Catalina Island Trip (San Diego, Orange, Newport Beach: rent, how much, hotel)

[mricu]

Hi all,

We'll be going to Catalina Island this weekend and had a few questions that I'm hoping you guys can help me out. Please keep in mind I'm starting from San Diego and will be going to Catalina via Catalina Flyer from Newport Beach.

Here are the questions:

1) Need to reach Newport Beach by Friday 8am for the 9am ferry ... any idea when I should leave San Diego to get there on time? Should we get there earlier than 8am?

2) We'll be on the Island for 3 days so need a place to park overnight close to the Ferry Terminal ... any know the costs of the parking around the Terminal, or if I can park for free on the side streets anywhere for 3 days?

3) We have bikes rented and plan on visting the casino and museum on the island. We're also thinking of doing the glass bottom boat tour. What other activities do you guys recommend to fill up 3 days? We don't know how to swim so we're limited to water activities for non-swimmers.

Thanks in advance for all your input!

[ferretkona]

I would allow more time to get to Newport as you will have traffic the whole way.
I usually took my own bike to the island, the boat only charged me one dollar to include it round trip. Call to check if you can or how much.
There are trips to the interior on buses. Go up and see the buffalo.
Check out the Casino tour, see a movie in the theater as it is a knock out.

I lived there for a year back in the 70's, you run out of things to do after a few days.

[dober1]

If you drink, go to Luau Larry's order a pepper shooter, get a souvenir straw hat. I hope you are in good shape the island's interior is very hilly. Go to the Wriggley(sp) Mansion and take a shore boat up the coast to Twin Harbors ( its been awhile) but it is the place where Natalie Woods died. There is a little resturant/bar there that was big with the Hollywood crowd back in the day. If you do not fish or drink there is not much you cannot see in a day on Catalina. If you do fish and or drink it is a blast for 3 days.

[Coldjensens]

1) Need to reach Newport Beach by Friday 8am for the 9am ferry ... any idea when I should leave San Diego to get there on time? Should we get there earlier than 8am?

Leave at 5:30 - 6 a.m. Most people get a slightly late start anyway. It will take you about 2 plus hours to get there with no traffic. I always left 3.25 hours to get to downtown San Diego when I lived right by the flyer (I lived literally right nest to it on a boat). You want to arrive early to have time to park find the boat, buy anything that you forget to bring. It is not worth missing the boat. Just leave early. Unless you get motion sickness, you can sleep on the boat anyway.

2) We'll be on the Island for 3 days so need a place to park overnight close to the Ferry Terminal ... any know the costs of the parking around the Terminal, or if I can park for free on the side streets anywhere for 3 days?

There is a parking garage right by the balboa island ferry. I do not know the cost or terms. They change. Otherwise park in the big lot by the balboa pier. that is where most residents without garages park. There is some free parking along the street by the Newport pavilion where you buy your tickets. It is almost always full. Watch for signs limiting days and time you can park there. I think they have valet parking as well.

3) We have bikes rented and plan on visting the casino and museum on the island. We're also thinking of doing the glass bottom boat tour. What other activities do you guys recommend to fill up 3 days? We don't know how to swim so we're limited to water activities for non-swimmers.

Take a trolley tour. ride up to the airport if you are in good shape. Even if you are not good swimmers, you can still snorkle. It really is not swimming and does not involve any swimming. Lay on the floor kick your legs while keeping them relatively straight. IF you can do that, you can snorkle.
Rent a wet suit in fishermans cove. They are bouyant and help keep you afloat. You can also rent a floating board to hang onto. put fins on your feet. Stick your head in the water and breathe through the snorkle. kick your feet and you will go. Stay close to shore while you get the hang of moving. Ask other people for instructions.

If you want to dive down witht he fish, put your hands together over your head (like the A in the ymca DANCE), point down and flap your arms to your side like a bird
kick your feet. You will go down. When you want to go up, do nothing. You will go up. Or you can kisk up. Staying down is the hard part. Dont forget to spit out your norkle when you get up. You can blow it out but that takes some practice and it must be at the right angle. Easier to just spit it out and breath through your mouth.


If you are too scared to try snorlkeing, rent a mask and just wade out to about your waist. you can still stick your head in the water and see some neat things.

Otherwise eathing drinking and relaxing are what you will do. There is a beach. There are some neat shops.

[bm22]

You might want to check out Groupon-Orange County Deals as they had three or four different deals for Catalina today (Wednesday).

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by bm22

You might want to check out Groupon-Orange County Deals as they had three or four different deals for Catalina today (Wednesday).

Yeah, be careful with those. They tend to oversell and you may have to wait a significant amount of time before you can actually use it.

Regardless, make sure you have a reservation.

(and since the OP is coming from SD, why not take the ferry out of Dana Point?)

[bowneline]

1. I can't speak about what time to leave San Diego, but I know you don't need to get to the boat by 8am (like they tell you to), if you don't care about getting a great seat (especially in the off-season, like now). We usually don't get there until around 8:30, because the seats we sit in (upper deck, in the sheltered area behind the wheelhouse) are not high in demand. If you want a good bench seat inside, then you should get there earlier. I don't think they actual board the boat until 8:30 or so, and everyone just lines up outside before then. I'm not telling you to show up late, but rather letting know that its not the end of the world if you are not there at 8am (because you are driving such a long ways).

2. Most people seem to park in the big public lot next to the pier (turn right on Palm St. as you are going down Balboa Blvd to the ferry). There is free parking on the surface streets too. If you continue down Balboa Blvd, past Main St. (where the Ferry is), you will get to the letter streets (A Street, B Street etc...) and you can sometimes find spots on those streets (they are parallel to the Balboa). There is street sweeping on Mondays and Wednesdays though, so check the signs. You can also find free street parking on the block of streets adjacent to Balboa Blvd from about 6th Street to Palm, along Bay Ave. This parking is usually pretty packed, so you would have to hope and find someone who is just leave. Regardless of where you park, I recommend dropping your bags and someone to get in line at the ferry office before parking (turn left on Main Street, off of Balboa Blvd, and there is a drop off zone).

3. We have brought our bikes in the past too. Like someone mentioned, it is not free on the Flyer, and I remember it being something like $5 per bike. There are not a whole bunch of places to ride bikes to in Avalon (especially now that Pebbly Beach Rd. is closed). But, its nice to ride down to Descano Beach, or the Wrigley Memorial.

There is the ziplining, which I've heard is really cool (but not cheap), and, of course, the interior tour, which is pretty much the only way to see the 95% of the inland that is wild and off limits to most people. We have done the Casino Tour (or just see a movie there), which is worth the time and cost of admission. Over all, though, there is not tons of things to do. We usually spend out time sitting in a beach chair, or walking around the shops.

Enjoy your trip.

[mricu]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Yeah, be careful with those. They tend to oversell and you may have to wait a significant amount of time before you can actually use it.

Regardless, make sure you have a reservation.

(and since the OP is coming from SD, why not take the ferry out of Dana Point?)

Ya we are going because of a groupon deal. The hotel takes care of the boat as well as all the attractions that was included with the Groupon. They dictate that we take the Catalina Flyer from Newport Beach.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far .. keep em coming!

[DinsdalePirahna]

Have Fun. Catalina is a blast. I can't wait until I get my dive certification so I will have one more thing to do there!

[Coldjensens]

If you need to be there by 8:30, leave at 5:30. Whaever time you want to be at the ticket office, I would leave 3 hours. Even if you leave early, by the time you get to Orange county you will be hitting traffic.