What to Do on Catalina Island and Its Fascinating Connection to Chicago

2.2K From my home in Los Angeles, a recent weekend getaway to Santa Catalina Island felt like an exotic European beach vacation but without the 11-hour flight or the need to exchange money and memorize a few foreign phrases. As wonderful as Europe is, sometimes you need or want to stay in your own backyard while still feeling far away. Catalina Island is just the spot.

How to Get to Catalina Island

Officially one of the eight Channel Islands (though not part of the Channel Islands National Park), Catalina Island is about 20 miles off the Southern California coast. Unless you are a resident, you cannot take your car to the island. It’s a popular spot for Orange County day-trippers with fancy boats, but for the rest of us, there are ferries, which will cost an adult about $80 round-trip and take about an hour. Catalina Express Ferry has frequent daily departures from Long Beach, San Pedro, and Dana Point to Avalon, the town where most people stay, as well as to Two Harbors, which is the smaller, more rustic village on the other side of the island. All three ports have long-term parking for about $20 a day. (The port in Long Beach is only a little more than a mile from the LA Metro Blue Line First St. Station if you prefer not to drive at all.) Also running one round-trip daily between Newport Beach and Avalon is the Catalina Flyer. Pets are not allowed on board, so if you’re bringing Fido, go with Catalina Express but make sure they are leashed or in a crate.

The Town of Avalon

Avalon is a cheerful village wedged between Catalina’s rugged hills and a picturesque, crescent-shaped harbor filled with yachts and smaller boats. As the town came into view from my upper deck perch, I was transported to Italy’s Amalfi coast – LA now oceans away, at least in my mind.

What’s so nice about Avalon is that the town and the beaches are right there. You hop off the ferry and immediately hit the promenade with its line-up of shops, restaurants, and boutique accommodations. Residential streets and colorful homes are weaved into the hillside, giving it that Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terra feel. Another feature contributing to its distinctive Mediterranean vibe is the abundance of bright-colored tiles adorning benches, water fountains, sidewalks, and more. There is an interesting story about why there are so many tiles that you’ll see later in this article. Once you arrive and recover from the initial awe of this place, you might start thinking about what to do. We had two days in Avalon, and here are my recommendations.

Hit the Beach

This is an easy one, and you don’t have to go far because there are three beaches right in town along the promenade – South Beach, just to the right of Pleasure Pier; Middle Beach to the left of the pier; and Step Beach, which is just north of Middle Beach. If you didn’t bring your beach chairs onto the ferry no worries because Leo’s Catalina Drug Store rents them for the bargain price of $5 a day. On hot summer days the beaches get crowded, so you’ll want to stake your spot as early as possible. Take a break for lunch at any of the restaurants along the promenade or enjoy fish and chips on the pier. About a 10- to 15-minute walk from the town hub, just past the Catalina Casino, is the popular Descanso Beach Club, known for its beach-side dining, lively party scene on summer weekends and access to snorkeling, kayaking, and standup paddle boarding. For a more upscale splurge, you can rent a cabana or chaise lounge at the club. Being thrifty, we just carried over our rented chairs from Leo’s Drugstore to the public section of the beach and enjoyed a drink from the bar.

FUN FACT: Catalina Island is the only incorporated city in the lower 48 states that cannot be reached by car. You have to be a resident to have a car on the island, and even then, only 400 automobiles are permitted. The wait list to have a car is decades long, and most people get around by golf carts, which are available to rent.

Go for a Hike

Outside of Avalon, Catalina Island is distinguished by its rugged and hilly landscape characteristic of all the Channel Islands. So, while there may be plenty to keep you entertained in and around town, I highly recommend exploring the backcountry.

There is hiking all over the island, and to get the lay of the land stop in at the Catalina Island Conservancy. Their Trailhead Visitor Center is located at 708 Crescent Ave. in the center of Avalon, and they offer a wealth of information (and things to buy!) They can assist with trail maps and operate a Wildlands Express Shuttle to traverse the Island, including travel to and from the world-famous Airport in the Sky. We decided to stay closer to Avalon and took the Garibaldi City Bus to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden, which is about a mile and a half from town. You could also take a golf cart, rent a taxi, or walk (which we would have done had we not been planning to go on a lengthy hike.) Just outside the garden entrance and next to the Hermit Gulch campground is the trailhead. The strenuous uphill trek ends at a gazebo and overlook, but we turned the hike into a loop by taking Divide Rd. to the Garden to Sky Loop Trail, which ultimately landed us in the botanic garden just behind the Wrigley Memorial. (As I realized later, we should have done this hike in reverse, starting in the Botanic Garden and ending at the campground. Oh well, live and learn!)

Visit the Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden

The Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden was one of my favorite island finds, and had we not decided to do our hike, we probably would not have thought to go. Not only is it a lovely and peaceful spot featuring mostly native plants, but there’s a magnificent memorial structure where William Wrigley Jr., of chewing gum fame, was briefly interred. (He’s now buried in Glendale, CA outside of LA.) It turns out that the chewing gum tycoon had visited Catalina Island and loved it so much that he bought it in 1919 and was largely responsible for developing the island’s infrastructure and increasing its visibility. In addition to bringing public utilities, new steamships, a hotel, and the Casino building to the island, Wrigley opened a pottery plant that employed local residents from 1927 to 1937. The red roof and colorful glazed tiles used for finishings on the memorial structure were all made at this plant. The fruits of this industry are also visible in the beautiful tilework throughout the town as I mentioned earlier.

More importantly, Wrigley and his family left an enduring legacy of conservation, and his son founded the Catalina Island Conservancy which today protects the island for future generations. The Wrigley family is still very much a part of the island. The adult entrance fee to the gardens and memorial is $10, and as mentioned earlier, you can walk the mile and a half from town, take a golf cart, or as we did, ride the Garibaldi bus. (Tip on using the public bus – you need to either purchase a ticket in advance through Transit app or have exchange change, which was $2 per trip at the time of this writing.)

Take a Walking Tour of Catalina Casino

Catalina Casino, built by Wrigley, is a bit of a misnomer as it is not a casino, nor was it ever. The colossal art deco building, surrounded by water on three sides, is the largest on the island and the most visible (and photographed) on Avalon Bay. It was commissioned by Wrigley in 1929 marking the 10-year anniversary of his purchase of the island and has always been a place of entertainment. In the 1930s and 40s, it hosted big bands whose music was broadcast live nationally. Today it hosts many of Catalina Island’s annual events, including the New Year’s Eve Gala, the Catalina Island Conservancy Ball, the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival and the Catalina Film Festival. If you want to explore the casino more in depth, you can join one of several daily walking tours.

FUN FACT: Avalon was the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs from 1921 to 1951 after William Wrigley Jr. acquired majority ownership of the baseball team. It not only allowed him to enjoy two of his great passions, but it was also a way to promote the relatively unknown Southern California island as a seaside retreat.

Go on a Bison Expedition

Much to my surprise, I learned there are bison, also referred to as buffalo, on Catalina Island. The hundred or so of these majestic animals are descendants of a small herd that was left on the island by a movie crew in the 1920s. Today the Catalina Island Conservancy maintains the herd at about 150 to protect both the bison and the island’s landscape. So, of course, one of the most popular activities on the island is to go on a bison expedition with the conservancy in an open-air, biofuel Hummer. Spotting a buffalo isn’t guaranteed, but the two-hour, four-wheel adventure is still a great way to see Catalina’s rugged interior. Experienced guides share interesting facts about Catalina’s history, flora and fauna while you enjoy the scenery and sweeping views of the Catalina coastline. I was not lucky enough to see any bison on visit to Catalina Island, thus no pictures to show! Whether you spot a bison or not, Catalina Island has plenty of beauty to explore for a weekend getaway.