If you're lacking in plans this Friday night and feel like embarking on a suspended adventure, Catalina Island is opening California's first Night Zip Line Eco Tour. Tours begin by "stepping off a platform high above the ocean's edge and plunging into total darkness." more ›

The herd, which was estimated to total between 350 and 400 bison in 2005, is now capped at a more comfortable number of 150 to 200 bison. How is the herd's population controlled? Why, with birth control, of course! more ›

Authorities have removed about 1500 pounds of marijuana, assembled into about 31 bales with an estimated worth of $750,000, on Catalina Island, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. more ›

The fire that had blackened three acres of Catalina Island as of yesterday has now trailed across 117 acres, reports LA Now. The fire is now 85% contained, and according to Fire Inspector Don Kunitomi, the active flames have been extinguished. Over 100 firefighters worked yesterday evening and throughout the night battling the blaze. more ›

Firefighters are battling a blaze on Catalina Island, after successfully putting out brush fires in Tujunga Canyon and Inglewood. LA Now reports that the fire, which is threatening buildings at the Catalina Yacht Club, is being fought with water drops from helicopters, and that additional firefighters are being sent to the area (LA Now reports that 100 firefighters are on their way; KNBC estimates the number at 65). more ›

A small plane crash on Santa Catalina Island Sunday afternoon left three people injured and ignited a brush fire. The incident occurred around 3:40 p.m. when a twin-engine Cessna 310 experienced a failed engine as it left the the island's "Airport in the Sky," crashing about a half-mile away, according to the Associated Press. more ›

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) flew to Catalina Island today "to personally condemn an effort by the Mexican consulate to offer identification cards to undocumented workers there," according to the LA Times, which notes this interesting fact: up to 70% of the island's city are Spanish-speaking Latinos. Avalon, the largest and one of two cities, has a population of 3,000. “This community is a microcosm of the problems in the whole country," said the Congressmember. Mayor Bob Kennedy says they are not a sanctuary city, saying the problem is a national one that can't be just addressed by local authorities. more ›

Catalina has a lot to offer. From camping to hiking to relaxing to flying fish to historical tours, there's something for everyone. The city of Avalon is far from its hey day, when the Chicago Cubs came for Spring training and every jazz great played dance concerts inside the casino, but the struggling island may be heading towards a renaissance of sorts. more ›

This week LAist reader and Flickr featured photos contributor Ryo Chiba shared some amazing shots from his recent camping trip near Two Harbors on Catalina Island which is about a one hour's boat ride from Long Beach or San Pedro. We liked them so much, we had to ask more about his trip. more ›

22 miles off the coast of Long Beach, thousands of Avalon residents are enduring the storm just like millions of people on the mainland. Boat service has been canceled for two days and a rock slide damaged one building on Tuesday. more ›

A 2.5 microquake struck the seas yesterday morning. It's doubtful that anyone felt it because it was in the middle of the ocean, 81 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. But what's fun about its location is its proximity to the four southern Channel Islands. Since the mere presence of islands off the coast of Southern California seems to perplex a lot of people, we thought it was a good moment to at least identify them. more ›

An 8.0 earthquake in American Samoa this morning prompted a tsunami watch in Hawaii and a tsunami advisory for coastal areas of Southern California, including Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. [Update: Beaches in LA County will close at 8 p.m., more info here] more ›

We don't know many details at the moment, but a guy named Paul apparently started swimming late last night from the western portion of Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. That's nothing too unusual, as the San Pedro Channel is a popular place for marathon swimmers, but what's pretty cool is that it's being tracked in real time on a Google Maps application. more ›

Every time a flying fish popped out of the water, most all of the close-to 100 passengers on the boat began screaming in excitement last Friday night. That's because it's quite exhilarating to see a fish emerge from the water with its wings fluttering about as it tries to glide across the water before disappearing underneath. Some went as high as five feet and for a good few hundred feet in distance, but unfortunately none went as high or far as their ability is rumored to be. more ›

To a rousing success, last night the 2nd Annual Taste of Avalon kicked off the Flying Fish Festival for the weekend. Unlike the Taste of Chicago where restaurants set up booths in one central location, Avalon's taste has you going from restaurant to restaurant. And it works because the small city's downtown is about five blocks long, which makes the event a great way to experience the city. more ›

From the Taste of Avalon to Peddle Boat Race to a parade featuring Huell Howser, the 2nd Annual Flying Fish Festival in Catalina Island's main city, Avalon, is ready to pack a punch over the next four days. It begins tomorrow with a variety of activities including the Taste of Avalon where restaurants gather in the middle of town and dole out $1 or cheaper samples of their best dishes. more ›

By the 1960s, America's bird and national symbol could not be found on any of the eight Channel Islands where it had made home before the arrival of humans. Twenty years before, the practice of pouring DDT into the ocean off Palos Verdes Peninsula, mostly at the hands of the Montrose Chemical Corporation, became a 30 year practice resulting in those chemicals going up the marine food chain into Bald Eagles, whose main diet consist of fish. No, it didn't kill the bald eagles, but it was to their eggs--too thin and fragile due to the chemical intrusion, they were easily crushed before the chicks would hatch. Eventually, with no birth cycle, Bald Eagles were gone. more ›

Here in Los Angeles, the non profit charged with conserving most of Catalina Island's 76 square miles is not exactly one you hear about every day. But who knew that the Catalina Island Conservancy has been producing a daily environmental podcast for over three years now that is broadcast on over 225 radio stations across the country? They're short and sweet, fact checked by two scientists and speak to the group's larger mission of the environement--after all, as they say, we are all on an island. more ›

There's something very different about hiking on the interior of Catalina Island, something you can't get on the plethora of trails immediately surrounding Los Angeles. It's the deafening sound of silence--that ever-present rumble of freeways we are so used to on the mainland is no where to be heard on Catalina, where this past weekend a new 37.2 mile cross-island trail opened to the public. more ›

On a whim, we decided to check out Catalina Island's city of Avalon one afternoon this past weekend. It was a first for us (okay, for me) and upon returning to the mainland and talking to others, we found that Angelenos really don't take advantage of the resort island and all that it has to offer including hiking, bed and breakfasts, seeing historical sites (hey, the Cubs did spring training here back in the day!), parasaiing, scuba diving, whale watching, beach going, relaxation, etc. In fact, many natives to Southern California we spoke to admitted they had never been to the 76 square mile sized island. more ›

The missing charter plane bound to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana from Catalina was found this morning on top of a hill just west of the island's airport. Three burned bodies were found inside. The LA Times found that the pilot, Mark Hogland, was not licensed to fly commercial flights like the one he allegedly was doing when the plane crash. more ›

It only takes 20 minutes from take off to landing for a plane to go from Catalina Island to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana. The chartered Bonanza plane, piloted by Mark Hogland, was carrying two others and took off around 4:50 p.m. yesterday with weather causing low visibility. It was supposed to land at 5:10 p.m., but never made it. The Coast Guard was eventually warned, nearly five hours later, at 10:30 p.m. who began and still continue search and rescue efforts. more ›

Yesterday was one of those great Los Angeles weather days. That is, when 5 miles makes the difference between a downpour and clear sunny skies. The Northwest Valley had some nice cloud cover and the Southeast Valley was perfect all day. It poured randomly in Santa Monica, but Beverly Hills was perfect. Brief spouts of rainfall were also reported in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Then early this morning, lightning struck. 445 times to be exact, according to National Weather Service sensors, says the Associated Press. The lucky folks who got a little thunder and lightning action lived around Catalina Island and Palos Verdes where three thunderstorms were reported moving along the coast. more ›

The shark attack near Catalina Island this past weekend is the 148 confirmed shark attacks along the Pacific Coast since 1900, according to the OC Register's Beach Blog. They say most have been investigation attacks and not predatory. “The shark was not interested at all in eating her, otherwise it would have stayed in the area and eaten her," explained Shark expert Ralph Collier. Over the weekend, a woman kayaking off Catalina was flung into the air when a shark bumped into her vessel. She landed on top of the shark, but swam to shore safely. more ›

A woman kayaking off the coast of Catalina Island had a close encounter with a shark this weekend. "I couldn't believe it and all of a sudden when I seen the fin I realized this is not a whale -- this is a shark," she told KCAL9. "By the time I thought that ... the shark was already cruising under me and lifting the kayak up with its body, and I landed out of the kayak right onto the shark's body." The shark reportedly swam away as the woman began to safely swim towards shore.
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I don't know when I've seen a picture with such intense colors. The zig-zagging of the breakwater makes such a balancedcomposition, and the tanker in the distance is the only sign that you are not on an island in the south seas. The breakwater is 9,250 feet long and contains nearly three million tons of rock, brought over from Santa Catalina Island. (Pedro Chamber of Commerce) The initial western section of the breakwater, called... more ›

Consolation Prize of a Lifetime - Al Gore is a man of peace and gets the homepage of Apple.com all to himself -- should we expect the iAl to come out by the holidays? The Catalina Island Avalon city employee who beheaded a deer and left it in a soccer net is definitely not getting any peace prize. There was another suspicious package today left around City Hall, forcing street closures and the evacuation... more ›

Too many train crashes! Today saw the second Gold Line crash this month, this one being the worse of the two. The Blue Line was involved in a crash earlier this week as well as a Metrolink train yesterday. Tennie Pierce, the city firefighter who claims co-workers fed him dog food-laced spaghetti settled with city council today for $1.43 million dollars. Will it be a cozy night indoors as it rains outside? Yep. Pretty... more ›

So I have this pretty fun tradition (aside from Three Rivers in the holidays), of going camping at Two Harbors on Catalina Island every Labor Day Weekend. The tradition originally began as a Jugglers' Festival, oddly enough, of which I was only a part due to my friend and her husband who are amateur jugglers, and because they are friends with some fairly accomplished ones. There was a juggling volleyball game on one of... more ›

In the springtime when the Hollywood Bowl announced their schedule, a friend of mine made sure to secure tickets to the “Sgt. Pepper’s at 40...a Beatles Celebration featuring Cheap Trick”. For some reason he agreed to go camping at Catalina Island for the weekend with friends, so I ended up with tickets for Saturday night's performance. Looking around the audience in our Section R1 seats, the audience was what was expected for a bunch... more ›