I recently took a trip to Catalina Island. I had been once before, but I was much younger. We were there for 2.5 days and 2 nights. The weather was cloudy, so we couldn’t swim or snorkel (the snorkeling there is great, I went my first time in Catalina), but we still had a full 3-day itinerary and had so much fun.
On the first day, we took a ferry to the island at 10:00 am. We got there around 11:00 am and immediately dropped our things off at our Airbnb. Our Airbnb was amazing, we had the best view, and it was only a block from the main street, Crescent Ave. Once our things were dropped off, we walked back down to the street and got a coffee. We found a shop called Catalina Coffee & Cookie Co., which we ended up going to every morning. Their coffee was great, and they had amazing pastries and dishes such as breakfast burritos and eggs. I enjoyed having their hash browns every morning. During coffee, we talked about what we wanted to do for the day. I came up with the idea of renting a golf cart so we could fully explore the island, so we could know the area better before our trip really began. We found out the golf cart allowed rentals until 3:00 pm, and the max you were allowed to have a cart for was 2 hours. So, we agreed to be at the rental place by 3:00 pm and drive the golf cart around until 5:00. Until then, we walked around the main avenue and went shopping. I spent $250 within a few hours. The beach shops were all unique and adorable, so I couldn’t resist. 3:00 o’clock rolled around, and we headed to the rentals. We were able to explore the entire island within an hour and a half, and then stopped at Von’s with the extra half hour we had for some junk food for nighttime. The island is beautiful, and I definitely recommend the golf cart ride if you want to get a feel for what Catalina is all about. Some parts of it reminded me of Hawaii, and other parts reminded me of Italy. Once we had returned the golf carts, we walked back to the Airbnb and got ready for a nice dinner. When I was fully ready, I took some pictures on the balcony with the view of the colorful buildings behind it and then walked to dinner. We went to Blue Water Avalon, which is right on the water. They are known for their seafood and cocktails, and the salmon I had there was amazing. After dinner, we headed back to the Airbnb for the night to watch TV and eat the snacks we bought at the grocery store that day. It’s a sleepy town, so there’s not much nightlife. Soon after we were done with one episode, we went to bed.
On the second day, we decided to start our morning off just the same and go to Catalina Coffee and Cookie Co. and shopping. We went into every store along Crescent Ave at least once and visited our favorite surf shops multiple times. I wanted to try ziplining for the first time ever today because I saw it in a pamphlet and during our golf cart ride the day before. I had an absolute blast. This is probably the #1 activity I recommend you do here. The whole experience takes about two hours, and you go on three ziplines total. Not only was the ziplining super fun, but it was absolutely gorgeous. On the zipline, you could have amazing ocean and canyon views, which was cool. We even made some new friends in our ziplining group. When we were done ziplining, we stopped at a bar on the way out called Descantes, they had the best strawberry daiquiri out of all the restaurants I tried one at over the whole weekend. The place overall had a fun beachy vibe as well. When we got back to the main area, we rented some bikes and just went on a half-hour bike ride along the ocean. The views were very pretty here too because you could see all the colorful houses and the bright blue ocean waters. We got ready at the Airbnb again and were off to dinner at a restaurant called M. This was an Italian restaurant on Crescent Ave, and it was seriously so good. Their garlic bread was to die for. After dinner, we went to the area whereCatalina Coffee and Cookie Co. is and went to a bowling and arcade place. We played arcade games for an hour, then headed back to the Airbnb for a movie night again, and went to bed after the movie was over.
On the third day, we packed up all our things around 8:00 am. We had a ferry ride back booked at noon, so we knew it would be better for us to have our things with us. We decided it would be best if we went to coffee and went to some shops for a bit until we left. Normally, if we were doing a full 3-day itinerary, we would have done snorkeling and a beach day today, but I had school the next day and needed to be home at a decent hour. Not to mention, it was pretty cloudy the weekend we came to Catalina, so it wasn’t the best swimming weather anyway. Snorkeling in Catalina is really cool though. I went as a kid and loved it. There are a lot of fish to see, and it’s a very safe area for kids and adults to swim. A beach day and an acai bowl or a sandwich are also good ways to spend your vacation, if you want to save money by not going snorkeling.
If you get the chance to go to Catalina Island, take it! At Escapade Travel, we can help you plan the perfect itinerary for your trip and personalize it just for you and your likings. You can contact us here on the website.