11 micro-itineraries for Long Beach, San Pedro and Catalina Island

Did somebody order fish and ships?

Catalina's unexpected tourist season

City crews, dispatched before sunrise, hosed down streets, scrubbed public restrooms and strung up Christmas lights. Boutique shops were...

New trail shows off Catalina Island's varied landscapes

Wildlife biologist Kevin Ryan stood on the edge of a rocky ridge in the heart of untamed Santa Catalina Island on Friday, inhaled deeply and...

A cache of family memories on Catalina Island

We saw the mounds of dirt, covered with rocks and some marked only by simple wooden crosses. Yet the messages they carried were often...

Catalina, when it's hushed and unrushed

It was impossible to secure even a towel-sized plot of sand on Catalina the first time I visited on a Labor Day weekend some years back....

Where to scope out bald eagles in Southern California

The bald eagle is abundant in the backcountry of Alaska, Minnesota and other northern states, but you don't have to trek far to get a...

Crossing the icy waters for posterity

For decades, Catalina Channel swimmers have labored in obscurity -- a tiny fraternity that pays its own way, makes its own rules and...

Catalina Island becomes more like a secret getaway in winter

You road-less-traveled types may adore Catalina right now. During high season, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Southern Californians...