! It is a lot of desert plants and cacti. It’s really pretty to walk through! It leads up to a giant memorial building for one of the Wrigley’s that used to be buried there. There is also hiking trails out behind the gardens.

Golfing

Believe it or not there is a 9 hole golf course! It is one of the first in the United States! I’m not a golfer, but driving by it looked pretty with big palm trees and greenery.

Wiley Wacker

Last but certainly not least, the Wiley Wacker! What is a Wiley Wacker you may ask? Well it’s a drink you can get at Luau Larry’s in Avalon. It’s their special drink and they give you a big straw hat when you order one! It’s a great cap to the night or happy hour after a long day exploring the activities on the island. It is rather funny to walk around Avalon and see who has one on because it basically announces “hey I’m drunk!”

There you have it! The perfect mix of adventure and charm to fill up a weekend! Enjoy looking at blue waters, boats, and the city of Avalon!

Want to know how to take these activities and form a weekend itinerary? Read more here.