ORANGE COUNTY : SUMMER SPECIAL : CATALINA : Twenty-Six Miles Across the Sea, Waiting Is the Island of . . . Recreation, Recreation

For many, Santa Catalina Island is little more than a landmark that shows how clear the air is off the Southern California coast.

Even a trip to the island doesn’t immediately reveal much more than clear coastal water and the steep cliffs that dominate much of the 54-mile perimeter. Other than the large Avalon Casino at the west end of the harbor, little about this island is obvious.

Even visitors--an estimated 743,000 last year by commercial boats from Newport Beach, Long Beach and San Pedro alone--that mostly land at Avalon Harbor, located at the east end of the island, might have a difficult time seeing exactly what there is to do.

Bicycles, electric golf carts and walking are the most popular forms of transportation within Avalon, which contains most of the island’s 2,500 year-round residents.

“Some people think this island is Disneyland, they get off the boat and ask, ‘Where are the rides?’ ” said Gail Hodge, who works with a promotional marketing firm in Avalon. “Some people think this is a place to drink in the street and whoop it up. It’s not. This is a place you have to make your own fun and usually that means some type of recreation.”

There are plenty of opportunities for fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling, camping, hiking, hunting, sailing, golf and more, for those willing to invest a little time and effort to find them.

Much of the island’s recreational area is controlled by the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, a nonprofit organization founded in 1972 by members of the Wrigley family, which then owned the island. The family deeded about 86% of the island’s 47,884 acres to the conservancy.

The conservancy issues hiking and camping permits and also decides on hunting seasons on the island.

“There is a lot to this island,” said Doug Propst, president of the conservancy since in 1972. “So we try to take care of any problems before they become problems.”

BICYCLING

The most recent problem the conservancy had to deal with arrived with mountain bikes, a bicycle that allows riders to conquer terrain that previously was unaccessible. Riders were doing too much damage to the land and were coming down the road into Avalon too fast, so bikes were banned anywhere outside the city limits as of July 1.

“Too many of us who drive the the roads had too many close calls,” Propst said. “It was getting to be a problem so we had to put a stop to it before someone was seriously injured. We’ll come back with a program that involves some sort of permits and a new set of rules. I’m just not sure when.

“It was a shame. There is some really beautiful country out there for the riders.”

CAMPING AND HIKING

There are five major campgrounds on the island that allow overnight camping, but reservations are required six to eight weeks in advance.

“We try to preserve the natural beauty of the campgrounds, but to do so we have to keep the numbers down,” Propst said. “You can’t wait until the rocks are worn down before you start backing off. You have to prevent it in the first place.”

The campgrounds are Bird Park Avalon, one mile outside the city; Little Harbor, on the south side of the island; Black Jack, in the center of the island; Little Fisherman’s Cove, in the Two Harbors area toward the west end of the island; and Parson’s Landing, on the extreme west end. Campers walk to the sites.

One of the reasons camping is so popular is the high cost of hotel rooms. While most hotels charge around $100 a night or more, campsites can be had for $5 per adult.

All hiking on the island must be done with a free permit from the conservancy. There are several trails that start out of Avalon and more that start at the Two Harbors area on the island’s west end.

“There are two misconceptions about the island,” said Bob Weeks, who is in charge of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation on Catalina. “People think it’s going to be like Hawaii with palm trees and hula girls and it’s not like that. Other people think it’s going to be like mountains and it’s not like that, either.

“The lure of it is that you can hike around and see what California looked like before it became developed. We get the pretty casual camper and hiker here. We don’t get the same people that go to the Sierras. People that come here want to be by the beach.”

FISHING

The waters around the island are protected from the taking of bait fish--anchovies and sardines--by commercial fishing boats so the large amount of available food brings game fish into the area.

The big draws are marlin and broad-billed swordfish, but yellowtail, black and white sea bass, albacore, sheepshead and tuna are also popular. Marlin season traditionally starts on the July 4 weekend and continues through the middle of October. There have been three caught this season.

Three charter boats operate out of Avalon.

“Fishing has always been very popular here,” said Jay Guion, who runs a boat and fishing supply stand on Avalon Green Pleasure Pier. “We see the boats from mainland right next to us fishing in our waters all the time, so we must be in the right spot.”

Boats can be rented from the pier from early March until Nov. 1. The pier also is a popular spot for fishing because a fishing license isn’t required. Perch are the most commonly caught fish off the pier. The parks and recreation department also runs a fishing derby twice a week for children.

“Unless they come on their own boat, people don’t want to drag all their fishing tackle to the island,” Guion said. “We have to be able to supply whatever they need from lines and hooks to poles and boats. After all, tourism is 99% of our business.”

HUNTING

The hunting program is run by the conservancy and all of it takes place on lands the conservancy has set aside. Hunting is generally reserved for the fall, but the programs are only run when the conservancy decides the land can’t support the amount of wildlife on the island.

Quail is hunted in November and goats and boars are hunted with rifles as well as bows and arrows in November and again in the spring. There is no hunting of the island’s buffalo population.

RUNNING

Catalina has been the home of one of the most difficult marathons around for the last 10 years. The Catalina Marathon weekend is usually scheduled on the second or third weekend in March.

There is a 10-kilometer run held the Saturday before the marathon, which goes in and around Avalon. The number of runners for the marathon is limited each year to the camping space at the west end of the island near the Two Harbors area where the race starts. The runners start at sea level then climb to about 1,500 feet and drop down and climb back up two more times before finishing in the center of Avalon.

“The runners are great and they love it here,” Propst said. “The air is clear and the runners like that and they really fit in nicely with what the conservancy is trying to do.”

The island is also host to a 50-mile run in January that starts in Avalon, goes to the west end of the island and then back to Avalon, covering much of the same hilly area as the marathon. There also is a 25-K run that takes place on the west end of the island.

SAILING

Sailing to Hawaii it’s not, but Catalina is a still a favorite for the Southern California sailer. Perhaps for no other reason than it is about the only place to go off the coast for a weekend.

It can take anywhere from four to eight hours to make the crossing. There is little morning wind so the preferred time to sail is in the afternoon.

Avalon Harbor, which has an opening a half-mile wide, is the busiest for it’s size in California, according to Ken Dirksen, the assistant harbor master.

“It’s a wonderful place with a lot of interesting places to visit,” said Dave Grant, who runs the Orange Coast College Rowing and Sailing Academy and has been sailing to Catalina for more than 30 years. “Avalon is just too crowded though. I sail over there to get away from the crowd, not be part of it. I usually go to one of the smaller coves toward the west end where the island is much less crowed and more wild.”

Avalon has approximately 300 moorings in the harbor and close to 75 just outside. The Isthmus Harbor, toward the west end, offers almost 300 more spaces.

“It’s close enough to get to in one day but it’s far enough to feel like your really making a journey,” Dirksen said. “You leave, lose site of land and then you find your mark (the island).

“A motor boat can make it in a couple of hours. How can you beat that? A couple of hours and your in paradise.”

SCUBA

Clear water and Casino Point, the only underwater municipal park in the United States, make Catalina a favorite spot for the first-time or the expert diver.

The waters around island average 50-60 feet in visibility, especially around Avalon where the island is protected from many of the storms that come from the south. Ten feet is average visibility and 20 feet is considered excellent in much of the ocean off the Southern California mainland.

“The park is really a boom to the divers around here,” said John Hardy, who runs a diving service on the island. “To do the park right, it would take at least six dives and even then your still not going to see everything.”

Casino Point is in the west end of the harbor. There are six shipwrecks and a large kelp forest for the divers to explore in waters as deep as 90 feet. There is no spear-fishing in Avalon city limits, so the marine life is protected and plentiful.

“There is something new for me to see every time I go down there,” said Lorraine Sadler, a diving instructor. “This is about the best spot around for the recreational diver. There is plenty to see and the marine life is great.”

Said Dana Fincher, who works for a diving supply firm: “It really turns into a big social activity on weekends. There can be two hundred divers around and the water gets pretty crowed at times but it’s worth it. It’s a beautiful spot. There is nothing like diving in the kelp out there. It’s like being in an under-water forest and you can soar through it.”

There also are charter boats available for those who wish to try more challenging dives farther off the coast of the island.

Or for divers with their own boats, there are plenty of coves along the coast of the island to explore.