In addition to the Channel Islands National Park, my friend Mary and I went to another island off the coast of California during our 40th birthday adventure in July 2021 as we took the Catalina Flyer to Catalina Island for the day.
You can stay on the island at one of the hotels, rentals or even go camping, but we decided on a day trip to keep it affordable. We booked a Ridge Top Eco Tour across the island during our day trip.
Here’s what a day on Catalina Island was like for us.
There’s one trip out to Catalina Island and back each day. We left for the island at 9:00am and returned at 4:30pm on the same day. Tickets for the Catalina Flyer are currently listed as $70 per person round trip. However we got a deal when we booked in July 2021, so it only cost $51.94 per person round trip. We also had to pay for parking which was $25 for the day. Be careful when looking for parking in Newport Beach as some specifically mention that you cannot park there for the Catalina Flyer. We also booked the Ridge Top Eco Tour which was $170.98 total for both of us.
We arrived on the island but had time to kill before our noon tour time. We therefore stopped at one of the many bars and restaurants for a drink in the shade after exploring the downtown area.
It was finally time to join our Ridge Top Eco Tour which is a hummer tour around the island. It’s very bumpy and, I’ll be honest, a little scary – not because it isn’t safe, but because it’s designed to give you a rush. Up and down hills, near the edge and around the island, seeing much of Catalina Island from above.
They also offer another tour which I would take in the future; it’s a bit more expensive but you go to see the herd of bison that live on Catalina Island. They were brought there in the early 1930s for a movie shoot and then the producers packed up, went home and left the entire herd there.
We hoped to fit in at least two tours – the hummer tour and maybe a walking tour – but it doesn’t work out well for more than one tour in a day if you’re only doing a day trip. That was the most disappointing part of our time. We couldn’t sign up for a 10am tour since we didn’t arrive until 10:15, but if we did a 12pm-2pm tour (which we did), we couldn’t do any 2pm tours since we had to be back for the Catalina Flyer at 4pm to load/leave at 4:30pm.
If you just want to say you’ve been to Catalina Island then a day trip is great, but if you want to see more of what the tours and island have to offer you’ll need to stay overnight or come back multiple times. While there is dog-friendly accommodation on Catalina Island, the Catalina Flyer doesn’t allow pets, so you’d need to have another way to get to the island with your pet.
Overall, it was a nice day, a good tour and I always love being on the water. However, if I had to choose between the Channel Islands National Park day or a day at Catalina Island, due to time constraints or cost I’d easily choose the Channel Islands National Park every time.
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