A Tourist's Guide to Catalina Island, California: A Great Way to Spend the Day

26 miles off of the coast of Los Angeles is an island called Catalina. Catalina used to be owned by the gum tycoon, Wrigley. However, he sold 86% of Catalina to conservationists, who have since preserved the island as much as they possibly can.

Since this was a shore excursion from our Carnival Cruise, Dionne and I didn't have very long to spend in Catalina. Like Dionne did with her review, I will try my best to provide you with as much information as I possibly can based on the short time we spent in Catalina. Thank goodness the tourguide, Heidi, for our Eco Rafting Adventure was so knowledgeable about Catalina! That way, I can provide you with the various facts that we learned.

Our tender pulled into the docks in Avalon, the largest town on Catalina Island, at around 8:45. The docks are filled with different things for you to do: scuba diving, snorkeling, island tours, glass-bottom boat tours, and so many other things to choose from. Most of the tours are patronized by the different cruise lines that come into port, specifically Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Dionne and I had already paid for the Eco Rafting Adventure, so all we had to do was wait for our tour guide and the other guests.

Before we departed, Heidi recommended that we all go to the bathroom. After all, we were going to be in a raft for 3 hours! Since Dionne already visited the ladies room, I left my things with her and went to find it for myself. It certainly was a chore. I was told that the restrooms were located at the end of the pier. However, when I got to the end of the pier, it wasn't clearly marked. I finally turned around and looked up in disgust, and found an arrow pointing to the restrooms.

To be frank, the restrooms on the pier weren't nice at all. They smelled. There was water everywhere. They weren't maintained all that well. Some of the door stalls were broken. You would think that they would take care of the restrooms with so many tourists coming to visit!