Camping on the Catalina Island

July 11, 2011 12:23 PM

Need information on experiences with camping at the Catalina Islands in Southern California

A couple friends and I want to schedule a camping trip, and we are considering the Catalina islands, but I need to figure out more information. How much does the camping cost? Whats the best place to go camping? How do you travel back and forth to the island? How loud can you be, how crowded are the campsites? What is the camping experiences like?

posted by digdan to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 answers total)

I went camping here my senior year of high school, as a school trip, so I don't have anything about price and booking. But we had to be very quiet, constant shushing, and we were, surprisingly so for 70 teenagers. I don't remember why -- I never saw any other campers, so maybe it was for the wildlife? Some people saw buffalo. I think the atmosphere was just supposed to be quiet camping and so we had to be quiet.

This was in May, so maybe not quite yet the high season.

Our campsite was right at the water, which was really great.

Toilets were atrocious: there weren't real port-a-potties, just sheds with seats with holes in them, so most people went in the bushes.

We took a ferry from the mainland to the island, and then vans/buses to our campsite.

As a day trip we went to Avalon.
posted by thebazilist at 12:48 PM on July 11, 2011

Catalina Islands? Do you mean the Channel Islands? Santa Catalina or just Catalina, has an incorporated city, and an unincorporated village, and other scattered settlements, with a bunch of camping spaces. It's the largest island of the southern Channel Islands.

If you're looking at Catalina Island specifically, it looks like Santa Catalina Island Company has exclusive rights for camping, and their website has a LOT of information about the island. For example, there are a number of ways to get there, with 3 boating options and a helicopter route. Camping costs depend on the day(s) you'll be there and which campsite you want. They all look to be more than $10 but less than $20 per day per person. From the limited pics and some (dated) reviews, it seems like they're maintained campgrounds that can get a bit noisy, despite the "quiet time 10 pm till 9 am" signs.

I haven't been out to Catalina to camp, but I have been to Santa Cruz, which is a bit more rural / rustic. There is one designated camping area, Scorpion, which you can register for online here, at Recreation.gov; there's also back-country camping, if you want to haul everything in. Scorpion has a lot of spaces, some more secluded than others. There are rangers who hang out to keep groups in control if need be, or they hang out and chat. Kayaking there is fantastic, but it's best to go with a guided trip if you're new to kayaking on the ocean, as the tides and currents can be dangerous, along with the caves and rocks. It looks like Santa Cruz could also be cheaper - I think you rent a camp space for 1-6 people, and it's ~$15 per night for the space.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:54 PM on July 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh, and I left from Ventura with Island Packers. Here's their fares, $75.00 per person for camping (to haul your gear) to Santa Cruz, but they also go to Anacapa Island, Santa Rosa Island, San Miguel Island, and Santa Barbara Island. Santa Cruz and Anacapa are the cheapest at $75 for campers, the rest are over $100.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:57 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

My comment from a prior question that deals with two types of camping on Catalina.

For the boat-in campgrounds, there might be two other parties on your stretch of beach, plus boaters parked in whatever cove at the moorings, so it's usually pretty quiet. Little Harbor was pretty quiet as well, as was Parson's Landing when I was there 20something years ago.
posted by LionIndex at 4:17 PM on July 11, 2011