How many times have you thought about escaping the mainland and spending some time enjoying life on an island paradise? What would you say if I could show you how to do it much closer and much cheaper than you thought it would be?
Santa Catalina Island, located 22 miles west of Los Angeles, is America’s largest island retreat and best-kept vacation secret.
Catalina is wonderfully unique in that it is the perfect distance from the mainland. It’s close enough to be there by an hour’s ferry ride, but also far enough away to feel totally cut off from the mainland, giving you the full experience of a secluded tropical resort in the middle of the Pacific.
There is a major tourist town, the city of Avalon, which you will reach by any commercial waterway. Once there, the island has 76 square miles of adventure in all its forms waiting for you, from mountain climbing to scuba diving, all within reach of your luxury accommodations.
Avalon is a city that was literally created for the sole purpose of being an exotic tourist destination. Even now, more than a hundred years later, the beautiful city still stands out in this vision. There are no office buildings there; no government buildings, no people employed for anything other than the tourism trade, and the supporting industries (such as groceries and utilities) that are needed to maintain the city. This makes the entire island an ideal paradise retreat to escape the problems we face in our modern world.
So what is there to do in the Catalina Islands, CA?
What is there NOT to do? Not just the city of Avalon, but the entire island is open for your exploration, with many different parks (with rangers) from different backgrounds. It even has a unique golf course that meanders through the “suburb” of the city of Avalon.
The interesting and varied wildlife on Catalina Island, and even on the smaller surrounding islands, is extremely rich. On the north shore there is a whole beach that is full of
Seals almost all year round, while in the highlands, near the airport in the interior of the Island, the herd of buffalo that have made Catalina
their home since the 1920s.
There is a tour, either by boat or by bus, sometimes both, for everything you can see in Catalina. In the summer, the most famous tour is their world famous ‘flying fish tour’, where your boat pulls up alongside a swarm of flying fish that feed at night. However, those who visit for short trips always go home and share their photos of the underwater ride, which takes you six feet underwater to a kelp bed where you’ll be surrounded by thousands of beautiful fish in every direction… It truly is a unique experience for all ages.
If you like the shopping scene, you will be pleasantly surprised by the Avalon shopping district. I won’t go over the top here and have you believe that it competes with the best buy values to be found on Earth, but you can’t miss the location and the trimmings that surround it. -And they just can’t be duplicated anywhere else! Imagine a hundred small cozy shops all nested between your hotel and your favorite restaurants in a multi-level labyrinthine style with cobblestones below, interesting architecture everywhere, palm trees above, all surrounded by the most fragrant smells from all directions, and all next to the beach and your room. The way they fit so many quality shops, restaurants and hotels into so little space, yet still give you enough space to not feel crowded, is nothing short of magical.
Since you don’t need any other means of transportation than your own feet in the little Avalon, you can literally store all your bags in your hotel room and just walk between them, in less time than you expect. The ideal setting of the main strip along Avalon Beach is one of the main reasons Catalina is a paradise.
The gigantic art deco Casino building, right on the beach, was built in the Roaring ’20s as a dance hall and movie theater. (“Casino” still didn’t mean gambling when they named it.)
Easily within walking distance of your hotel, this giant, round building at the northern end of the Avalon strip is the most obvious landmark in Avalon. It offers movies, tours, and there’s even a museum in the basement, detailing all of Catalina Island’s fascinating history.