Cruise Port Guide · 145 cruises visit Catalina Island →
The bucket-list things to do — and the private, expert-led way to do each.
Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, and the private, small-group, or expert-led way to make it yours — your own pace, real access, none of the crowd.
Venture deep into Catalina's protected wildlands with a Conservancy naturalist on a private 4WD eco tour. Spot free-roaming bison, bald eagles, island foxes, and dramatic ridgeline vistas most visitors never see.
Command the island's iconic ridgelines in an open-air private Hummer with just your group aboard. Exclusive access to panoramic overlooks, native wildlife corridors, and interior valleys closed to standard traffic.
Descend beneath Avalon Bay aboard Catalina's glass-windowed semi-submarine and drift through towering kelp forests alive with garibaldi, sheephead, and Catalina sea bass — no wetsuit, no certification required.
In an extraordinary private session above Avalon's sea cliffs, master falconers teach you to fly Harris's Hawks in open wildland — a medieval art set against the backdrop of the Pacific. Utterly unlike anything else in the California islands.
Step inside the crown jewel of the California coast — Avalon's 1929 Art Deco Casino Ballroom — then ascend to the Wrigley Memorial for sweeping island panoramas. An architectural and historical pilgrimage unlike any on the Pacific.
Soar across five zip lines strung above Descanso Canyon, culminating in a 1,100-foot flight with the Pacific glittering below — ideally timed for the golden-hour light that sets the island's hillsides ablaze.
⚓ Your bucket-list concierge
Tell us your sailing and we'll send the bucket list for every port — the most extraordinary thing to do at each, and the private, expert-led way to make it yours.
No spam. The honest plan, even when it says skip the ship’s tour.