Hello,
thymed!
I'm glad you got back to this thread before your trip begins! I was thinking that I ended up posting too late for you to read it and be able to alter your plans if need be.
Thank you! I was thrilled and shocked to see that the Free Boat Ride offer was being extended for a 3rd year -- and this will probably be the last year for it -- so how could I not take advantage of it again?
As for Catalina-- I have 2 threads about it: my trip report with all the photos from last year's day trip, which is the blue link in my signature below, and then the thread that began as an announcement about the Free birthday promo 2 years ago but became sort of a Catalina discussion thread, in which other people posted some thoughts and reviews as well (such as endy, PHXscuba, PrincessInOz, pixarmom, etc.).
If you get an early start on the Express and get to the Island while it's still morning, before too many people are up and about, it's a good time to get the lay of the land and see what's what. (I am a crazy person in that I will take THE earliest boat out -- I like to get on the boat that leaves in the 6 a.m. hour -- and I will sit outside, on the deck, in the morning sea air, scouting for dolphins!
) You don't necessarily need to take the first boat out of Long Beach if you don't want to, but I also would not recommend waiting until too much later in the morning to go. because those boats fill up.
So, here is how I would do things, if this can be managed, but you may add some variations to the plans for the day:
1. Take the earliest Catalina Express boat that you can manage to take from the Long Beach
Downtown Landing. Do not go to the terminal that is right next to the Queen Mary, as that is for large groups. Try to book your boat in advance if you can, just to be sure you reserve seats. Parking for the day is something like $12 or $15 -- I can't recall. I didn't park -- I took a shuttle -- so that's why I am hazy on the price.
2. While on the Express, if you can do it, go to one of the upper outdoor decks and sit outside for the ride over. Not everyone is a fan of sitting outside in the chilly morning air, but there are almost always dolphin sightings and some are better than others. Sometimes you may see one or two dolphins in the blink of an eye. Sometimes there could be a whole bunch of them romping in the water near the boat, and if that happens the captain will often stop or slow down to let the passengers watch and take photos. I have been on Express boat rides in which I barely caught sight of a fast-moving dolphin, and other times in which the boat stopped and the passengers gave a round of thunderous applause when dozens of dolphins decided to put on a show for us right next to the boat. You never know what kind of 'dolphin day' you will get, but it helps to be sitting outside to see it!
3. Once you arrive on the Island, if the tour offices and golf cart rental places have not opened yet then take that time to look around and get the feel of everything. Avalon is a very small town, and yes, you can easily walk to everything, which I will get to in more detail shortly.
If the tour offices are open when you arrive, try to book whatever tours you are going to do at that moment, before they book up. IF, for example, you are planning to do the Flying Fish tour (which takes place after the sun goes down and I think it may happen only once or twice each night) you will want to snap that up right away. Make sure to plan to return to Long Beach on the Express at night if you are going to do the Flying Fish tour, as you will need time to do the tour. The fish come out after dark, which is why the tour happens then!
4. Next -- Golf cart rentals. The golf cart -- for visitors -- is mainly more for driving around the hills for sort of a scenic tour of the city of Avalon, without going too deeply into the interior of the Island itself. You don't need a golf cart for transportation. There are a couple of places on the Island from which to rent carts. I recommend the place that is closest to the boat dock where you will get off of the Express; it will be on your left hand side as you start to walk into town from the boat dock -- I think it's called Island Rentals. It's basically a little shack with a bunch of carts outside.
Look for the buffalo wearing red, white and blue sitting on top of the roof. BRING CASH for this. For some reason, they do not take credit cards at the rental place. It costs $40 per hour, but you get 3 hours for the price of 2 hours if you rent before a certain time like 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. The golf carts can sometimes be snapped up quickly and then you'd have to wait for another party to bring theirs back so the earlier, the better.
5. Once in the golf cart, you may drive around for a while and feel that you have seen all there is to see. Make use of that 3 hours. Don't adhere strictly to the map that the golf cart place will give you. Explore the town. Turn up or down any side streets that don't prohibit it. Drive around the hills. Look at the Zane Grey hotel/house. Stop for scenic photos against the ocean backdrop. Drive down to the famous Casino and beyond (stop for scene photos with the harbor in the background). Most importantly,
stop at the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden (Wrigley is the same Wrigley of chewing gum and Wrigley Field fame), which will be on the golf cart path. Check out the crazy cacti and other desert plants in the Garden, and climb the steps to the Wrigley Memorial, which has some great tile work and architecture, as well as decent views.
6. After you return the golf cart, it may or may not be time to eat. If you enjoy seafood (which I do not), people say that Armstrong's in town (along the water) is good. Others say that Rosie's on the Green Pleasure Pier (counter service) is good. If you don't care about seafood one way or the other, I like Antonio's Cabaret -- which is next to Armstrong's and has some good tables along the water. The menu has a lot to choose from, with a slant towards Italian fare. Mama's Day Old Spaghetti is good!
7. As for tours -- If you do the Semi-Sub/Sub tour, I think you'll enjoy it. It is the best way to see fish up close. Even though the Glass Bottom Boat tour is synonymous with Catalina, I would avoid it. You can't get a good view of the fish and it costs more than it's worth. The Sub is much better.
As previously mentioned, the Flying Fish tour is great fun, but it takes place after the sun goes down so you must allow time to do it. The captain shines a big light onto the water, which attracts the fish. They start jumping through the air and gliding along at rapid speed. Sometimes a fish or two might end up in the boat (though that did not happen when I did the tour). There are often hundreds of them that can be seen "flying."
Local TV personality Huell Howser did a few really great episodes of his past series that featured the Casino, the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden and the Flying Fish Tour. I wish I could show you the Flying Fish Tour show! Those are all available for purchase, but I have been waiting for the
free videos to be released. When Huell found out he was ill (he sadly passed away 5 months ago), he arranged with Chapman University (not far from Disneyland) to digitize his his entire catalog of work and make it available online, for FREE. Unfortunately, Chapman is taking a very long time to do this. Huell has a large volume of shows, and they are not getting through it quickly. Last time I checked the Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University's website, the Casino episode, the Wrigley episode and the Flying Fish episode were still not digitized and available to watch. Some of his other, less interesting, shows about Catalina were available, but not the main 3 that I wanted to see!
The Sea Lion/seal tour is fun. The Casino tour is good because you get to see the beautiful ballroom and the gorgeous movie theater. It's a walking tour. You could also do a tour that takes you into the interior of the Island to look for buffalo.
8. Walking around Avalon. You will see that it is a small town (not including the other 20 miles of rugged interior that you can only get to if you take a tour or a bus inland). You can easily walk from one end -- roughly, where the Catalina Express terminal is -- under the Via Casino arch, to the Casino and beyond.
I always, always recommend going "beyond." Even if you reach the Casino and think you should turn around and go back, keep walking. Walk past the divers' area and follow along the path that is adjacent to the water. Walt to Descanso Beach, if you can. Some of the best views can sometimes be found when you go "beyond" the point where you think you are supposed to stop. Turn a corner or go down a dirt path and you may find something unexpected!
In fact -- I spoke about this and posted photos in my Trip Report -- one of my absolute favorite places in Avalon is a place that is supposed to be restricted from access but it is
not enforced. You follow Pebbly Beach Road out to Lover's Cove, and you can easily do it on foot. I walk out to a bench that overlooks the ocean. I call it my "Thinking Spot." It's a glorious walk along the road, with nothing but the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below. There are no walls or anything blocking the view, and often you can spot sea life. I took a sunset walk out to Lovers Cove last year and it was just as amazing as I remembered it. Nothing but the sea, the rocks and the sunset! Occasionally a resident may drive by, but it's not distracting.
Here is how to get there: When you disembark from the Catalina Express in Avalon you will see some tour offices and the Express office right there in front of you. Instead of turning to head into town, like towards the golf cart rental place, go the opposite way. Follow the road along the water and the hillside. You will probably pass some signs that say Do Not Enter or Falling Rocks, but no one enforces those because the walk is so wonderful and the residents complained. Just keep a-walkin'!!!
9. Other stuff: Correct. Avalon is often reported to be a bad beach for swimming. Water quality is apparently not good. I know that people swim there, but I think the water is better at other beaches. Also, the actual beach in Avalon is tiny -- postage-stamp size! The actual sand in Avalon is imported from other beaches in SoCal, like Redondo Beach. Avalon has a natural rock beach and not much sand of its own, so they have to haul it in!
Parking around this general area, like the Tar Pits and LACMA, is not bad. There are designated places to park. At the Farmers Market and The Grove, I think there is validated parking if you eat at one of the restaurants at either place. You can always check their websites for parking info first, before going. All of these locations are quite close together -- within minutes of each other. You could really take Fairfax from Farmers Market/The Grove and turn on 6th Street or Wilshire towards the Tar Pits/LACMA. Petersen Auto Museum is at Wilshire and Fairfax.
I think that your Hollywood time will probably be fine...but I will find the link for Laurie/DizNee Luver's Hollywood installment of her December 2012 trip for you to glance over!
ETA:
Here is a link to the Index from Laurie/DizNee Luver's December 2012 TR. As you can see, she has separate links to each section of the report, including a link to the Hollywood Walk of Fame post and links to the Disney Soda Fountain posts, so I think you should be able to find those sections easily. She gives her review of Hollywood in comparison to her previous visits as well.
I apologize for this enormously long post, but just in case I am not able to get back to this thread for more than a second, or in case you don't have time to check in again before you leave, I wanted to get in as much info as possible now, in hopes that it will help somewhat! You don't need to read it all in one sitting -- but just a bit at a time! Of course, there may be variations in your Catalina plans, but at least you have a good idea of what to expect/do/see.
Have fun!
). The Grumman's Chinese Theatre is cool to look at. I once saw a movie and sat right next to Cameron Diaz, and we were sharing the same arm rest the entire movie. Seriously that happened.
