Catalina

Went to Catalina today, boarding from Newport Beach. Catalina is a 1.5hr boat ride, in the choppy Pacific. There's a good chance of getting seasick on this ride. On the way there, I saw a million dolphins. Yes. The boat went straight into a pod of dolphins. There were dolphins as far as the eye could see, thick and shiny, flipping through the waves, and it went on and on and on. There was no space of ocean without dolphin. Hard to think they're endangered, or that any fish was left in the sea.

This is a picture of our boat. It's a catamaran! It seats a lot of people, passage is $50 per person round trip, and the boat's packed at 9am. It's docked in Catalina.



Catalina's really rocky, when you land you go to this small town called Avalon, with a few restaurants and shops. Houses are small and thick stacked high on the hills. People drive around in golf carts. Boats are a big deal, people just dock their boats anyplace, and kayak/raft out to them when they need. What's popular today is sitting with a bunch of friends and beer on your anchored, non moving boat.



The island also lacks beaches. This is Descanso Beach, a private beach that really didn't have sand, and was made of rocks. People don't care, it's a place for beautiful women to show off their new bikinis. This is also where we launched our kayak. We kayaked out around the island. There's ships everywhere...even on the parts of the island with no beaches and no real shore access at all. People just park their sailboats wherever there's space. I saw kelp forests, sardines, and starfish from the kayak. The water today was warm and clear, and the ocean very choppy.



This is another example of how there isn't a beach. People just sit on a raft in the water. Note how the area is packed with boats, people, and housing.



All in all, it's nice to see once, but I'm not sure I'd go again. It's a long trip, both driving up to Newport and then the 1.5hr boatride.