I hope you all had a great Easter! We took an extra day off and made it a long weekend for some much needed family time. Jeff saw the boat ride to Catalina on Groupon and we spontaneously booked a trip! Last time we were there was about eight years ago, pre-kids, and we spent the day parasailing and bar hopping. I wasn’t sure exactly what we would do with the kids there since we couldn’t do what we did last time, but we ended up having so much fun! There really is so much to do on the island and I wished we would have stayed for more then a day.
Here are some of our favorite parts of the trip in case you are wanting to visit Catalina Island with your family.
Getting There
There are multiple ports that have boats out to Catalina Island. We departed from Newport Beach since it is the closest to us, and like I said above we got tickets for that boat on Groupon. The boat ride is a little over an hour but was one of our favorite parts of the entire day. We saw seals and dolphins on the way to the island. I suggest getting in line to board the boat early so you can get an inside seat (preferably on the second level) as it can be a little chilly on the boat in the morning.
Getting Around
Everything is in walking distance from the boat docks. You can rent golf carts but I didn’t find it necessary. We brought our stroller for the girls and so we wouldn’t have to carry our bags around.
There is a nice pathway that wraps around the bay to walk from the boat to the little town. This pathway is lined with a few cute playgrounds that the girls enjoyed. Follow this pathway into town and you can continue along it to get to the old casino and beach club.
Things To Do
First we walked around the downtown area and did some trinket shopping. They have souvenir shops, boutiques, toy shops, and more. From there we went down one of the side streets and ended up at the Catalina History Museum. It was super cool to see all the famous people that lived on the island including Marilyn Monroe before she was famous, the story of Wrigley buying it and having spring training for the Cubs here (my husband is from Chicago and a Cubs fan), and how they built everything on the island. Also, kids are free with a paid adult in the museum.
While we were on the side streets, we peaked in a few of the hotels. Most of the accommodations here are B&B’s or historic hotels. I love the style and charm of these old hotels! This pink one that we stopped into was so cute, had an original bell desk, and a rooftop patio with the most gorgeous view (pictured below). However, when I shared it on Instagram Stories one of my friends said she stayed there before and the actual guest rooms aren’t that great. So maybe just get a photo for the ‘gram in front of it 😉
Where To Eat
From there we decided to go grab some lunch. There are so many cute spots to grab a bite to eat. Some of our favorites:
Bluewater Avalon – This is right in the center of town with an outdoor deck/patio and amazing views of the bay. They have a kids menu with coloring.
Lobster Trap – We haven’t tried this place yet but it was recommended to me from multiple people!
Antonio’s Pizzeria and Cabaret – This place is great for your group to share a pizza. Oceanfront booths and fun/crazy decor. They have kids meals too, but our girls just ended up sharing a pizza with us.
Descanso Beach Club – This actually leads me into my next topic, but definitely recommend spending time here and eating at their restaurant. Right on the beach!
Scoops – Famous ice cream shop in town.
Descanso Beach Club
After lunch we continued along the path around the bay over to Descanso Beach Club. This is my favorite part of the whole island! It is a great place to hang out on the beach, grab a drink, or have lunch. They do offer cabana and lounge chair rentals if you want to do that (those might even include beach towels?) but we just brought our own blanket and laid it out on the sand. They have restrooms, showers, and changing stalls which was so nice! You can also rent kayaks and paddle boards here. This is where we spent the majority of our day, it feels like a mini tropical vacation!
After that we headed back to the boat dock to catch our return ride home. I really wish we would have planned in advance to stay overnight on the island. There was so much more I wanted to do! We honestly had so much fun with our kids and I highly recommend visiting!