Where the Buffalo Roam: Visiting Santa Catalina Island in California

It is a beautiful, clear, sunny day, sitting in the window at the Landing Bar and Grill. Nearly all of them are here on Santa Catalina Island during the summer. This moderately sized island off the coast of Southern California is an ideal destination for an escape from the smog and noise of Los Angeles. Just seventy-five minutes by ferry from Newport Beach, Santa Catalina is a world away in temperament.

Standing on the pier in the heart of Avalon, Catalina’s quaint little largest town, you can see the brownish orange glow of what is the dingy, smog engulfed “mainland” of Los Angeles County. Breathing deep, it is hard not to become struck by world of difference provided by the short trip across the water. The traffic jams have been replaced by the occasional golf cart, tandem bicycle, or moped (cars are not allowed on the island by non-residents, and few residents bother to own one). Foot is actually the most utilized mode of transportation in Avalon. 

Even the most popular and upscale restaurants, and there are a surprising number of them along the water, are usually available with little or no wait for diners walking in off the beach. Reservations, guest lists, and VIP lounges are the stuff of the city. Santa Catalina has no use for such contrivances, regardless of the fact, or perhaps because of it, that the island is a favorite weekend spot for refugee Angeleans. Sitting over drinks at a table on a balcony, looking at the rows of brightly colored houses, and small shops with strings of lights, it is hard to believe you have not stepped right out of California and into the hillside villages of Italy.