Santa Catalina Island

A couple keep warm during their deck-top ride aboard one of the Catalina Express’ catamarans. The company offers daily ferry service to Avalon from ports in Long Beach, Dana Point and (February to October) San Pedro.  (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

A helicopter heads off into the sunset after dropping off passengers in San Pedro. The chopper seats six and gives a gull’s-eye view of the journey across San Pedro Channel to Catalina Island.  (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

A catamaran closes in on the island. Winter perks on Catalina include earlier check-ins, lower rates and no crowds.  (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)

A kayak heads for shore near the Casino Ballroom, one of the legacies of chewing-gum baron William Wrigley Jr., who bought the island sight unseen in 1919 and shaped it into his vision of an offshore hinterland and equestrian-class resort.  (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

A visitor explores a breakwater near the Casino. Don’t feel like taking a tour of the Avalon landmark? Other wilder options include hiking and an off-road tour across the island’s wild interior in a Mercedes Unimog.  (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Framed by the Via Casino Arch, the Art Deco ballroom is like an island of light surrounded by a deep blue sea of sky. Film fans can take in a movie at the Casino’s ornately muraled cinema (“the first one designed for talkies in North America,” according to a guide, “and an early acoustical model for New York’s Radio City Music Hall.”)  (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Debbie Davis, left, and Yvonne Ojeda go for a paddle off Catalina. When the weather’s nice — and the sea isn’t choppy — it’s a refreshing way to explore the wildlife around the island.  (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

If you’ve got the time and the skill, consider kayaking to Catalina. And after that paddle, the Casino Boat Dock Cafe at Avalon will be a welcome sight indeed.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

Lights along Crescent Avenue define the shape of the harbor as dawn breaks on Avalon.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

We all scream for ice cream at Dessert Island on Crescent Avenue in Avalon.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

Their (model) ship has come into the House of Wood, a curio shop on Crescent Avenue in Avalon.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

The Inn on Mt. Ada hass an eagle’s eye view of the harbor at Avalon on Catalina Island. The Georgian colonial mansion that once belonged to the Wrigleys is a six-room luxury hotel.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

An epidemic of island fever sweeps Luau Larry’s on Crescent Avenue in Avalon.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

Catalina’s own stairway to heaven at the Inn at Mount Ada.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

Pedestrian friendly Crescent Avenue is Avalon’s main thoroughfare.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

The tall ship Exy Johnson sets sail from Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

Flip’s Saltwater Bar and Grill, on Catalina Avenue in Avalon, promises to have “the only sushi bar between Los Angeles and Hawaii.”  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

Did somebody say lunch? A harbor seal pokes its head out of a kelp forest near Frog Rock on the front side of Catalina Island.  (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)