CATALINA ISLAND FOR FUN AND ADVENTURE
glasses, comfortable light clothing and very, very comfortable walking shoes?
We stay in B&Bs or hotels with continental and bigger breakfasts so we usually graze our way around town during the day as we time our peripatetic munchies with the "ins and outs" of shops that sell everything from the smallest swim suits this side of Rio to museum-quality scrimshaw carved on fossil walrus tusks.
Granted, a considerable number of shops specialize in tee shirts for those who need a reminder of where they've been. Well, maybe not. If that were the case the print would be upside down. But there's enough shops with quality merchandise, if dubious names like Gulls and Buoys, our favorite clothing shop, to put heavy hurt on your plastic. Catalina Gold Company has wonderful jewelry and the Perico Gallery runs to nice water Catalin and drawings and the famous Catalina Bird Tile Collection.
Come evening it's time to put on the glad rags and dine out. It's perpetually romantic here. So you'll find lots of newly weds, or newly lusted, wandering about.
There's a wide choice of lodgings from camping to upscale hotels and B&B's plus private rental villas with their own secluded pools.
Most lodgings offer transport for dive gear, shuttles and much else. As a rule prices rise as you get nearer the water -- if you've walked up four blocks to the top of the hill after a long swim you find out why.
Given the bargains of mid-week and off season visits and the "same all year" weather, Catalina shines as an off-season getaway for singles, a great retreat for lovers and a decent family destination for those with today's "semi-aquatic" kids.
Latest Articles