Catalina Day Trip

[jennine]

Hello all,

As part of our 2 week stay in California, my mom and I are going to break off from the rest of the family(leaving my hubby and the kids behind) and head to Catalina Island for a day. We are staying in Palm Springs.

Here's my question. Which express ferry should we take? And what time of day should we leave? From what I can tell all of the departure points are about 2 hrs away (3 with traffic). So which do I pick? And what time does the nasty traffic of the day run?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Sherry E]

Hello all,

As part of our 2 week stay in California, my mom and I are going to break off from the rest of the family(leaving my hubby and the kids behind) and head to Catalina Island for a day. We are staying in Palm Springs.

Here's my question. Which express ferry should we take? And what time of day should we leave? From what I can tell all of the departure points are about 2 hrs away (3 with traffic). So which do I pick? And what time does the nasty traffic of the day run?

Thanks for the help!

Hi, Jennine! First of all, I am so envious of you for making the day trip to Catalina. It is my other favorite place in Southern California (aside from DLR, that is), and I haven't been there in so long. I miss it terribly! I used to go there every year, just to breathe in the sea air, rent a golf cart and cruise around the town, taking in the gorgeous panoramic views and eating at some of the yummy restaurants. I LOVE Catalina.

In my Trip Report, which mainly focuses on various Disneyland trips and photos, I have two pages devoted to many pictures of Catalina - page 26 and page 30. You may be interested to see them (make sure you scroll all the way down to the end of each page, as I have pictures, then comments from people, then more pictures, then comments, spread through different posts):

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1979268&page=26

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1979268&page=30

For a full day trip on Catalina, I would suggest taking the earliest boat out. I usually stick with the Catalina Express out of Long Beach, because that one seems to have more departures and arrivals than the San Pedro port. Then again, depending on when exactly you are going, the boat schedules change. In the peak of summer up to Labor Day, the boats run pretty frequently. Once Labor Day passes, they cut back on the boat times. I have taken the earliest boat out, at 6:30 a.m. or so, and then taken the latest boat back at night, which was in the 10:00 p.m. hour. I have had very full day trips, where we have rented a golf cart for 3 hours and also taken 4 tours (the Casino tour, the Cruise to Seal Rock, the Semi-Submersible tour and the Flying Fish tour - which I highly recommend), as well as eaten breakfast and dinner and shopped. I have had other day trips to Avalon that were much lazier. It's all fun though, because it is such a picturesque place.

If you take the earliest Express boat out of Long Beach or San Pedro, you will beat most of the yucky freeway traffic. I wouldn't take a boat out any later than 7:00 a.m.

 

[jennine]

Thanks for your reply! Your pictures are making me drool at the beauty!!

I guess this may be a really early morning in order to get to our departure points! I just found out that my hubby may be splurging for at least a one way helicopter ride! Which would be awesome as we could get there faster and then take a leisurely ride home again!

Have I mentioned that I can't wait to go?!

 

[Mazzy]

Hi, Jennine! First of all, I am so envious of you for making the day trip to Catalina. It is my other favorite place in Southern California (aside from DLR, that is), and I haven't been there in so long. I miss it terribly! I used to go there every year, just to breathe in the sea air, rent a golf cart and cruise around the town, taking in the gorgeous panoramic views and eating at some of the yummy restaurants. I LOVE Catalina.

In my Trip Report, which mainly focuses on various Disneyland trips and photos, I have two pages devoted to many pictures of Catalina - page 26 and page 30. You may be interested to see them (make sure you scroll all the way down to the end of each page, as I have pictures, then comments from people, then more pictures, then comments, spread through different posts):

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1979268&page=26

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1979268&page=30

For a full day trip on Catalina, I would suggest taking the earliest boat out. I usually stick with the Catalina Express out of Long Beach, because that one seems to have more departures and arrivals than the San Pedro port. Then again, depending on when exactly you are going, the boat schedules change. In the peak of summer up to Labor Day, the boats run pretty frequently. Once Labor Day passes, they cut back on the boat times. I have taken the earliest boat out, at 6:30 a.m. or so, and then taken the latest boat back at night, which was in the 10:00 p.m. hour. I have had very full day trips, where we have rented a golf cart for 3 hours and also taken 4 tours (the Casino tour, the Cruise to Seal Rock, the Semi-Submersible tour and the Flying Fish tour - which I highly recommend), as well as eaten breakfast and dinner and shopped. I have had other day trips to Avalon that were much lazier. It's all fun though, because it is such a picturesque place.

If you take the earliest Express boat out of Long Beach or San Pedro, you will beat most of the yucky freeway traffic. I wouldn't take a boat out any later than 7:00 a.m.

This sounds really interesting. We're staying at the HOJO Anaheim, I wonder if you could tell me how long it would take to get to Long beach from there, it would be at taxi, as we won't have a car. Also hiring a golf buggy sounds great, how many people do they seat, we are a family of 4. Can you go anywhere on the island on them? Thanks

 

[jennine]

This sounds really interesting. We're staying at the HOJO Anaheim, I wonder if you could tell me how long it would take to get to Long beach from there, it would be at taxi, as we won't have a car. Also hiring a golf buggy sounds great, how many people do they seat, we are a family of 4. Can you go anywhere on the island on them? Thanks

When are you going to Anaheim? I'll be back on the 30th(oct) and could let you know more info then!

 

[Mazzy]

When are you going to Anaheim? I'll be back on the 30th(oct) and could let you know more info then!

We're not going until next July, lol, I'm an avid planner! It would be great if you could let me know more after your trip, thank you!