United States
Catalina Island, California
Catalina Island: Avalon Bay and the Casino
Catalina runs on golf carts rather than cars: the number of full-size vehicles on the island is capped, and residents wait about 25 years for permission to bring one over. Only Avalon is open to the public without restrictions, and most of the rest of the island is looked after by a conservancy.
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Tendering into Avalon
Cruise ships anchor about 1,000 feet off Avalon Harbor and bring passengers ashore by tender boat. Once ashore you are in Avalon, the only incorporated city on the island, a small town that wraps around its bay.
- Avalon had 3,460 residents at the 2020 census, 93 percent of the island's people.
- Avalon is on the eastern side of the island, about 22 miles south-southwest of the Los Angeles Harbor breakwater.
- The Pleasure Pier reaches into the middle of the bay, and the Casino building stands at the north end.
Catalina Island on Your Own
Most visitors to Avalon get around on foot, and the waterfront, the Casino and the snorkeling at Casino Point make a full day. Tours go into the island's interior, where the bison live, so plan any bison viewing as a tour.
- The waterfront: A pedestrian promenade with fountains, palm trees and a curving seawall runs behind the town's three main beaches, and many of the shops and restaurants face it.
- The Casino: The Art Deco and Mediterranean Revival building at the north end of the bay was finished in 1929. Despite the name it has never been used for gambling; it holds a ballroom and a movie theater.
- Casino Point: Next to the Casino, concrete steps lead down into the water at a protected dive site where nothing may be taken. Garibaldi, the bright orange fish that is California's official state marine fish, are among the common sights.
- Lovers' Cove: Another snorkeling spot lies south of the ferry terminal.
- The botanic garden: The Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden, near Avalon, puts special emphasis on plants that grow naturally only on California's islands, and it has a 130-foot memorial tower to William Wrigley Jr.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
Getting Around
Most visitors tour Avalon on foot. For the botanic garden and anywhere beyond the town, golf carts and bicycles can be rented, and taxis are available.
- Golf carts are how most residents get around, and several rental agencies hire them to visitors.
- Several shops rent bicycles, including electric bikes.
- Ferries to the mainland run from Avalon to Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point and Newport Beach, and the crossing takes just over an hour.
Tipping in the United States
Tipping is expected in the United States. Restaurant servers, bartenders, taxi drivers and tour guides all customarily receive a tip.
- Restaurants: A tip is expected for table service, and some restaurants add an automatic gratuity or service charge, often for larger groups, so check the bill before you add more.
- Tour guides: Guides on activity and sightseeing tours are customarily tipped.
- Currency: The US dollar is the only currency in use, and foreign currencies are almost never accepted.
A Brief History
For thousands of years Catalina was home to the Tongva, who called it Pimu. Spanish explorers reached it in 1542, George Shatto laid out Avalon in 1887, and in the 20th century William Wrigley Jr. turned it into a resort town before his son handed most of the island to a conservancy.
- The Tongva: The island's first people had villages all over it, among them one where Avalon now stands, and they quarried its soapstone to make cooking vessels.
- 1542: Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing for Spain, landed on 7 October and named the island San Salvador after his ship.
- 1602: The Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno arrived on 24 November, the eve of the feast of Saint Catherine.
- The 1830s: By then the native people had died out or been moved to the mainland to work in the missions or on ranches.
- 1887: George Shatto bought the island and laid out a town. His sister-in-law named it Avalon after the island in Tennyson's poems about King Arthur.
- 1915: A fire on 29 November burned half of Avalon's buildings, including six hotels.
- 1919: William Wrigley Jr., the chewing gum magnate, bought control of the island. His Chicago Cubs held spring training here from 1921 to 1951, except during the war years.
- The Second World War: The island was closed to tourists, and a US Maritime Service training center operated in Avalon.
- 1975: Philip K. Wrigley transferred the family's shares in the island company to the Catalina Island Conservancy.
- To learn more ashore: The Catalina Island Museum, at 217 Metropole Avenue in Avalon since 2016, covers island life from Tongva times to the present, with a large collection of Catalina pottery and tiles.
Catalina Island with Children
With children, a Catalina day is about the water: watching fish from the steps at Casino Point, a glass-bottom boat or semi-submarine ride, and time on Avalon's beaches. On land, the island's bison and its own small fox are the animals to look for.
- Younger children: Glass-bottom boats and semi-submarines let non-swimmers see underwater life. On a semi-submarine, passengers sit about 5 feet below the surface.
- School age: Look out for the bright orange garibaldi at Casino Point. On land, the island fox lives only on six of California's eight Channel Islands, and several bison were brought over in the 1920s or 1930s for a film and left behind.
- Teenagers: A zip line course ends at Descanso Beach, and Casino Point suits teenagers who already snorkel.
- About the bison: The herd once grew to as many as 600, but a birth control program has stopped it reproducing, and the bison are expected to disappear from the island within about 20 to 40 years.
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