An island off the coast of southern California with sandy beaches, cute shops, and long seafood lunches where everybody gets around by golf carts and it looks like the Riviera? Sign me up!

Off the coast of Orange County with daily ferry service from Long Beach and Newport Beach, Catalina island is by far the most popular (and accessible) of California’s Channel Islands.

I’ve always heard about Catalina Island, and on my last trip to the LA area, I finally made it over for a day trip. 

Here’s everything you need to know…

Catalina Island Day Trip Itinerary

Here’s a rundown of how we spent the day: 

Since we did this trip in January and it was a little chilly, the beach and watersports were out of the question, so we decided to take a later ferry. 

We left Newport Beach on the 11 AM ferry and it was a pleasant hour and a half trip over to Catalina Island. 

The #1 thing I wanted to do in Catalina was a golf cart tour so we decided to do that first thing. There are a few different places you can rent, but we went with Catalina Island Golf Cart Rentals and Tours. It’s not the first place you come to when you’re walking towards town from the boat, but it’s still at that end of town (it’s next to the Pancake Cottage). 

The rentals are $60/hour with a one hour minimum and a two hour maximum. And that really is as long as you’ll need…you can do the whole loop in about an hour if you don’t stop very much and two hours if you stop a lot. 

You HAVE to have cash for the deposit here. When you get the golf cart, you give them $60 cash plus a credit card and they adjust your bill when you bring it back. So if you’re gone for two hours, then they’ll keep your cash and charge your card $60. If you’re only gone one hour, they’ll give you your cash back and charge your card $60. 

They gave us a map and directions for how to follow the loop but it ended up being pretty self explanatory. The whole town is practically designed to be seen from a golf cart and the views are GREAT!

You can really see why they call it the American Riviera. There’s even a fancy casino!

For lunch we went to the BlueWater Grill and it has the best views. It’s a cute place right on the water, and we had great lobster rolls. The cesar salad and key lime pie were excellent too. 

Avalon is really walkable so we spent quite a bit of time just walking around and shopping. There’s cheesy souvenir shops, cute boutiques, etc. 

Since we were there in January, the sun went down pretty early and we had a while to kill before our return ferry so we headed to Luau Larry’s because, I mean I couldn’t NOT go to a place named Luau Larry’s. 

This place was a trip. They serve food, but we just stuck with drinks. And we even got the “lava lounge” all to ourselves. I’m not sure if that’s what it’s actually called, but after a couple of mai tais, that’s what we settled on ; )

Honestly, they weren’t the best drinks I’ve ever had, but it’s a good place to hang out!

Our ferry left Avalon at 7:45 PM and we were back in Newport Beach a little after 9 PM. 

What Else Is There to Do on Catalina Island? 

Golf Cart Tour

I mentioned this earlier, but I think this is a MUST DO. If you only have time to do one thing, make it this. 

Descanso Beach Club

If you’re visiting during the summer and planning to make a full day of it, you’ll definitely want to hang out at the Descanso Beach Club. You can rent lounge chairs and cabanas by the day and It’s full service with a bar and restaurant onsite. Pricing is seasonal, but loungers are in the $100-$120 range with cabanas starting at $400. Find more info here. 

Casino Tours

I only got to see the casino from the outside and it’s magnificent! They call it a casino, but it’s never been home to actual gambling. It’s actually a theater! They still show movies and that would be a great way to see the inside. If your visit doesn’t line up with the schedule, you can also book a tour of the interior. It’s $25/adult ($23/child) for a 45 minute tour and they usually offer them at 10:30AM and 2PM. They also offer a behind the scenes tour that takes you to other places in the casino besides the theater. Book your tour in advance here. 

Zipline

If it’s an adventure you seek, check out this Catalina Island Zip Line Eco Tour. We saw them while we were zipping around on our golf cart and it looked fun!

Backcountry Bison Adventure

The vast majority of Catalina Island’s visitors never make it beyond Avalon, but if you’re been before and you’re looking for something new or you want to make a FULL day of it, book this Bison Expedition. 

If/when I go back to Catalina, I’ll definitely do this. And if you’re going during the summer on the early ferry and coming back late, you’ll definitely have time for this 2 hour diversion and still have enough time to hit all the classic Catalina activities

Water Activities

If you’re visiting during the summer (and you don’t mind that cold California water!), there are all kinds of water activities to take part in besides just splashing around at the beach…snorkeling, scuba, paddle board rentals, etc. 

Logistics & FAQs

Is one day enough?

I think one day on Catalina is definitely enough. I’m sure there are people who enjoy spending the night or a long week for a down time getaway, but I personally wouldn’t have been interested in spending more than a day. 

But if you are going for a day trip and want to get the most out of it, I would definitely plan to go in the summer and do the full day (early ferry going over, late ferry going back) so you have plenty of time to do a few activities. 

If it were me, I would probably book the Bison Expedition first thing, then fill in the day with a golf cart tour, shopping, lunch, and the beach. 

What are the ferry options? How long does it take?

There is daily ferry service to Avalon (the main town on Catalina) from four ports in Southern California. 

I took the Catalina Flyer from Newport Beach and it took about an hour and 15 minutes. 

The Catalina Express offers daily service from Long Beach, San Pedro, and Dana Point to both Avalon and Two Harbors on Catalina.

Do you need to book in advance?

Golf cart tours don’t necessarily need to be booked in advance, but my general rule of thumb is to book things that I would be disappointed to miss out on. Book zip line, the bison expedition, casino tours, and beach club reservations in advance.