In celebration of my 19th birthday my family and I went to Santa Catalina Island! My dad planned a 2 day trip where we would drive up in the afternoon near Los Angeles and stay at a hotel. In the early morning we would depart from the hotel and go to Dana point (around 6:00A.M)
From Dana Point to Catalina Island was around a 1 hour boat ride and the least of the phase "smooth sailing from here". However during the ride we got to see dolphins and experience some light fog that would make your hair damp.
When we first got to the Island we went straight to riding on the Golf carts and rented it for about 2 hours. Our family drove on a steep mountain and got a wonderful view of Downtown and the pier.