Catalina Island (Avalon) with a kid

Same island, same everything but change of activities that did 6 years ago when we visited Catalina by ourselves. And now we had our toddler with us.

Reference to our visit from 2012: http://rush-travels.blogspot.com/2012/12/catalina-islands-relaxing-getaway.html?_sm_au_=iVVs2L53DmB3j3QP

We went couple of weeks before Labor day weekend to avoid the rush and expensive hotels and airfare. Catalina, as such, is an expensive island with limited sight seeing. Lot of water activities. A small island with not much traffic, not many people, just a street which is very much walkable.

We reached Long Beach on Friday evening and stayed there for a night. Next morning, we left for Catalina Islands in Catalina Express. We had pre-purchased our tickets. Since we reached a bit early, they asked if we wanted to board the ferry which was about to leave and we sure agreed. We got seats easily. The lines start forming 30 mins before they start to board. We sat on the upper deck. W wanted to hang outside when the ferry was moving and he of course got sea-sick as the ride is a bit bumpy. Thankfully, I was carrying the vomit bags!

We stayed in Hotel Mac Rae which is on the strip. Small hotel, little rooms, good reviews, no complains. The first day, we ate at a local sandwich shop and then rented the golf cart for an hour to go around the island. Rates are standard everywhere: $45 for an hour and $45 cash deposit. Minimum 1 hour rental and maximum you can rent is for 2 hours. They tell you the route where you could go. We hardly stopped anywhere and were back just in time for one-hour return. It is a fun way to go around the island. There are golf cart rental stations everywhere around.

That night we just hung around at the strip and played in the sand at the waterfront.

Next day, we rented bikes. We got one tandem bike and another cruiser bike for the three of us. Tandem bike was a great idea. So different from the last visit when we rented mountain bikes and rode on the steep hills. This time, we mostly did easy routes. Went to a playground which had an open-air gym also. W enjoyed. It was on the way to the Botanical gardens.

The ride to botanical gardens was a bit steep but we enjoyed the sweat. Taking lot of water is a a good idea. Not many restaurants around the botanical gardens. $8 per adult and can be skipped if you have better things to do but it is nice to go:) Good walking place and a little 1.8 mile hike route inside. All exposed. No shade.

We also went to Descanso Beach while we had our bikes and were cruising around. It is a private beach of Descanso hotel but public is allowed, I think since we managed to go there easily:)

After we returned our bikes at 5pm, we hung at the strip, ate ice cream from Scoops, had much needed starbucks coffee from inside Scoops and did some shopping. Dinners were mostly carry outs in the hotel so W could sleep on time, after being super tired from activities all day. There is only one place out there to rent bikes: Brown's bikes. With limited transportation options available, $20 for renting the cruiser bike all day was a good idea.

We took our ferry back to Long Beach the next day morning. Lyft from Long Beach port to the airport and back home..... We love this little laid-back, expensive island!