One of the special
Summer Bucket List items I had planned this year was a trip to Catalina.
Groupon runs a deal with
Catalina Flyer a couple of times during the summer where you can get round trip tickets for about half the price. So we did just that.
We had a bit of sea sickness with my daughter when we went
whale watching, so I decided to make sure I was prepared and picked up some Motion Sickness Bands for the munchkins.
Hubby used Dramamine (which ended up really relaxing him).
A couple of things to remember with Catalina Flyer, if they are running the
Groupon ad, be sure to get to the dock early!!! That boat was crowded and became really difficult to find a seat. Also, bring a sweatshirt or towels with you because it does get rather chilly on the return trip.
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| Daddy, the H.S. Golf Coach – teaching his mini-team |
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When visiting Catalina, there are many different things to do from glass bottom boats, checking out the flying fish, snorkling, scuba diving, touring the island by land or water, mini golf, shopping, etc. One of the BEST reference sites we were told about is
Catalina Info. Here you can get details on tours and things to do before you step foot on the island. And, on the boat ride over, there are a couple of tour companies waiting to sell you their best deals.
For us, we decided to take the leisure route with the kids, since we didn’t really know if those motion sickness bands would work – which they did! Our first stop: Mini Golf, another
Summer Bucket List item.
Then we walked around town in search of some awesome food. We wandered into the Lobster Trap and I have to say, their Clam Chowder – delish! And I had the Lobster Roll Sandwich – another excellent dish. The food a little pricey, but very good.
The atmosphere is awesome for kids, lively and fun. There were large flat screen tvs, at least 3 of them, where we were able to see the USA Girls Soccer Team win GOLD in the Olympic match against Japan. They also had fun decor around the restaurant, which made it fun to point different things out to the kids.
Back out at the harbor, we elected to take the kids on the glass bottom boat to see the fish. It was fun feeding them through tubes designed to bring schools of fish to the glass for viewing:
and it was neat to get close enough to see this beautiful crane and her nest:
Had to add a picture of all of us.
Since the trip back gets you back into Balboa around 5:30pm, I’d recommend staying in town for a little bit and catching dinner. There are lots of things to see and do there, besides eating. Heading back onto the freeway in the heat of traffic, not such a good idea.
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Sounds like a great place to visit!
Love the pics!
Hi! Stopping by from MBC. Great blog!
Have a nice day!