Catalina Island -- FREE Catalina Express Birthday Boat Ride to Through 2016

I noticed that Catalina was featured in a segment from Curtis Stone's Beach Eats series on Food Network - http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/beach-eats-usa/100-series/island-bites.html. It was the "Island Bites" episode, and Curtis is eating Togarashi Tuna at the Descanso Beach Club in Avalon - http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/be...-featured-on-beach-eats-usa-island-bites.html. It's only a short segment, I think, but I didn't watch the whole thing just yet. I wonder if the snippet I saw of Curtis zip lining was shot in Avalon.

And... a couple of recent articles about Catalina from the Los Angeles times:

"On freight-dependent Catalina, an uproar over a new exclusive contract" -- http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-catalina-freight-20150905-story.html. (So it looks as if the Catalina Express might take over freight duties for the Island next year, which makes me wonder if the free birthday boat ride will continue.)

"After 91 years, flying fish but no plying boat as the Blanche W ends its Catalina Island run" -- http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-adv-flying-fish-20150906-story.html. (The Blanche W is the boat that has been taking people on the Flying Fish Voyage for years -- seen in that Huell Howser California's Gold episode I linked a few months ago -- and it is going to retire from that duty. I would assume that there will be a new boat to take over in 2016.)
 
It's back. Catalina Express free on your birthday. Maybe I'll try to make it again in July.

Catalinaexpress.com
 
It's back. Catalina Express free on your birthday. Maybe I'll try to make it again in July.

Catalinaexpress.com

Hi, Wendy! :wave: Happy New Year!

I registered for the 2016 birthday ride this past Monday. This is the 6th year that Catalina Express is offering it.

I mainly wanted to pop in here and mention that there have been some changes to the accompanying Birthday Island list of freebies this year (every year they either remove freebies or add some new ones in) -- http://catalinaexpress.com/images/BirthdayIsland_010616onlineNEW.pdf. There are plenty of discounted things, or 'buy 1, get 1' deals, but some of the totally free things that you can get with your birthday ribbon given at the Catalina Express terminal will be:


[NEW!!!!] A free Dole Whip at the Avocado Café!!!!!!

Free meal at the Buffalo Nickel Restaurant

Free coffee at Catalina Coffee & Cookie Company (I take advantage of this one every time I go)

[NEW!!!!] Complimentary Ice Cream at Descanso Fresh

Free ice cream at Lloyd's of Avalon (I take advantage of this one every time I go)



Free gift at the Aurora Hotel & Spa (I have taken advantage of this twice -- I hiked up a hill to collect either a free Catalina poster or Catalina CD)


Free Baci (Italian chocolate kiss) at Ciao-Baci

Free birthday bowling at Three Palms Avalon Arcade

Free Island trails map at the Catalina Island Conservancy office (I have taken advantage of this offer 2 times)


[NEW!!!] Free admission to the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden (this is a good one!)

Free miniature golf at Golf Gardens

Free 40-minute Walking Tour of the famous Casino (I did this once before, and this is awesome if you like history and architecture)


So, needless to say, I will be hitting anything that involves free Dole Whips, free ice cream, free coffee, and free admission (like the Wrigley Memorial and the Casino tour). The other stuff I will have to decide on later.
 
Hi Sherry
I love free. Especially with our low Canadian dollar right now. I'm sure going to try to make it this year for a couple of days so I will likely have to tent it.
It's pretty cold and snowy right now so I'm going to check the Catalina website and go to my happy place.
There's some really good freebies. Thanks for posting.
Wendy
 


I was wondering if this was going to happen again this year. I am taking my birthday off from work. It's a Monday this year, so a great day for me to visit Catalina Island. :)
 
Although this is a thread that mainly leans towards taking the Catalina Express -- because, as I have talked about here and also talked about in the DIS Unplugged podcast I did with Mary Jo and Tom Bell last March, the Express allows more flexibility in boat times -- I do want to point out that Groupon currently has a good deal on tickets for the Catalina Flyer out of Newport Beach.

The Catalina Flyer is not affiliated with Catalina Express at all -- they are two different companies. The Express has a wider range of boat departure and return times, whereas the Flyer has something like one departure and one return. I explained in the Unplugged podcast last year that I really, really don't recommend taking the Flyer unless you are planning to stay in Avalon for more than one day. That's the only time when I really think the Flyer would be worth it -- or, perhaps, if you are traveling with someone who only has stamina and energy for a few hours and then needs to rest, it might be worth it.

If you were going to embark upon a day trip to Catalina Island, the Catalina Flyer is not a wise choice because you will end up with only a few hours to do anything. You will be very limited in what you can do. The Express is better for day trips. The Flyer is better if you are going to stay overnight on the island and have more time to do things.

Nonetheless, as I mentioned, Groupon currently has a deep discount on Catalina Flyer tickets -- and it appears to be good for 2 more days -- https://www.groupon.com/deals/the-catalina-flyer-from-newport-beach-7-18. But if you use that offer to take a day trip and find that you pretty much have to turn around and come back home a couple of hours after setting foot on island soil, don't say I didn't warn you! :lmao:

The ideal option, of course, is if you can get to Catalina on your birthday and take advantage of the free birthday boat ride on the Catalina Express and the other free goodies I listed a few posts up^^.
 
LEAP DAY OFFER!!!


Well, it seems that Leap Year is a good time to visit Catalina Island -- especially if you visit on February 29th!

If you register with the Santa Catalina Island Company between now and February 14th, a promo code will be sent to you on Monday, February 15th. With that code you will be able to visit Catalina on February 29th only, and enjoy a "Leap Over to Catalina" package, which includes:

-- $29 overnight accommodations at Hotel Atwater

-- $29 round trip boat transportation

-- $29 three-course meal at the Avalon Grille

And believe me when I say that all 3 of the above-referenced things are tremendous deals. Even if the boat ride is via the Catalina Flyer out of Newport Beach it would be more worthwhile because you're be getting a $29 hotel stay too (not including tax), which would stretch out your time.

I don't know if it will be raining on Feb. 29th, but I am halfway tempted to do it just because the price is so low. But, again, you have to register by Valentine's Day, February 14th, to receive your email code on Feb. 15th, and you have to travel ON February 29th to take advantage of this package.

Register here -- http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/leapyear.




:boat::boat::boat:
 
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Mary Jo -- I forgot to ask you on Facebook. Did you end up in Avalon for your birthday?

At first I thought that the free boat ride offer would be limited, but it seems like it's going to go on every year so I guess it's not as huge of a deal to miss it every so often. I don't like missing it on my birthdays -- because the value of the boat ride offer is so substantial and I love the island so much -- but because my stupid birthday is in the middle of my least favorite season, when it's already way too hot for me, I always have to put serious thought into it and obsessively check the weather forecast. The only good thing for me about having a July birthday is that the schedule of boat departures and returns is more extensive in the summer, and there are extra tours and things going on in Avalon at that time. Otherwise, I would rather have a March birthday, before the heat becomes oppressive!

I noticed that Catalina Express has been pushing its new schedule and supposedly reduced prices. They only dropped their prices by a dollar or two, but I noticed that their off-season schedule to and from San Pedro seems to be much more limited. Long Beach is still the way to go as far as having more of a choice of departures and returns.
 
Finally, at long last, one of the other Huell Howser Catalina Island shows is up on the Chapman University site.

They put up the California's Gold Flying Fish show last year -- https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2015/06/08/flying-fish-californias-gold-1009/

And now they have put up the Wrigley Memorial/Botanical Gardens episode of California's Golden Parks -- https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-how...tanical-gardens-californias-golden-parks-139/

The one other California's Gold Catalina-specific show that I think could be good to see for any first-time visitors is the one about the famous, iconic Casino.

Interestingly, the Casino was recently seen in an episode of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead, as some of the filming for FTWD has been done on and around Catalina Island (though they called it "Catrina Island" on the show). In one scene there is a somewhat distant shot of a town with a Ferris Wheel and a circular building off to the right. That circular structure is the famous Catalina Island Casino/ballroom, and the town is Avalon... but, for the record, there is NO Ferris Wheel in Avalon! Either that was a bit of CGI trickery at work, or they put up a temporary Ferris Wheel in town just to get that shot.

So far, Chapman has not digitized the California's Gold Casino show, so it may be another year or two before it gets to the Chapman site.

The Wrigley Memorial/Botanical Gardens is one of the places you can get in free on your birthday this year. You can also take a Walking Tour of the Casino for free on your birthday. :cake:

The Flying Fish Tour, which is not free, happens during the summer -- from Memorial Day to Labor Day -- although it won't take place on the Blanche W. boat shown on Huell's show, as that boat has retired.


:fish::fish::fish:
 
I love his shows! Thank you, Sherry, for all of this info. :)

Oh, and long in coming... I didn't make it to Catalina this year. I took off a day to go to Orlando, and couldn't take off to go to Catalina, too. Hopefully, they'll offer this again next year and I'll go.
 
I don't see anything to indicate that this is for California residents only, so I will post the link here -- for any of our SoCal resident members who are interested, AND for any of our out-of-town visitors who would like to visit Catalina Island on a day off from Disneyland or something.

Catalina Express is celebrating its 35th anniversary with a daily contest from today, July 15th, through August 18th. There are different prizes given out every day. Most of them, I think, will involve free boat fare to Catalina Island. I also suspect that many of them will involve hotel stays and some sort of food-related gift certificates.

Here is the page to enter, with a description of today's prize. There will be a different one tomorrow and every day through August 18th. http://www.catalinaexpress.com/35thanniversary

Good luck!

:fish::fish::fish:
 

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