Catalina Island

It was time for another day out but rather than do a road trip we decided to take advantage of the fact that our teenage daughter was off on a theme park weekend with a school friend, so we took a boat trip to Catalina Island.

I had no idea before I came here that there were islands of the coast of California, but in fact there are 8 “Channel islands” and Catalina – Santa Catalina – is the biggest at approx 23 x 8 miles.  It’s a 22 miles  from Los Angeles and the crossing takes just over an hour on a Fast Cat.

I was very hopeful we might spot some whales on our trip.  This is the time of year when whales migrate northwards from Hawaii back to Alaska and they are supposed to be very easy to spot off the Californian Coast.  Last year we made the mistake of taking a whale watching trip on a rather blustery day and after two hours at sea being tossed up and down in a rather small boat, the teenager announced she was going to be throw up at the very moment 3 whales finally came into the view.  She spent the rest of the journey hanging over the back of boat, away from the view of the frolicking whales and has refused to set sail ever since (although she was quite happy to spend the weekend being tossed up and down on roller coasters at a theme park…..)

This time, taking no chances, I dosed myself up with sea sick tablets and we set forth across a mill pond. We did fly past something that could have been a whale, but as we approached Catalina it became apparent that this was dolphin territory.  They were everywhere.  Now presumably if you are one of the lucky 3,000 or so people who live on Catalina Island dolphins must be old hat, but if like me they are not something you see everyday then it really was one of those wow moments – wow, there’s a dolphin! Wow there’s another…and another….

Even as we stepped off the boat you could see them from the harbor – 5 or 6 at a time springing up out of the water.

 

Catalina is an absolute gem and if you ever get the chance to go there – do! The one and only town is the romantically named Avalon which has a distinctly Mediterranean feel. There isn’t a great deal to do but trek up the hills and take in the views but it’s a little piece of America where you can almost forget you are in America. There’s no commercialism - no McDonalds, no Subway, no Taco Bell; not even a Starbucks.  There are no cars – the locals drive around in golf carts which you can hire for $40 an hour and there are no big stores or high rise hotels. 

 

At the turn of the century Catalina was bought by William Wrigley of Wrigley’s spearmint gum fame.  He developed the island into a tourist destination during the 20’s and 30’s before the American military took over control of the island during the second world war.  In 1975 the Wrigley family donated 88% of the island to the Catalina Island Conservancy, a nonprofit corporation with a mission to "preserve and restore Catalina to its natural state in perpetuity so that future generations can continue to enjoy this unique part of California's heritage." And the conservancy has done a great job.  Catalina is extremely well preserved, totally unspoilt and undeveloped; a little haven of peace and tranquility that could be a million miles away from LA rather than just a mere 22.

 

I can imagine it must get pretty crowded in summer and there might well be a few “battles of the golf buggy” on Avalon’s tiny little roads, but over a light lunch of locally caught fish that had kindly hopped out of the crystal clear water onto my plate, I raised a glass of Californian Rose to Mr Wrigley and his family for having the foresight to preserve this beautiful spot for the enjoyment of everyone.