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Catalina
Island
Often compared to Mediterranean jewels like Malta or Capri, this local
island asternmost in the Channel Island chain—offers sun-filled
skies, clean sea air, and shimmering azure waters just 22 miles off the
California coast. AVALON, named after the Arthurian paradise as described
in Tennyson's Idylls of the King, is the island's only town, occupying
barely a square mile; 86 percent of the island is wilderness under the
protection of the Catalina Island Conservancy. The Avalon you see today
owes its popularity to chewing-gum magnate and baseball fan William Wrigley
Jr, who purchased the island around 1918, constructed a Wrigley Field
replica here so his Chicago Cubs could come for spring training (1929
to 1959), and channeled his considerable resources into making his beloved
island a stylish offshore playground. Today Catalina is a mecca for out
door enthusiasts, who come to kayak, fish, dive, hike, bike, camp, and
much more. It also draws day trippers eager to stroll the streets of charming
bayfront Avalon, live out Gilligan's Island fantasies, and absorb the
infectious, laid-back island vibe.
The usual way to reach Catalina Island is via CATALINA EXPRESS (310/519-1212
or 800/464-4228), which operates up to 22 daily departures from San Pedro
and Long Beach. The trip to Avalon takes about an hour on their high-speed
catamarans. CATALINA CRUISES (800/CATALINA) also ferries passengers from
Long Beach to Avalon, and offers lower fares by running monstrous 700-passenger
boats that take almost twice as long to make the crossing. If money is
more of a concern to you than time, they're your best bet; call for schedules.
You can't get lost in Avalon. Aptly named Crescent Avenue follows
the bay's horseshoe curve from end to end, and nearly everything is on
this main street or one of the half-dozen side streets radiating outward
from it. At the center is the 1909 GREEN PLEASURE PIER. which is still
a hub of activity even though visitors now arrive at a high-volume terminal
across the bay. The CATALINA ISLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & VISITORS
BUREAU (310/510-1520; www.catalina.com) operates at the base of the pier,
answering questions and distributing tons of helpful brochures and guides.
The town is easily explored on foot, and rental cars are nonexistent (most
residents motor around in golf carts and many homes have only cart-sized
driveways). Other options include renting
a bicycle from BROWN'S BIKES (107 Pebbly Beach Road, near the passenger
terminal; 310/510-0986). Gas-powered golf carts are available for rent
on an hourly basis from CARTOPIA (on Crescent Ave at Pebbly Beach Rd;
310/510-2493). Avalon's most distinctive landmark is the elegant CASINO
an Art Deco masterpiece housing a theater and a ballroom, and featuring
spectacular murals, revolutionary engineering, and impeccable design.
You can see the theater any night for the price of a movie ticket—the
Casino screens first-run films—but the tenth-floor ballroom is accessible
only by guided tour (see below) or during one of the many special dance
events throughout the year. These include June's SWING CAMP CATALINA (call
626/799-5689 for information), CATALINA JAZZ TRAX FESTIVAL in October
(contact them at 800/866-TRAX), and the gala NEW YEAR'S
EVE CELEBRATION (the Visitors Bureau has complete details). In the ground
floor of the Casino is the CATALINA ISLAND MUSEUM (310/510- 2414), featuring
exhibits on island history and archeology, plus a contour relief map of
Catalina that's helpful to hikers. Other landmarks visible from the bay
include Wrigley's stately mansion, built on the hill side and now the
exclusive INN ON MOUNT ADA (see Lodgings, below). Nearby is the distinctive
HOLLY HILL HOUSE, easily recognized by its Queen Anne frills and prominent
striped cupola. Built in 1888-1890 by Peter Gano, who used his blind horse
Mercury to haul most of the materials uphill, the house was meant, according
to legend, as a wedding
present for Gano's intended—who then refused to move to the isolated
island and ultimately married another. Gano lived alone in Holly Hill
House, never marrying, and posting "No Women Allowed" signs
at the threshold. The home, listed on the National Register of Historic
Places, is privately owned and superbly restored with period antiques.
Once- monthly tour days are conducted during the summer; call the Catalina
Island Museum Society (310/510-2414) for tour dates and reservations.
Much of the most interesting stuff on Catalina Island —rugged back
roads, dramatic shoreline palisades, pristine isolated coves, the Art
Deco
Casino Ballroom, Arabian horses at the Wrigley family's El Rancho Escondido—is
either restricted or too remote for the casual visitor, Luckily, there
are numerous options for guided excursions, ranging in length from a couple
of hours to three-quarters of the day. Santa Catalina Island Company's
DISCOVERY TOURS (310/510-TOUR or 800/626- 7489) offers the greatest variety:
In addition to day and night scenic tram tours of Avalon, glass-bottomed
boat cruises, and bus trips into the island's interior, it conducts some
unusual outings none of the other operators offer. These include the UNDERSEA
TOUR of Lovers' Cove Marine Preserve in a semi-submerged boat, nighttime
boat trips to see Catalina's
famed FLYING FISH, and an exclusive tour of the landmark CASINO THEATER
AND BALLROOM. Call for prices, schedules, and tickets. Around the point
marked by the Avalon Casino lies the DESCANSO BEACH CLUB, (310/510-1226),
nestled in its own small cove and looking like a mini-Club Med. Facilities
include showers, changing rooms, a
restaurant and bar, volleyball nets, and thatched beach umbrellas. Year
round rentals of KAYAKS, SNORKEL GEAR, RAFTS, AND WETSUITS are available.
If you're interested in a SPORTFISHING or DIVING excursion,they depart
froM the Green Pleasure Pier in the bay; call the Visitors Bureau for
details. If you venture into the island's interior, be sure to look out
for wild buffalo—descendants of a long-ago herd brought over for
a movie shoot, then abandoned—who meander the hillsides (and some
times block auto traffic).
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