Catalina Island becomes more like a secret getaway in winter

AVALON — You road-less-traveled types may adore Catalina right now. During high season, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Southern Californians flock to this overgrown rock like Bostonians to Martha's Vineyard. Californians visit Catalina's hilltop Wrigley Mansion (now the pleasant Inn on Mt. Ada), attend movie premieres and Kenny Loggins concerts at its landmark Casino Ballroom (where Duke Ellington once played) and take bus tours through its vast backcountry (still occupied by real buffalo herds).

These are all legacies of chewing-gum baron William Wrigley Jr., who bought the whole 76-square-mile island for a couple of million bucks sight unseen in 1919 and shaped it into his vision of an offshore hinterland and equestrian-class resort.

There's a sunny nine-hole golf course here too (reportedly the oldest in Southern California), a triathlon and an October jazz festival. But come winter, when tourism plummets to a fraction of its fair-weather numbers, Catalina may be something closer to a secret getaway.

"The crowds are gone, the weather's still pretty nice, the ferries are still running, the inns are cheaper and you can even dive if you wear a wetsuit," says islander and Catalina Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Donna Harris.

Some of Catalina's winter perks are immediately evident the weekend I'm there. Check-in at the Hotel Metropole is officially 3 p.m., but my seaside room is ready and waiting for me when I arrive at 9:30 a.m.

Standard high-season rates will be well over $200 per night. Right now it's about $100 with a continental breakfast -- and there are sweeter deals than that.

"The Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel is currently offering a $65-per-night midweek special," a local tour guide tells a small group in front of the Casino Ballroom. "By the way," he adds, "if any of you aren't chewing Wrigley's gum right now, we would greatly appreciate it if you did."

Silence.

During low season on Catalina, even canned tour guide jokes are feeling the pinch. There'll be more laughs in July when the climate and attendance pick up.

Tonight, the new James Bond flick is playing in the Casino's ornately muraled movie theater ("the first one designed for talkies in North America," the guide mentions, "and an early acoustical model for New York's Radio City Music Hall.")