Visit Catalina Island

Relax on a boat

For those with idea of the perfect holiday is to relax on a boat, there are limitless opportunities on Catalina. If you’re lucky enough to have your own boat, there are several hundred moorings in total at Avalon and Two Harbors, and for everyone else there are boats for private hire, bout tours, motor boating, sail boating, chartered fishing boats or even solid-based inflatable rafts.

A popular option for holidaymakers who aren’t experienced sailors but love being on the water are the discovery boat tours which run around the island from Avalon to Two Harbors and beyond. Isolated coves inaccessible by land make for great swimming and picnic stop-offs and experienced guide give a glimpse into the history, geology, flora, fauna and marine life of the unique archipelago of which Catalina is a part.

A fascinating one-hour night-time trip takes visitors to sea for close-up views of the spectacular flying fish who surface during the dark hours, leaping high in the air to escape fishy predators. A searchlight illuminates their huge fins, used as wings to glide, sometimes as far as hundreds of feet in one leap. Details of times and costs can be found at visitcatalinaisland.org.

On a trip to a nearby sea lion colony, you’ll be able to relax on a boat while watching the towering cliffs glide by. Rocks from this part of the island built most of Los Angeles harbour. Another evening cruise takes tourists to Two Harbors for an evening meal, passing the island’s lush green leeward coast and taking in the flying fish on its return.

Advice on how and where to hire a boat for a fishing trip is available on visitcatalinaisland.org. The seas around Catalina teem with all kinds of marine life, making shark and other game fishing is a popular sport. Private charters with an experienced owner are the way to go here. As a bonus, sightings of pods of wild dolphins are common.