The Catalina Most Visitors Never See

Most people who come to Catalina Island never leave Avalon... A little farther up the coast, past the harbor traffic, is White's Landing — a small outpost camp on a stretch of beach remote enough to matter. No cruise ships, no buildings, no highways, no crowds — just trees, sand, and water, mountains at your back and the ocean in front. You'd never guess Los Angeles was sitting right across the water. We spent an afternoon there snorkeling through kelp forests thick enough to lose each other in, watching leopard sharks glide along the sandy bottom and garibaldi flash orange against the rock, then swam a little farther to find sea caves worth the extra effort.

Buy your day pass.

The next morning, we went further still — a backcountry tour with the Catalina Island Conservancy, the nonprofit that protects more than 42,000 acres of the island's interior. As stewards of the land, they have access no other operator does, and every dollar spent on the tour funds the work of keeping it that way. We climbed into an open, lifted truck and drove into the wildlands: rugged cliffs, quiet canyons, BISON! and scenic overlooks no ferry brochure shows. Our guide was born and raised on Catalina, spent years living in New York City, and came back a few months ago for a different pace of life...

Descending back into Avalon, into the tourist traps and golf carts, felt like returning from somewhere much farther away than a boat ride across the channel.

If you’re interested in seeing the remote side of Catalina, let’s chat.