California's Highway One: Catalina Island

June 5, 5:49 AMSF Honeymoon Travel ExaminerSuzie Rodriguez

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Aerial View of Avalon Harbor (Credit: Catalina Chamber)

What a difference 26 miles can make! The rugged headlands, pretty harbors, white sandy beaches, and balmy breezes of Santa Catalina Island seem a world away from Los Angeles.

Traveling Highway One gives you plenty of opportunity for detours, and one of the most relaxing comes when you leave your car behind and hop on a ferry to Catalina Island. Step ashore here and you’ll feel transported a few decades back in time. Life on this island is gentle, unhurried, and sunny, making it easy to understand why the island’s original inhabitants, the Gabrielino Indians, worshipped the Sun God Chiningshinch. It’s quiet here, too, thanks to strict restrictions on automobiles. And, since eighty-six percent of Catalina is owned by a non-profit organization dedicated to its conservation, most of the land is wild and untouched, a haven for native wildlife. While hiking in the hills, you just might spot an elusive bald eagle.

The Casino, Catalina Island (Credit: Catalina Chamber)

Catalina’s only town, Avalon, is a pedestrian’s haven of Victorian homes and narrow streets originally built for horse-and-buggy traffic. You’ll find no skyscrapers, no traffic lights. Instead of exhaust fumes, you’ll be embraced by warm breezes spiced with the scent of wild grape.

When you leave the daily stress behind, your pace slows delightfully down. You’ll find yourselves strolling in a leisurely manner along palm-lined Crescent Avenue, the main seaside pathway, past sport shops, bars with nautical names, and cheerful al fresco restaurants. You'll drop into the Catalina Island Museum to view ancient Gabrielino artifacts or examples of the renowned tile and pottery produced here between 1927 and 1937 (each September the entire museum becomes a showcase for this important collection).

Shaded from the noon-day sun by a large market umbrella, you’ll tuck with gusto into fresh swordfish or thick mesquite-grilled steaks. Later you’ll sit on the beach gazing seaward. And definitely take in a film at the venerable Avalon Theatre, with its murals depicting California and island history, a 20-foot-tall tile mermaid in the lobby, and even a 16-pipe organ that's played live on Friday and Saturday nights.

Golfing on Catalina Island  (Credit: Catalina Chamber)

But don’t get the wrong idea. While this island paradise offers plenty of opportunity for browsing, peaceful idylls, and seaside daydreams, activity options abound. Are you golfers? The 18-hole, 2100-yard Catalina Island Golf Course—former home of the Bobby Jones Invitational Tournament—was originally built in 1892; it was the very first course in Southern California.

Interested in fishing for marlin, swordfish, or albacore? Sign on for a group or individual outing with a professional. Enjoy the island's Isolated interior trails, which can be hiked, jogged, walked, or mountain-biked. As for diving, experts claim that Catalina, where water temperatures in summer range between 60-70°, has some of the richest kelp beds on the west coast. You can also ride horses, play tennis, or just stake a claim on a patch of beach.

Hard to believe, but even greater tranquility can be found on Catalina. Two Harbors, once a major Gabrielino Indian village, is situated on a half-mile wide isthmus 24 miles northwest of Avalon. Now a popular yachtie mooring, it contains little more than a small general store, dive shop, restaurant, and the Banning House Lodge on a hilltop above town. An 11-room craftsman-style hotel, it was built in 1910 as a summer home for the two Banning brothers who then owned Santa Catalina Island. Surrounded by uncrowded beaches and hiking trails winding through the hills, Two Harbors offers opportunities for tide pooling, snorkeling, diving, and guided tours of historical and archeological sites.  

© Suzanne Rodriguez 2009