If you want to take your partner for a weekend trip, this is a fun and cost-effective way of doing it. This is one of the pricier trips, but Catalina is worth at least one trip. My wife and I took Catalina Express ferry over to the island in the morning on a Saturday. It costs $45- one way one person, but there is no way else of getting there. There are other ferries, but for about the same amount of money. This was the biggest expense. It took us about an hour to traverse the ocean from Long Beach. Catalina has a full-service outdoor terminal to accommodate boats and even cruise ships. The town of Avalon is something to see. It is the only town on the island. Walking to town from the terminal is less than a quarter mile. Easy on my knees. We got there just before lunch and found a real nice restaurant just off the pier, NDMK fish house. It was pricey, but everywhere in Catalina is pricey. Expect to pay about $60-$70- for the two for lunch.
After lunch, we had a bus tour around the town which I was very impressed by. The operator took us on the outskirts of the town onto the hills overlooking the town of Avalon. Very beautiful. We even got a little history. I did not know that the Wrigley family took the Chicago cubs here for spring training back in the 1940’s. That’s pretty cool. The cost was $30- per person and is about an hour long. This was a good value. Before we left, I cruised the gift shops for my refrigerator magnet and hat. Got them!
We took the ferry back to Long Beach and spent the night at a Quality inn motel for $150-. Nothing special but did the trick. I elected not to spend the night on Catalina Island because like Santa Barbara in a previous post, it is about $500- a night. Sure, it depends what part of the year to go, but there is no way for me to spend that kind of money when i can spend on other things for my wife. On Sunday, we had lunch at Rance’s Chicago pizza. A definite plus! I definitely recommend this place. We finished up with going to Aquarium of the pacific museum in Long Beach, a little pricey, $45- each. You can get Groupon discounts from time to time. Aquarium of the Pacific is something else. A must see. A lot of fish and crustaceans. I enjoyed the Shark lagoon, my big part of the day. We learned about conservation, too.
It was a real good and fun weekend trip, watch deals online so, it is not so pricey.
All total for the two of us was about $600-.
More to come, until next time, thanks for reading.
