Southern California Catalina Island?

[sherilaine]

Just looking for some feedback on anyone who has taken a day to travel by ferry to the Island.

My DH mentioned this on our last trip but we never did it and I am trying to think of something that will be a little different to entertain him after putting up with the Disney freaks in the family the rest of the time we are there.

Any comments?

 

[KCmike]

We did it as a day trip when we were at Disneyland in 2012. We took the Catalina Flyer over. It was fun to be out on the ocean and the trip over only took 40-50 min or so. The island is pretty but we only visited the city of Avalon. We also rented a golf cart so we could tour around which was alot of fun. I felt a little rushed for time. We also did a boat tour where it was a glass bottom boat. That was a waste of time in my opinion as we didn't see too much. It was very touristy as you can imagine and some of the restaurants only took cash which was a little strange. We got a deal on some website for cheaper rates on the flyer. We took it out of Newport Harbor. Here are some images...


Santa Catalina Island by KC MikeD, on Flickr



Catalina Cactus by KC MikeD, on Flickr


Catalina Island by KC MikeD, on Flickr

I have more of the touristy area of shops and the beach area if you would like to see it. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[Sherry E]

Hi, sherilaine! I was just about to move your thread to the SoCal forum, but someone else got to it first!

As KCmike knows (because he got the idea to go to Catalina from me!), Catalina is one of my areas of interest/expertise! (And Mike, your stunning photos never cease to be amazing!)

I would be happy to answer questions or help in any way I can. I've done day trips in peak and off-peak seasons, weekend trips, Memorial Day weekend trips, a Labor Day weekend trip, week-long trips, etc. I've had slow days on the Island and busy days on the Island. I've done several of the tours and rented the golf cart countless times.

I usually take the Catalina Express out to Avalon from the Downtown Landing in Long Beach (right near the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary) because it has the most departure and arrival times and allows for more flexibility, but you could also take the Express from San Pedro. Or, you could take the Catalina Flyer from Newport, as Mike did, which has a more limited schedule.

The blue link in my signature below leads to my Catalina day trip report from 2012. I was going to add my 2013 Catalina day trip to that same thread, but I've held off because I am supposed to be doing a blog about it and I didn't want to reveal too much or post too many photos before I do the blog.

Also, in this thread - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2703621 -- I am informing folks about the Free Birthday Boat ride to Catalina, but aside from that bit about the birthday boat ride you will find out other interesting info about Catalina in the thread, both from me and from the others who posted.

 

[KCmike]

Thanks Sherry for the kind words again.

Sherilaine....Sherry is definitely your expert here on this! She helped me get over the hump to get out there and she has great insight!

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks Sherry for the kind words again.

Sherilaine....Sherry is definitely your expert here on this! She helped me get over the hump to get out there and she has great insight!

It's so true, Mike -- I know you posted at least a couple of those photos above in your TR, but they seem even more beautiful now than they did before, or more so than I remember! How is that possible?

Also, you lucked out when you rented the golf cart. Although you felt pressed for time (as I recall, you rented from a different place than the one I rent from, so you didn't get the "3 hours for the price of 2 hours" deal that I get), apparently you had a nice, clear, blue-sky day to work with for your photos. (Mother Nature must have known you were headed there with your camera!)

On both of my most recent golf cart-renting expeditions I ended up with overcast skies, or only partially sunny skies, for part of the time. In fact, in 2013 I was elated to find that one particular road had reopened to the public after being closed for 7 years, and I knew from my previous trips that the road led to a couple of very scenic spots. Excitedly I zoomed up to one such hillside spot that I remembered from many years ago, only to be faced with a gloomy scene before me due to the overcast sky! Boo!

Anyway, you have experience with the Catalina Flyer (which I don't have), and you also used a different golf cart rental place than the one I use, and you also alerted me to the fact that many of the vendors only take cash -- which prompted me to look into that when I visited Catalina last year. So I am very glad you went to Catalina in 2012!

Also, I totally agree about the glass bottom boat tour. While the glass bottom boats are synonymous with Catalina to a degree, I think that the Sub is a much better tour. There is much more to see, and the Sub is a much better vessel from which to see it!