NATTIESPASSPORTDIARIES

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I posted anything on the blog or even on the Instagram account because life has been life-ing. A lot has happened since then in my personal life and I can’t wait to get you guys up to speed on everything. One of the cool things we did a few months ago was go on a day trip to Catalina Island. It’s close to us since we live in SoCal. I’m going to share everything we did, where we ate and what we’d recommend doing.

We had to be at the dock in Newport Beach around 6:30 am to take the boat out to Catalina Island. The boat ride was about an hour or so on a comfortable boat via the Catalina Express. Tickets are about $60-$90 depending on the port you use. On the ride there I felt very sick and nauseous because I forgot to take my motion sickness medication before we left. It was pretty rough, not going to lie, but once we got there, I at once felt much better. There’s a little shop right off the dock that has snacks, and essentials like motion sickness meds and band aids, etc. So once the meds kicked in, we were off to enjoy the sunny day. It felt like we took a trip to an island in Europe or Italy, it was gorgeous. It was my first time, so I was very excited to see and take pictures of everything.

First stop was Donuts and coffee. There’s a tiny donut shop just a short walk from the dock that had massive, delicious donuts. I got a chocolate glazed donut, and my boyfriend got the sprinkles strawberry one and both were so good! The best part was, both donuts and 2 coffees were $10. That’s like unheard of around where we live, since coffee alone is normally $7.

After donuts and coffee, we walked around a little bit and decided to do their golf cart tour. This is one of the most popular things you can do at Catalina, because you get to see gorgeous views from all different angles and altitudes. The tricky part that we didn’t know about was that you need cash for the deposit. Finding an ATM that worked was almost the most stressful part of the day. So, if I could give you any advice, it would be bringing cash and motion sickness meds. After touring almost the whole island, we decided to just go into a supermarket and getting cash back from there because the one ATM outside was broken and the bank was closed.

The tour was so much fun. I had never driven a gold cart before, so my boyfriend drove most of the tour, but I was brave enough to jump behind the wheel for the last stretch. You drive on a route that goes in a loop basically covering all the highlight spots and outlooks.

They have a casino that dates back to 1929 that symbolizes the glamorous era of Santa Catalina Island. To tour the casino, you’d have to pay an entrance fee, and we were short on time, so we skipped it, but it’s totally worth checking out when you’re out here on the island.

After driving around the Island and taking millions of pictures, we decided to get some lunch. I felt like there weren’t a lot of options for food that overlooks the water, but we ended up at one of the big and more lively restaurants called Bluewater Avalon. Drinks were okay but the food was good. The Calamari was a hit for sure.

After that we got some really refreshing ice cream and laid down on the sand at the beach for the most needed nap before our ride home. There are so many things you could do here that we just didn’t have enough time to do, like the Semi Submarine Tour. This would be the first I’d want to do when we go back. The semi-sublets you view the marine life of Avalon Bay as you dive six feet (two meters) below the surface at Lovers’ Cove. My boyfriend and I love snorkeling and seeing sea life so this will be very fun for us on our next trip.

Things to do in Catalina Island:

Other than what we did there is plenty of activities for couples and families as well. I will summarize them below for a quick guide.

• Rent a golf cart and explore the island’s scenic roads. This is what we did first and I’d highly recommend it for first time visitors.
• Go snorkeling along the shoreline. I wish we had more time to do this, but you could easily do that if you are spending the weekend or a few days on the island.
• Take a glass-bottom boat tour to see the colorful marine life.
• Browse through all the cute shops in town.
• Chill out at Descanso Beach Club. This was pretty relaxing and felt more isolated and exclusive.
• Enjoy a delicious meal at one of the island’s many restaurants. Plenty of options all around the island, depending on what your preference is.
• Enjoy brews (and beer pong) at Flx Biergarten. Definitely on our next trip itinerary.
• Take a waterfront walk from Casino Point to Lover’s Point. Nothing beats walking around looking at beautiful water views while enjoying some great ice cream on a hot day.

Overall, I feel like we got the most out of the day, but we need to go back to get the full exposure. It’s nice to be an hour away of an island that feels like a faraway destination with Italian vibes. Worst part of the day was us getting stuck there after our boat had engine issues. The options were either try to get on another carrier’s boat or spend the night there and wait for the Catalina Express to get fixed. We have dogs alone at home, so we had to go back asap, but otherwise we wouldn’t mind being stranded on this beautiful island for a couple days. For the amount of time we had, from getting a quick breakfast, the golf cart tour, lunch over the water and gelato after was a very full fun packed day!! I can’t wait to go back soon.

xoxo, Nattie