This
is the storied island of romance, immortalized by The Four
Preps who said in song that Catalina Island was “26
miles across the sea.” In reality, the San Pedro Channel
separates Catalina from the rest of Southern California by
only 20 miles. But when it comes to romance, who’s counting?
This is also the place where the “buffalo roam,”
the descendants of a herd of the magnificent beasts introduced
in the 1920s for supporting roles in Hollywood movies. Visitors
will find it hard to believe this quiet island oasis with
lush landscapes that bans automobiles is actually part of
smoggy, car-clotted Los Angeles. Divers devour this island
and there are many sea-related attractions that have made
it one of the most popular places to visit in California for
more than a century. Visitors usually arriving by boat from
Avalon Bay first see the round, red-
Quick References
Catalina Island Hotels Online hotel reservations and reviews
Shopping Find out where to go shopping
Restaurants Where to go for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or drinks
Attractions Info about the top tourist attractions
Catalina Island Tours Tours for individuals and groups
tiled art deco Casino, a longtime landmark.
Palm trees line the waterfront. Houses climb the steep slopes.
And another landmark, a circa 1909 Green Pleasure Pier beckons
with a variety of restaurants and dive shops. More than 88
percent of the island is managed as a nature reserve by the
Santa Catalina Island Conservancy. So the flavor here is a
wilderness of oak, cactus and sage, along with a huge variety
of flowering plants. The island is home to more than 400 native
plants, including seven species that grow only here. At the
same time, while Catalina may be a preserved wilderness that
conjures up the California of two centuries ago, it is not
without the usual creature comforts. It has all the lodging,
restaurants and recreational amenities of any modern-day resort.
Public showers and restrooms, lockers, ATM’s, medical
services, churches, grocery stores and Laundromats, even a
teen center -- day trippers here will find all the conveniences
of home. Visitors climb the high hills for views of the yacht-strewn
bay. Downtown’s seven clocks that record the time from
Hamburg to Okinawa reflect the island’s diverse tourists,
but folklore has it these visitors have one thing in common:
every couple is holding hands.
