Catalina- A quick and fun three-day getaway
- Mama Mathis
- Apr 4, 2024
- 5 min read
Living in Southern California we do have some fun easy getaways no plane required. This spring break some canceled plans to Mexico had us looking for a last-minute quick and easy getaway. My daughters did some research and they landed on the cute little island of Catalina.
While my husband and I and two of our daughters had been to Catalina before, it had been so many years so we decided that was a great plan. Plus, the weather outlook went from rainy to a few days of perfect sunshine scheduled for the days we would be there. We booked this two days before we decided to leave and honestly, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. We stayed in a great spot on the island, saw so many things courtesy of our golf cart and ended with a day of rest and relaxation in a cabana on the beach.
Here was our 3 day Itinerary:
How to get to Catalina Island: The Ferry
Being that our trip was booked two days in advance during spring break, the Catalina Express that was closest to us out of Dana Point but was already completely all booked going to Catalina. So we just took a bit of a longer drive and we went out of the ferry from Long Beach. This is super easy to find and we did pay a little bit more to get an inside cabin seat that came with snacks and drinks. There are Ferry locations in Dana Point, Newport Beach and Long Beach.
On the way home from Catalina we took the Catalina Express to Dana Point. Having family live close by in Orange County, we were able to leave our car with them and have them pick us up once we arrived in Dana Point, but you can certainly park in the Ferry lot while you are gone. On the ferry back to Dana Point we were only able to get seats outside, which makes for a very pretty view, but it’s certainly chilly. This trip I didn't see any dolphins along the boat, but I have seen dolphins and whales while riding on this ferry before.
Accommodations: Hamilton Cove
Hamilton Cove is the way to go. This beautiful development is gate guarded so you don’t have the noise or people coming through. It is private and has its own beach with amazing snorkeling, lots of orange Garibaldi fish that you can see right from shore, its own pool, jacuzzi, putting green and tennis courts. Hamilton Cove IS NOT a hotel. They are private homes and condos. We were able to book our condo through VRBO and the condo was great because we had all the amenities of home. We went to Vons in town and loaded up our own groceries and drinks so we were able to eat at the condo with a fantastic view of the ocean, rather than waiting in line for a crowded and overpriced restaurant.
The VRBO included its own six passenger golf cart. This was key! On the island of Catalina there are golf cart rentals, however, they only rent by the hour. At $60 an hour, which is the going rate that would add up really quickly. Having our own golf cart allowed us to check out the sites and cruise all around the island. The town of Avalon isn’t huge, but trust me you don’t want to walk everywhere.
Staying two nights was just the right amount of time. The third day we packed up our stuff as we needed to be out of the condo by 10 AM and I used our golf cart to take all of our luggage and my husband and kids over to the Descanso Beach Club to unload our stuff for the day in our rented cabana. Then I simply went back to Hamilton Cove parked the golf cart, dropped off the keys, and simply gave myself some time alone for a quick walk over to meet up with my family.
It was also a great setting for my morning walk. If your like me, no matter if I'm home or if I'm on vacation, I pop in my ear buds playing my current audio book and explore whereever I am. I especially love this when I am somewhere new as it is some me time that is just so refreshing.
Descanso Beach Club: Day Cabana Rental
This is a beautiful beach club that was clean and aesthetically pretty. I booked our family a cabana the night before to ensure that we were able to secure a spot. Descanso Beach club offers cabana rentals, beach chair, rentals, or you can simply pay to sit on their beach.
The cabanas run $295 for the day but it allowed us to have a great spot from 11am to 4pm with unlimited towels and unlimited Evian waters plus we ordered lunch in the cabana. This spot allowed us to rest and relax without having to worry about where to take our luggage and what we were going to do being that we had quite a few hours until our ferry went back to Dana Point at 5. We didn’t pack towels to come over to Catalina so the unlimited towels was also a big bonus. They also had showers there so once the day was done, we could shower and put some warm clothes on before we headed back to Dana Point on the ferry.
Getting from Descanso Beach to where you board the ferry is less than a mile walk. There are taxis you could order, but we decided to just walk over as it’s a pretty stroll around Avalon Bay. Leaving at 4 o’clock worked out just great as it’s when the beach closed and it gave us plenty of time to walk over to the ferry line for our 5 PM departure
Other ins and outs:
Certainly, take a trip up to see the view from the Wrigley mansion. The roads up there are beautiful from the nature surrounding you to the views of the ocean. If you want to see the beautiful Wrigley memorial, it is in the botanical gardens that are $15 to enter.
Keep your eyes open for wildlife. We saw a few deer right next to us even though the island is really known for the Bison sightings.
There's a great little Vons grocery right in the town of Avalon. How cute are all the golf carts in the parking lot.
The island is quite large. There's other harbors such as "two harbors" but we stuck to Avalon.
Theres the ice cream shop and other touristy spots that just scream small island town.
There is an arcade right in town. My girls and my husband do love a good arcade. One of my daughters won a whoopie cushion which provided plenty of entertainment of the golf cart.
There really is so much more we could have done on the island but I guess we will save that for another trip. Being that it is the first week of April, the weather wasn't too warm yet. We just were looking for a Spring Break to rest, relax and recoup and that we found.
The next time we might look for some of the more adventurous things Catalina offers like snorkeling, parasailing, fishing, adventure rides to see the bison, zip-lining, and more. I'm glad we didn't do it all, as each time we can add things to check off our Catalina bucket list.
Sometimes the places that aren’t that far to travel to are overlooked. If I were a tourist, then I would certainly have looked into going to Catalina. Being from San Diego and having Catalina visible from our home on a clear day has for some reason made it somewhere that we don’t typically ever go. I’m so glad my girls picked this spot for a spring break away. We had a fantastic time and without the stress of having planes to catch or luggage to check it made it so easy and worthwhile. I am glad we have been there, and I am glad that we have done that.
Xo,
Mama
