Happy Independence Day to Mexico!

As you may have seen on our Labor Day social media round-up, I made my way to Catalina Island for a daytrip. Costco has been running a fantastic discounted rate for members on the Catalina Express, so this is what sparked the idea. It doesn’t hurt we live super close to Long Beach now. We decided we would use the discount toward tickets for our bicycles.

Booking your tickets on Catalina Express is pretty quick and easy. We wanted to maximize our time, so we booked the earliest boat out and got the second-latest return time. You’ll want to arrive 30 minutes prior to departure to give yourself time to make the wrong turn and make your way to the parking structure. It’s a lovely one-hour trip from mainland California to the island. For such a small space, there is so much you can do!

My partner and I have been to the island before, so having our bikes gave us a completely different way to experience the island. You can always rent bikes there, too! Upon arriving, we hopped on our bikes and made our way to my favorite coffee and small breakfast place, Catalina Coffee & Cookie. I found this place when I did the Catalina Food Tours a few years ago; I cannot recommend it enough. After breakfast it was time to get some hill climbing in, so we made our way past Catalina Casino up St. Catherine Way and got a beautiful glimpse of the island. We biked past this great ropes course called Catalina Aerial Adventure that recently opened. This is also a great vantage point to see the famous Zip Line Eco Tour. I’ve heard great things about the zip line and have not had the chance to go. It’s always good to leave things for the next visit.

Aerial view of the casino.

Being on our bikes made it super easy to make our way to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden. I’ve been talking about going to this place forever but somehow end up at karaoke or on the beach after dinner. It was honestly the perfect California summer day, no clouds in sight and all the sun you could ever want. The Garden is nestled into the back part of Avalon and has lots of trails to lose yourself and discover beautiful cactus flowers.

Stunning cactus flowers in bloom.

…and a selfie or it didn’t happen.

We enjoyed lunch on the pier at Earl and Rosie’s Seafood Place and got a refreshing cold drink to replenish our fluids. Later, we found a lovely shady spot to relax and get out of the sun. We did a little more exploring on the industrial part of the island. You’ll find Buffalo Nickel there; can’t say I’ve been there, but you watch helicopters land from there and enjoy a rocky beach after your meal.

There was still enough energy left for dinner, of course. We enjoyed some more fantastic seafood at Bluewater Avalon. Very cute and right on the water, and depending on where you sit you might even get splashed by the water in the evening. After dinner we walked the shops, picked up a few keepsakes and made our way back to the landing dock to get on an earlier departure. It was getting too cold at that point.

Do you have any secret Catalina Island tips? Do share at maria.angeles@globaltravelerusa.com.

Evening view of the Catalina Casino.

— Maria Angeles, account executive