A Day Trip to Catalina Island (from Los Angeles) | A Detailed Itinerary
So you’re ready to step away from the city and live that island life! …if only for one day! Well today we are sharing a detailed itinerary on how you can make the most of a one day excursion to the nearby Channel island off the coast of Los Angeles, Santa Catalina!
*Hey Siri, Play “26 Miles” by The Four Preps”
A DAY TRIP ITINERARY: FROM LOS ANGELES TO CATALINA ISLAND
Before we begin with the itinerary, a few notes to keep in mind in advance:
You will want to book tickets a few weeks in advance for the Catalina Express ferry. You can do this by visiting their website and booking a reservation from Long Beach (Downtown) Departure and Avalon arrival. I would recommend booking the 9:50am ferry over to Catalina and the 7:45pm trip back in order to maximize your time on the island and to fit everything in for this particular day trip itinerary. You can definitely pick earlier or later times, but I’ve found there is not a whole lot to do on the island too early in the morning or too late in the evening.
You will want to book any excursions or activities a few weeks ahead of time (because they book up in the summer months). For the purpose of this particular day trip itinerary, you will want to book the Catalina Tours: Two-Hour Eco Tour, I would recommend the 2:25pm time slot or something close to that.
~9:50 AM | DEPART FROM LONG BEACH
To start your expedition to the lovely Catalina Island, you will first have to get yourself to the port in Downtown Long Beach to catch the Catalina Express! This is approximately a 1 hour long boat ride, and if it’s a nice day out, I’d recommend trying to get an outdoor roof seat on the boat. **TIP: This can also sometimes be a bumpy ferry ride, so make sure to take some Dramamine about an hour before the ferry departs if you’re prone to motion/sea sickness. I know I certainly do every time.
You will see on your emailed ticket that they recommend you check in to the ticket window at least one hour prior to departure and be ready to board at least 30 minutes prior to departure. From my experience, the ferry tends to leave right on time (whether you are there or not!) so be sure to follow these recommendations and leave yourself plenty of time to drive from your starting location to Long Beach.
There is a parking structure at the Catalina Express building in Long Beach, just make sure you get there early to find a spot (it tends to be super full and you have to keep driving up and up and up to the roof), and also be prepared to pay about $22 to park for the day.
Follow the signs from the parking structure down to the front entrance of their building. There you will see a queue of people at the ticket counter where you will wait and show your emailed reservation confirmation/itinerary and they will give you your physical ticket (and return ticket… DON’T LOSE THAT! lol). There is an indoor waiting room if you’re there early, or head on back to the port where you will see a line forming in front of a boat that says Catalina Express. Once you get to the front you will show your ticket and board the boat!
~ 10:50 AM | ARRIVE IN THE TOWN OF AVALON
The ferry will pull up to the port in Avalon and you will immediately be transported into what feels like a seaside Italian riviera town. The city is so beautiful with adorable businesses lining the boardwalk and incredible homes climbing up the hillsides all around you! Slowly make your way down the main street (Pebbly Beach Rd) towards town (follow the pack of people departing from the port — everyone is headed the same direction).
Continue down Crescent Ave, which is the pedestrian road along the beach where you will find a ton of quaint island establishments, like souvenir shops, ice cream shops, and restaurants!
~ 11:30 AM | COFFEE @ CATALINA COFFEE & COOKIE
Your first stop will be for caffeine at Catalina Coffee & Cookie Co. The cafe is centrally located in a cute little plaza so feel free to snoop inside the surrounding gift shops. There is also a charming small town Arcade in the square, Three Palms Avalon Arcade, which is a fun stop for some classic arcade games before lunch.
Catalina Coffee & Cookie Co.
205 Crescent Ave, Avalon, CA 90704
Open 6am-5pm daily
Three Palms Avalon Arcade
205 Crescent Ave, Avalon, CA 90704
Open 11am-8pm daily
~ 12:30 PM | LUNCH @ DESCANSO BEACH CLUB
Speaking of lunch… Your next stop is lunch so feel free to mosey along down the streets all along the city center as you make your way down St Catherine Way towards the big iconic Catalina Casino! It is almost mandatory that you get a cute instagram picture inside the covered pathway that says “Via Casino” — it is a very quintessential Catalina view with the casino & boats in the background :)
Keep walking down this path and around the casino until you reach the Descanso Bay area where you will find the Descanso Beach Club. This is a great spot to spend the day lounging in a cabana or renting water equipment if that’s your thing. But for our itinerary, we will simply be dining at the luxurious beach resort! They have amazing outdoor seating right on the beach so you can look out at passing boats while you sip on an Aperol Spritz and chow down on a plate of carnitas Nachos. Ahh what could be better?
Descanso Beach Club
1 St Catherine Way, Avalon, CA 90704
Lunch available 11am-5pm
~ 2:25 PM | CATALINA ECO TOUR
Now for the main event of the day! Once you are all fueled up from lunch, make the leisurely walk back to town and head towards the starting location for the Catalina Eco Tour.
As beautiful as the picturesque town of Avalon is, the absolutely most amazing parts of the island is actually not accessible (or viewable) to the general public (unless you are a serious hiker, an island conservationist, a volunteer, etc.) And that is the island interior! In order to get to experience the ultimate Catalina nature and views, your best bet is to book some kind of outback tour. My suggestion would be the Jeep Eco Tour which is put on by the Catalina Island Conservancy!
You will check in at the counter for your tour (be sure to arrive about 15-20 minutes before your scheduled time) and you will be shown where to wait for your jeep & tour guide. Once it is time to set off, you and your friends (& possibly other groups of people if you do not fill the entire jeep) will load into the jeep and head off for your tour! The tour will start by driving through town where your tour guide will give you some brief FAQs about important buildings and life on the island (feel free to ask them your basic island local questions that I’m sure they’ve heard a hundred times — can you get Amazon Prime deliveries to your house here? etc.)
You will then start to make your way up the hill, out of the more residential town of Avalon, and through a gated fence into the protected natural land of the island interior! I won’t give everything away but you will be driven around to see some pretty spectacular views, learn about the natural flora and fauna found on the island, and keep an eye out for local wildlife — we had the pleasure of spotting one iconic Catalina Bison! But no luck spotting the adorable island foxes that can be found running around :(
This tour was totally worth the cost in my opinion, for both the views and insightful information from our friendly conservationist tour guide! We had the whole jeep to ourselves too since I went with a group of 9, so that made it an extra fun experience.
Catalina Eco Tour
708 Crescent Ave, Avalon, CA 90704
Ticket in advance required!
~ 4:45 PM SOUVENIR SHOPPING TIME
You will definitely want to get up and stretch your legs after the bumpy two hour jeep tour, so it is time to walk around town and visit a few souvenir shops! My personal favorite shops you won’t want to miss are Afishinados Gallery to see beautiful local art and handmade pieces like ceramics and jewelry. And I can’t resist a quaint small town candy shop, so I would recommend loading up a bag of pick-n-mix at Lloyd’s of Avalon. A perfect sweet treat for your ferry trip back to LA.
Afishinados Gallery
205 Crescent Ave, Avalon, CA 90704
Open 10am-6pm Sun-Fri & 10am-8pm Sat
Lloyd’s of Avalon
315 Crescent Ave, Avalon, CA 90704
Open 7am-6pm Sun-Thurs, 7am-9pm Fri, & 7am-10pm Sat
~ 5:30 PM HAPPY HOUR & DINNER @ LUAU LARRY’S
While there are a TON of great places to dine on the island (maybe I will share a second post with some of my favorites in the future?), if this is your first time on the island, I would recommend trying out the classic tropical-inspired bar right on the water, Luau Larry’s. This establishment is a super laid back and fun place for tropical island drinks, like “buffalo milk” or their famous “wiki wacker” — complete with a complimentary (& supremely tacky) straw hat souvenir! You can also order some quick casual food, like burgers & fries, which makes this the perfect last stop on our day long adventure!
Luau Larry’s
509 Crescent Ave, Avalon, CA 90704
Open 11am-midnight daily
~7:00 PM DEPART FROM AVALON (BACK TO LONG BEACH)
Unfortunately, it is time to mosey our way on back down to the Catalina Express port to board the ferry and head back to Los Angeles. Make sure to again arrive about 45 minutes or so prior to departure to get in line to board the boat! I hope you had a wonderful day exploring Catalina Island & this gives you a taste for more!
There are so many amazing activities and excursions to do on the island! I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to visit the island a few times with different family members or friends in town, so I have tried a handful of the activities the island has to offer. My other favorites that did not make it into this itinerary today were the Journey to the Sky Tour, which was a vintage bus trip through the scenic back country to the island’s Airport-in-the-Sky! Or an incredible Catalina Island boat tour where we ventured out into the ocean and came across, I kid you not, hundreds of swimming dolphins (we did this tour a few years back and I wasn’t able to find it again online, so I’m not sure if it is something they still offer at this time).
I also loved visiting the Catalina Island Museum on my very first trip to the island because it is inexpensive (well it is inexpensive in comparison to other excursions — this island is not cheap by any means lol), a good rainy day activity or a break from the sunshine, and it’s always more fun in my opinion to have an idea of the history and culture of a place before you dive in.
But nevertheless, there are so many exciting things to do on Catalina Island, you certainly won’t have time for everything in one day. But I think it is a great place to travel back to if you are living in Southern California or if you visit frequently. I’m hoping for my next trip to be able to stay overnight on the island since I have yet to experience the island’s night life. I think the Hotel Atwater looks so beautiful! I will report back if I end up making this dream a reality :P
I hope this detailed itinerary helps you to make the most of your day trip to the beautiful Catalina Island. If you take this trip, I’d love to know what was your favorite part?! Did you see an island fox?! Bon Voyage!
xo Rachael
