Catalina Island

For Tyson's 30th Birthday, I surprised him with a trip to Catalina Island!  Growing up in California, I have been to this island a few times...but it's been forever!! It seriously is the best place to getaway for the weekend where you feel like you're going somewhere far, but still close. We took Luka with us on this trip since he is nursing so everything I had planned for us to do is all kid friendly! And we did it in one full day! Here's how the day went...

We woke up early and took an Uber over to the Catalina Express that was leaving at 7:30 that morning. This is the boat that takes you to the island at a high speed making it only a one hour long boat ride.  There's up to 30 departures daily year round!  It's such a fun way to start off the trip and your kids will love it!  Once we got to the island, we went to the Pancake Cottage for breakfast which was super close to where the boat docks. It gave us just enough time to then head over to the Glass Bottom Boat Tour that we reserved ahead of time.  This was such a cool way to see the sea life without having to get in the water!  It is insane to see HUGE schools of fish and so much life under the water out there.  The water is so pretty and clear making it easy to see everything.  After that, we walked over to the golf cart rentals which is a must to do!  It's so fun cause you can rent the golf cart for an hour and they give you a map so you can drive around the whole area of Avalon that has all the priceless views you see in pictures.  They do require that you have a carseat for infants which we had brought with us since we had a stroller. After the golf carts, we headed over to the beach area to get some Vitamin D!  The weather was so nice, in the high 70's! After that we walked along the path that takes you to the Catalina Casino which has been the focal point of entertainment and glamour since it was built in 1929.  We didn't get to go inside it but its so beautiful walking around the outside. That night we headed to dinner at Blue Water Avalon which is a MUST!! Request to sit outside so you can have the prettiest views of the harbor.  The food was to die for and we loved every single thing we got with the best service! We then headed to the dock to catch the Catalina Express that left at 7:30 that night.  We were able to watch the gorgeous sunset right before we left and then enjoyed a warm ride back in the commodore lounge which I highly recommend doing. It was the perfect amount of time for us!  There still is so much more you can do there like kayaking, snorkeling, zip lining, jeep tours, and paddle boarding so we will be heading back again one of these days for more!! Click the link below to watch the vlog Tyson put together of our trip!