Sweet Willie
Aug 20, 01, 7:35 pm
After a few days in LA (which IMO is enough),
we decided to "get away" to Santa Catalina Island (SCI).
SCI is about 20 miles west of LA in the Pacific Ocean. While there are various forms of transportation to SCI, the "cheapest" are the various ferries. The ferries depart from San Pedro, Long Beach, Dana Point and Redondo Beach. The trip costs about $40 roundtrip per adult, it takes about 1 hour from either Long Beach or San Pedro. The Long Beach parking area for the ferries was under construction as of July 24, 2001, so it was recommeded to use either San Pedro or Redondo Beach. There are both Helicopter and plane flights to/from SCI if time is scarce. Also to note is that there is a weight restriction for luggage on the ferries (I believe 50lbs) so we just left most of our luggage in the trunk of our car.
Ferries run about every 1.5 hours.
We had stayed on SCI about 10 years ago and w/much less $$. We stayed at that time at La Paloma Las Flores. Very clean and very nice rooms, not a far walk the town Center. Rooms at that time were around $50 per night. A suggestion is to make sure you get either a room that is up near the top of the inns walkway or one on the second floor (no one above you).
This time, we stayed at the Zane Grey Hotel. As the name suggests, this property at one time was owned by Zane Grey and his brother.
While it would be a VERY long walk (especially w/your luggage) from the ferry. The Zane Grey provides complimentary taxi service from the terminal to the hotel (you pay for the return service). We felt the remoteness of the Zane Grey was just what we needed. The hotel overlooks the harbor of Avalon from high up. I believe that only the Inn on Mt. Ada is higher. The rooms were not anything plush, but they were clean. The real plus is that the hotel has it's own pool, which is always in the sun. We paid $155 per night and felt it was very much worth it. The hotel also has regular scheduled shuttle service to/from the town center. We walked both up and down and would not recommend it unless in good shape.
The Inn on Mt. Ada is THE place to stay if you can afford it. Rates were over twice what we paid for the Zane Grey. And it does not have a pool.
There is beach front on the harbor, but it was EXTREMELY crowded, w/morons putting out their towels on the beach at 7 in the morning. That is why the Zane Grey was a great stay, it is one of the only places on SCI to have its own pool.
The hotel provides fruit, toast and coffee/tea in the morning, but skip this and head to the Busy Bee cafe. It is on the water and serves a very good breakfast. Some dishes have a mexican slant to them.
The food is not really anything special on SCI. El Galleon served a so-so dinner. Armstong's was probably the best seafood we had.
We are Scuba divers and did numerous shore and boat dives. All very beutiful. We very much liked the kelp beds.
We also took the casino (closed there is no gambling) tour. It is a shame that this beautiful building is not put to more use than it is. The casino hosts a few music and dance festivals per year.
Joe's boat rentals rents 15 h.p. boats that allow you to put about. We found it very much fun and brought along a picnic lunch for on the boat. Allow 3 hours to fully tour the area that you are allowed to explore.
There are also various land tours one can take. 89% of SCI is a nature preserve.
we decided to "get away" to Santa Catalina Island (SCI).
SCI is about 20 miles west of LA in the Pacific Ocean. While there are various forms of transportation to SCI, the "cheapest" are the various ferries. The ferries depart from San Pedro, Long Beach, Dana Point and Redondo Beach. The trip costs about $40 roundtrip per adult, it takes about 1 hour from either Long Beach or San Pedro. The Long Beach parking area for the ferries was under construction as of July 24, 2001, so it was recommeded to use either San Pedro or Redondo Beach. There are both Helicopter and plane flights to/from SCI if time is scarce. Also to note is that there is a weight restriction for luggage on the ferries (I believe 50lbs) so we just left most of our luggage in the trunk of our car.
Ferries run about every 1.5 hours.
We had stayed on SCI about 10 years ago and w/much less $$. We stayed at that time at La Paloma Las Flores. Very clean and very nice rooms, not a far walk the town Center. Rooms at that time were around $50 per night. A suggestion is to make sure you get either a room that is up near the top of the inns walkway or one on the second floor (no one above you).
This time, we stayed at the Zane Grey Hotel. As the name suggests, this property at one time was owned by Zane Grey and his brother.
While it would be a VERY long walk (especially w/your luggage) from the ferry. The Zane Grey provides complimentary taxi service from the terminal to the hotel (you pay for the return service). We felt the remoteness of the Zane Grey was just what we needed. The hotel overlooks the harbor of Avalon from high up. I believe that only the Inn on Mt. Ada is higher. The rooms were not anything plush, but they were clean. The real plus is that the hotel has it's own pool, which is always in the sun. We paid $155 per night and felt it was very much worth it. The hotel also has regular scheduled shuttle service to/from the town center. We walked both up and down and would not recommend it unless in good shape.
The Inn on Mt. Ada is THE place to stay if you can afford it. Rates were over twice what we paid for the Zane Grey. And it does not have a pool.
There is beach front on the harbor, but it was EXTREMELY crowded, w/morons putting out their towels on the beach at 7 in the morning. That is why the Zane Grey was a great stay, it is one of the only places on SCI to have its own pool.
The hotel provides fruit, toast and coffee/tea in the morning, but skip this and head to the Busy Bee cafe. It is on the water and serves a very good breakfast. Some dishes have a mexican slant to them.
The food is not really anything special on SCI. El Galleon served a so-so dinner. Armstong's was probably the best seafood we had.
We are Scuba divers and did numerous shore and boat dives. All very beutiful. We very much liked the kelp beds.
We also took the casino (closed there is no gambling) tour. It is a shame that this beautiful building is not put to more use than it is. The casino hosts a few music and dance festivals per year.
Joe's boat rentals rents 15 h.p. boats that allow you to put about. We found it very much fun and brought along a picnic lunch for on the boat. Allow 3 hours to fully tour the area that you are allowed to explore.
There are also various land tours one can take. 89% of SCI is a nature preserve.