Scary On

Finding the right thing to do in the given frame of time at any destination is probably the hardest part. It just happened that we would be spending a long weekend in Newport Beach, CA sandwiched between San Diego and Los Angeles. Both cities have so much to offer and after a time it is just overwhelming to decide what we actually want to visit. Our schedule was also quite hectic and we just had one day to check out the sights. And we decided to set sailing to Catalina Island.

Located off the California coast, Catalina Island offers the perfect day trip for anyone looking to spend a day enjoying a laid-back day. We spent the day, hand-in-hand, laughing and talking, soaking in the Californian sun and letting the history of the island seep in.

Catalina Island is small enough to be covered in a day and offers all kinds of activities to suit any traveler. Our plans were to catch sight of the elusive or the not-so-elusive wildlife of the island, soak in some sun and just unwind. The island does offer a lot of hiking trails, kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving and other outdoor activities.

Getting to Catalina Island is half the fun. The island is accessible by air or sea only. We took a speed boat/ferry out of Balboa – Newport Beach on a beautiful Sunday morning just like 300+ others. The ferry takes around an hour to 1.5 hours to reach Catalina Island and it is a wonderful feeling to be on the open sea and moving at really high speeds. During the gorgeous summer days the ferry does get filled up really fast so make a reservation ahead of time.

Avalon is the only city in Catalina Island. More than 70% of the island is conserved natural reserve so most of the activities are based out of Avalon. With a population of around 3000 people cluttered around 1 major roads, Avalon can hardly be called a city. But it has all the charms of a beach town – the beach side cafes that play loud music and offer happy-hours all through the day, the charming mom-and-pop kind of delis and the touristy souvenir shops and classy boutiques.

If you plan to explore Catalina Island on your own, rent a golf cart (cars are allowed only by special permit in the island and currently to get a special permit there is a waiting list of more than 15 years) or a bicycle and enjoy the landscape. The area is quite hilly and a major chunk of the island is accessible only by special permit.

Another way to enjoy the island is to take a guided bus tour of the area. We chose this option, mainly because we were too lazy to navigate and read a guide book and understand the history of the area by ourselves. We had booked our excursion online through one of the many tour operators in the island. You can also book them on arriving at the island but remember many tours tend to sell out fast.

The explore the island tour starts at sea level at Avalon and goes up till the Airport-in-the sky. The airport itself is nothing much but a depleted barn which doubles as a hangar, an exhibit about the history of the island, a runway, a few small biplanes and sheer cliffs.

More than the history it was the fauna of Catalina Island that intrigued us. As with any other place, most of Catalina Island’s natural fauna and flora were almost extinct (or extinct) by the time the area became a conservancy. The conservancy slowly is trying to bring back natural fauna – the island fox, the bald-eagle, sea otters to the place. With modern developments and hindrances to the natural way of life the battle faced by the conservancy is quite intimidating

We were not able to catch sight of any foxes but we did see some bisons. These huge creatures are not natives of the area. They were brought in the early 1920’s for the filming of the movie – The Vanishing American and were just left behind and with time the herd just grew.

The drive opens up spectacular vistas and seascapes. The blue sea doted with boats and yatches, the sheer mountain doted with sparse trees, red soil all add a sense of beauty to the place. Definitely, a must-visit-place!

There are other activities like a trip in a glass-bottom boat, a submarine, kayaks, parasails etc offered. We took the submarine trip just of the heck of it and it did not amuse us much. But the younger ones on the submarine had a field day. So add it to your list if you have a young one.

The beach was a big let down. We were hoping to spend sometime soaking the sun on the beach but Avalon unfortunately does not have a good beach. In fact, what passes off as a beach is tons of beach sand dumped in a block and on the Sunday we were there, the place was packed like sardines in a can. Not my idea of a beach lazing day.

Avalon also has quite a few bed and breakfasts catering for the weekend tourist and many people come off California mainland to spend the weekend in Avalon. A trip different from many others we could have done but something we will cherish forever.