Paradise Ensenada + Catalina--What to do without ship tour?

[sueswny]

I am sailing next week on the Paradise, one day in Ensenada and one day in Catalina Island. I'm traveling with another adult and 2 teenage girls. Is there anything you can suggest to do while in port, other than taking a ship tour? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated!

[SadieN]

Here are 2 websites for Catalina.

http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/

http://www.ecatalina.com/catalina-activities.html

 

You can book tours thru Discovery Tours. They have a kiosk located on the green pier. There is a regular tour and a "behind the scenes" tour of the Casino which is very interesting. The regular tour lets you see a short movie at the casino, but the "BTS" tour doesn't. Admission to the museum is included in the price of the "BTS" tour. Not sure about the regular tour.

 

You can book semi-submersible tours off the pier that are usually cheaper than the ship. We once got the 1pm ride adults for the kids price.

There are golf carts that you can rent for $40/1st hour and $20 each add'l hour.

 

Take the red trolley (this is their bus) to the Botanical Gardens (mostly Catalina natives) and see the Wrigley memorial there. About $6pp rt.

 

I was told that they were going to have a zip line, though not sure when it is going to open.

 

Or, if you want, just walk around Avalon, shop and eat at one of the local restaurants. Lately we have been eating chiliburgers at the hamburger shop towards the Casino.

 

If you like salt water taffy, Lloyd's is the place to go, they make their own.

Just finished my last piece today. Need to go back.

 

Nice Mini Golf course. Has lots of marked Native Catalina plants around the course.

 

There are 2 Vons (Safeways) in town.

[SadieN]

Ensenada-

 

Check out this 3 post thread

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1338237&highlight=ensenada

 

Most importantly it has bathroom info!:D

 

Lately we have been eating at La Taquiera Linda and getting the paletas (popsicles) at Michoacana a few doors down.

 

There are two museums in town. One is the old military garrison turned jail right in the main part of town. The other is to the right of the Casino.

 

La Bufadora is a naturally ocurring blowhole. There are observation decks above the spray. The problem with this is there are vendors lining the walkway to the bufadora. Stick to the middle and they won't 'get' you. Clean bathrooms at the blowhole and at the restaurant at the parking lot. Tours can be picked up at the far end of Big Head Plaza.

[xbatt8]

We have been to Catalina a number of times. One of our favorite things to do is just rent a golf cart (about $90 for 3 hours) and cruise around seeing the sights. We go to Von's and get some french bread, meat and cheeses (and maybe a bottle of wine....) and go for a picnic. We take the golf cart and go up into the mountains, find a nice spot with a view of the ocean and our ship and have the picnic. Nice and relaxing. Some times we go to Descanso beach (just past the casino) and do some snorkeling. They have all the equipment to rent, and we have seen a few Garibaldi close to shore.

 

If you are interested in good food, there are a ton of nice places right along the boardwalk. Most have views of the water while you eat. A few places are right on the water. For those times I usually go to Armstrongs and sit on the patio (which is over the water) and enjoy a bay shrimp sandwich.

 

If there are any golfers in the group, Catalina has the second oldest golf course in California. It is a 9 hole course but very pretty and fun to play.

 

Bob

[junmatno]

The golf cart rental is always fun, they give you a map to follow and it takes you all around the island. Also, they had a miniature golf course the last time we were there and it was lots of fun. Catalina is very expensive for us, so we try to find stuff that takes a lot of time for an economical price.

[Starlight Durban Cruising]

The zip-line on Catalina was open when I was on Catalina in June last year. It was quite popular.

 

Also if you want to feed the fish on Catalina then go to the little bay just to the South of the harbor. This is the bay where the "submarine" tour goes. Fish here are slightly larger than those in the bay to the north of the casino building (Descanso area) because the people feed them more. But beware; if you have a fear of fish literally flying past your mask (think "piranha feeding frenzy") when you throw peas/bread/etc into the water infront of you then you might want to avoid this bay. People also told me "Release the food into the water, and close your hand immediately as the fish have sharp teeth".

:0 honest. You can buy the food at the concession truck right there at the bay.

[farmerjohn]

The center of Catalina Island is a park. There is a information building in Avalon where you can get information on all of the hiking trails available. We spent several hours hiking up into the hills and then back down to the ship. We had a wonderful time.

[love2relax]

As someone already mentioned, the snorkeling in Catalina is pretty good, but the water is COLD.

 

Another thing that we like to do is rent mountain bikes. You can ride around to see some of the sights. You have to stay off of the main walkway, but you can ride a block behind it. We like to ride up past the golf course towards the Botanical Gardens. Before you get there, there is a free museum (that displays the history of Catalina) on the left that we enjoy. You can also ride over to Descanso Beach to swim and watch the zip liners coming in.

 

If you are a serious biker, you can go up the hills that the golf carts take to get some scenic views of Avalon Bay, but you have to be in really good shape to do that. If you're up to it, the riding really helps to burn up some of those extra calories that you've been consuming on the ship.

 

I've never posted a picture, but I'll try to do it. Yeah, it worked! I took this picture of my brother after we biked up to the bell tower. That's the Paradise off the coast in the background.

[Rosefloater]

Also, they had a miniature golf course the last time we were there and it was lots of fun.

 

I 2nd the mini golf course. It is kind of challenging.

For a inexpensive place to eat, check out Coney Island West. It serves hot dogs & hamburgers. Love the chili dogs and onion rings.

 

Ensenada - check out the blowhole. Taqueria Lindo is great. We have fun sitting at the bar watching the cook.

 

My map that is in the thread that SadieN links to is a good general map of the downtown area (IMO!)

 

Please get off the ship in Ensenada even for an hour or two. It is a nice and safe town to walk in.

[BlueWaterHue]

Re: Catalina, is there a good place to snorkel AND kayak? My DBF doesn't snorkel but wants to try to kayak while I swim around, I'm just not sure where we are allowed to do this. Ideas? Thanks!!

[Middleager]

On Catalina, the very popular place to snorkel/dive is Casino Point. It is by the Casino, with stairs going to the water. On the surface you can't tell, but once you get in the water, it is quite pretty, with a lot of color.

 

As someone said, the water is cold (we wear 7mm wetsuit for diving), so bring change clothing and towels.