I was heartened to read this article on the NYT Travel page about one of my secret favorite SoCal destination: Catalina. Generally I’m not much for family friendly destinations, and I dreaded my visit to Catalina. I expected mixed cheese delite. I got a quaint, pretty surprise. And it’s great to read that the tourism boards are throwing some cash towards a renewal of the hotels and restaurants.
IMHO, the hotels offer a bit more than the NYT describes. Overpriced, sure. But the views from many of them are lovely, and they’re mostly independent and character-rich. But the food stank, and I’m glad that better options are appearing.
For my budget and adventure traveling readers: a low-priced hostel perches near the top of Catalina’s hillside. And a number of kayak-in beachside campgrounds offer privacy for visitors willing to paddle to the remote and undeveloped back side of the island.
Oh, and a fun fact for visitors to SoCal who’ve grown weary of the endless traffic: precious few cars of any kind ply the island’s few roads. To get around for a day of sightseeing, tourists rent electric golf carts and putter around at a pace conducive to relaxation. I just love that.
I liked the quick visit we made to Catalina on the last cruise that ddb and I made. The water was great, the people were fun, and the lack of lots of traffic was grand. I am also glad to hear that they are coming back strong after the fire that was there back in `07. (Not mine or ddb’s fault)
By: Chad on May 17, 2010
at 10:54 am