Catalina Island

Anyone who needs a quick, inexpensive getaway that's within an hour of Los Angeles, here's a great idea with a great price: Catalina Island packages that come with ferry ticket and hotel starting at just $59 a night per person.  The deal: These Catalina Express Packages allow you to choose from 20 hotels in Avalon. Each hotel offers a different deal, and best prices are offered for Sunday-Thursday stays. A handy map on the website shows you how close each one is to the beach.

If you go THE BEST WAY TO CATALINA By sea: Catalina Express offers frequent daily trips of about one hour from Long Beach and San Pedro to Avalon and less frequently from Dana Point to Avalon and from San Pedro to Two Harbors. Round-trip adult fare is $72.50, $2 more for the Dana Point trip. (800) 481-3470, http://www.catalinaexpress.com. Catalina Flyer (out of service until May 8) makes one round trip daily between Newport Beach and Avalon, departing at 9 a.m. from Balboa Pavilion and returning at 4:30 p.m. It's 75 minutes each way. Adult round-trip fare is $70. (800)

If you want to give zip-lining a try, your Southern California options are plentiful. Most have physical requirements participants must meet, so be sure to call or check the website before you book. Catalina Zip Line Eco Tour: This two-hour aerial tour of Catalina Island is comprised of five zip lines, and guides provide information about local wildlife and history along the way. Tours leave 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. From Jan. 1 through May 24 and fromSept.

Centennial Events Avalon will celebrate its 100th birthday throughout the year, but many events are taking place June 20-26 (www.catalinachamber.com/avalon100/) June 20 – Centennial Festival / Fair June 21 – Community Fish Fry June 22 – Xceptional Music Concert June 23 – Catalina Movie Night on the Beach (movies filmed in Catalina) June 24 – Community Picnic at Joe Machado Field June 25 – Local Band Night June 26 – Community Gala Dinner at the Casino A multimedia program showcasing Catalina's history will play at the Casino at specific times throughout the week.

Before the summer ends there's still time to jump on a boat and head to Southern California's very own island paradise - a place where the hurried pace of mainland life shifts to island time.   Catalina is California's only island resort destination, making it an excellent choice for a relaxing Southern California getaway. It's an hour away on a high-speed catamaran, or an even quicker ride if you take a helicopter. You can be relaxing in an island paradise in the time it takes to get across town.  The weather on the island in late summer and early fall is delightfully warm and sunny, with water temperatures warm enough to enjoy all the activities Catalina is famous for: boating, snorkeling and relaxing at the beach.  Accommodations on Catalina run the gamut - from tent site camping to beachfront hotels, from family-friendly inns to well-appointed condos, from charming cottage vacation rentals to an elegant four-star country inn. You can stay in a luxurious ocean-view suite or take the whole family to a comfortable beach bungalow close to town.

Dylan Bruno bobbed buoy-like in his lizard-patterned wetsuit and offered some advice: "Just kind of float there for a minute. " I lowered myself into the water after not-so-gracefully wriggling into a wetsuit, gloves, hood, booties, snorkel - all the attire a woman hopes to be wearing upon meeting a chisel-cheeked actor turned avid spearfisherman. "Get comfortable," he said when I joined him. I dipped my face into the water and peered down. Kelp forests swayed 20 feet below. Garibaldi fish slowly moved out from their hiding spots and jerked back into them again.

Last year, Catalina Express marked its 30th anniversary with a gift to passengers: free boat rides on their birthdays. Now the company is extending the freebie offer that's good for a round-trip ticket until next spring. The deal: To take advantage of the Free Ride on Your Birthday pass, you have to begin travel on your birth date and return anytime within 30 days. Make sure you have a valid ID too. Start by registering online. Once you receive an e-mail confirmation, print out the pass and make reservations for a boat online or by phone.

Here's an inexpensive spring-break idea: Go kayaking, hiking, zip-lining or just kick back on Catalina Island . Discount rooms start at $121 a night for a two-night hotel deal that puts you right in downtown Avalon and within walking distance of the beach. The deal: LivingSocial offers this arrangement for a standard room at the Aurora Hotel & Spa at 137 Marilla Ave. The rate requires a two-night stay and comes with a bottle of wine. Buyers may extend their stay by combining vouchers for this deal.

If you would like to be under the sea, perhaps in an octopus' garden, head to Sea Trek, Santa Catalina Island's newest attraction. No yellow submarine required. Intrepid wanderers need only don a wetsuit and a diving helmet before walking off the beach of the Southern California resort island onto the ocean floor. The guided excursion meanders among forests of kelp, where schools of anchovies, mackerels and other underwater denizens lurk. The brightly colored garibaldi, California's state marine fish, frequents the waters off the coast of Catalina.

Reggae rock comes to Santa Catalina Island with a Friday night beach concert by Dirty Heads. Tickets cost $30 each, but you can score a free ticket if you buy a round-trip boat package for $70.  -- The deal: The Dirty Heads in Concert package includes same-day, round-trip boat fare between Long Beach and Avalon. Simpkin Project and HB Surround Sound open the concert from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Descanso Beach Club, an easy walk from the boat dock. Concertgoers travel on a Catalina Classic Cruises chartered boat from the terminal at the Queen Mary parking lot, 1046 Queens Highway, Long Beach.

Here's an inexpensive spring-break idea: Go kayaking, hiking, zip-lining or just kick back on Catalina Island . Discount rooms start at $121 a night for a two-night hotel deal that puts you right in downtown Avalon and within walking distance of the beach. The deal: LivingSocial offers this arrangement for a standard room at the Aurora Hotel & Spa at 137 Marilla Ave. The rate requires a two-night stay and comes with a bottle of wine. Buyers may extend their stay by combining vouchers for this deal.

Dylan Bruno bobbed buoy-like in his lizard-patterned wetsuit and offered some advice: "Just kind of float there for a minute. " I lowered myself into the water after not-so-gracefully wriggling into a wetsuit, gloves, hood, booties, snorkel - all the attire a woman hopes to be wearing upon meeting a chisel-cheeked actor turned avid spearfisherman. "Get comfortable," he said when I joined him. I dipped my face into the water and peered down. Kelp forests swayed 20 feet below. Garibaldi fish slowly moved out from their hiding spots and jerked back into them again.

The conservancy that manages nine-tenths of Catalina Island began caving in on itself last week as a scientist and three members of the board of directors, one of them a major donor, walked away over differences with the organization's top executive. Their departures bring to 10 the number of scientists and officials who have quit in recent months citing what they say is Executive Director Ann Muscat's controversial leadership style and differences over the direction she is taking the 40-year-old Catalina Island Conservancy.

The conservancy that manages 88% of Santa Catalina Island is roiling with dissent that has led to the departures of a half-dozen senior officers and scientists in the last year. At the core of the rancor is dissatisfaction with the direction the nonprofit Santa Catalina Island Conservancy has taken under Ann Muscat, president and executive officer. Muscat helped engineer a controversial shift away from a focus on conservation and toward creation of tourism-oriented attractions intended to bring more visitors - and revenue - to the island.

Re "Shark contest stirs a frenzy," Column One, Aug. 17 Of all the injustices men commit against nature, the one that most upsets me is the vast assault against all the world's sharks. At least 100 million of these magnificent animals are massacred by humans every year. No one knows exactly how many die because the majority are finned and thrown back into the water to die. I believe humans will cause the extinction of most shark species. About 40 years ago, when I traveled between Los Angeles and Catalina Island, I would see 30 to 40 sharks in an hour and a half.

Looking for a last splash before the school year kicks in? The adventure deal site Zozi is offering a Catalina snorkeling trip for two for $38, about half the usual cost. It includes a guided trip to explore Lover's Cove, where participants can swim alongside sea lions, seals and colorful fish. The deal: Guided two-hour tour leaves from shore. Customer is responsible for arranging transportation to Catalina Island. Reservations are required and subject to availability. Snorkel trips depart almost hourly between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., seven days a week.

Ferry service Catalina Express offers a discount pass with savings on mini-golf, kayak and stand-up paddleboard rentals, and other activities in and around Avalon on Catalina Island . The pass is free and easy to get: Just download it and go. The deal: A glance at some of the discounts: -- Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Gardens , one free admission with an adult ticket ($5). -- Descanso Beach Ocean Sports , rent one-hour of kayaking ($24 to $30, depending on size of kayak)

If "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" left you stoked for an adventurous sailing trip (without the pillaging and scheming), you won't have to go far to find one. The Californian will set sail from San Diego to Catalina Island in July and October on trips that mix tall ship sailing with kayaking. Sleeping in snug bunks and standing watch on the ship are part of recapturing the spirit of what life was like aboard a 19th century vessel. The Californian (no, it isn't a pirate ship)

Residents of the quaint Santa Catalina Island community of Avalon say it was bad enough that Southern California Edison Co. has increased their water rates by 300% over the last five years. Now, the utility wants to raise them an additional 83% in order to pay for infrastructure improvements that could make its aging utility here more attractive to prospective buyers. The proposal, if approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, will hike average bills of $25.43 per 100 cubic feet of water to $55.67 - roughly nine times higher than is paid in Los Angeles.

First published on July 3, 2011. Revised and expanded in early 2012. The harbor area of southwest Los Angeles County is the closest thing we have to a blue-collar coast. It's where cruise ships call, where ton upon ton of maritime machinery hums and looms, where the Queen Mary passes its awkward retirement. A little farther west, the Pacific pounds the bluffs and pebbles of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and 22 miles off the mainland, the island of Santa Catalina primps and sparkles for weekend admirers.