The Car-Free Island Escape Hiding an Hour Off the Los Angeles Coast
5 Reasons to Visit® · California
The Car-Free Island Escape Hiding an Hour Off the Los Angeles Coast
An hour by ferry from the Los Angeles sprawl sits a car-free island where you get around by golf cart, dive the first underwater park in America, and might spot a bison — Southern California's great forgotten escape.
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Catalina Island floats just twenty-two miles off the coast of Los Angeles — close enough to see from the mainland on a clear day, yet a genuine world apart. An hour by ferry from the Southern California sprawl (or twenty minutes by helicopter, if you're feeling fancy), this Mediterranean-style island trades freeways and traffic for a car-free town where everyone gets around by golf cart, and where clear water, rugged hills, and Old Hollywood glamour combine into one of the most surprising escapes in California. Most Angelenos have never been. That's their loss.
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Its heart is the town of Avalon, and it's wonderfully walkable. With very few cars on the entire island, visitors explore this clean, laid-back beach town on foot or by rented golf cart, wandering a compact waterfront of colorful buildings, restaurants, ice-cream parlors, galleries, and shops wrapped around a picture-perfect harbor. Everything is within a twenty-minute stroll, and the pace is deliberately slow — a Southern California beach town from a gentler era, preserved in amber.
Its icon is a genuine Art Deco masterpiece. The circular Catalina Casino, built in 1929 by chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. (who owned the island), never housed gambling — the name comes from the Italian for "gathering place." Instead it holds a stunning movie theater and the world's largest circular ballroom, where Hollywood stars once danced during the Golden Age. Today you can tour its dazzling interior or catch a film beneath its historic ceiling — the unmistakable landmark rising above Avalon Bay.
No cars, a 1929 Art Deco casino, clear-water diving, and bison — an hour from L.A.
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The water is the other great draw. Catalina is home to some of the clearest water in California, and Casino Point Dive Park — the first underwater park in the United States — offers world-class diving and snorkeling amid kelp forests and vibrant marine life right off the shore. Add glass-bottom boats, kayaking, parasailing, and the lively Descanso Beach Club (one of the few places in California you can enjoy a beachside drink), and the coast delivers all day.
Beyond Avalon, the island turns genuinely wild. Rugged, protected backcountry covers most of Catalina, home to a famous herd of bison — descendants of animals brought over for a 1920s film shoot and never removed — along with island foxes and eagles. Hikers tackle the Trans-Catalina Trail across the interior, a zip line soars over the canyons, and the small, rustic outpost of Two Harbors on the far side offers an even quieter, more remote escape.
Catalina is honest about being a small, popular island that fills up in summer and runs on island time — ferries book out on peak weekends, and prices reflect the effort of getting everything across the channel. But that mild inconvenience is exactly what keeps it special. A car-free town, a landmark Art Deco casino, crystal-clear diving, wild bison, and a rugged backcountry have made Catalina one of the most distinctive escapes in California — and the fact that it sits an hour from one of the world's biggest cities, yet feels a century away, is the whole magic of the place.
Catalina Island, California: FAQ
Is Catalina Island worth visiting?
Yes. Catalina Island offers the charming, car-free town of Avalon, the iconic 1929 Art Deco Catalina Casino, some of the clearest water in California for diving and snorkeling (including Casino Point, the first U.S. underwater park), golf-cart touring, glass-bottom boats, a zip line, a wild bison herd, and the rugged Trans-Catalina Trail. It's an easy, surprising escape about an hour by ferry from the Los Angeles area.
How do you get to Catalina Island?
Catalina Island is reached by ferry (about an hour) from Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point, or Newport Beach on the Southern California mainland, arriving at the main town of Avalon. There's also a roughly 20-minute helicopter option. Once on the island, most visitors get around on foot or by rented golf cart, as there are very few cars.
Are there cars on Catalina Island?
Very few. Catalina Island, especially the town of Avalon, is essentially car-free — there's a long waiting list for residents to bring vehicles, and visitors get around on foot, by bicycle, or by rented golf cart. This keeps the island peaceful and walkable, and golf carts are the classic way to explore Avalon's hills.
Why are there bison on Catalina Island?
Catalina's famous bison herd descends from animals brought to the island in the 1920s for a film shoot and left behind afterward. Today a managed herd roams the island's rugged interior backcountry, where visitors on hikes and inland tours can sometimes spot them alongside native island foxes and bald eagles.
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