Catalina Island | Monterey | Palos Verdes | San Diego | San Francisco

Catalina Island Tours and Activities

Click here to return to Catalina

Casino
The Casino Building, Avalon's world-famous landmark, is not a gambling casino at all. Casino is an Italian word meaning place of entertainment or gathering. It houses the Catalina Island Museum, the Catalina Art Association Art Gallery and a fitness center, as well as public restrooms. The Casino Ballroom, located on the top floor of the Casino Building, has been the site of major events since its grand opening in May of 1929. The ballroom's national fame came in the 1930's and 1940's when it hosted many of the big bands including Jimmy Dorsey, Woody Herman and Harry James to name a few. Today the ballroom is the site of special events year-round.
The building is circular, with two wings, an overhanging balcony and a 25 foot lantern cuppola above a tiled roof. The full diameter of the building is 180 feet, not including the 12 foot wide balcony around the ballroom portion of the building. It is 140 feet high, equivalent in height to a 12-story office building.
Murals in the Avalon Theatre and on the exterior of the building were designed by John Gabriel Beckman, a well-known artist who worked on a number of theatres, including Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Nine panels encircle the inside walls of the theatre loggia and are stylized underwater scenes of marine life. In 1966, under the direction of Mr. Beckman, the center mural was reproduced in tile and over a period of years, the rest of these murals will be reproduced in tile as originally designed. In the theatre, the walls are decorated with murals painted on a jute-like material using "11 grind" pigments in a medium of flatene, a binder printers used to bind ink to paper. The murals have never been touched up. The murals were inspired by Southern California scenery and history and are abstract in design and have great vitality of movement.
The murals are now referred to as example of Art Deco. On the left the sequence of motifs include exotic birds and flowers, a Spanish Ship, hooded friars, and an archer aiming at a fleeing deer. On the right the sequence features cactus and succulents, leaping goats, exotic foliage and Indians astride charging horses.
For more information call: (310) 510-2414

Inn on Mt. Ada on Catalina
The Inn on Mt. Ada is a Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star property. There are only 48 properties in California which have received this prestigious rating, and only 240 properties nationwide. Built in 1921, the Inn on Mt. Ada is the former home of chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. The Georgian colonial style inn has been meticulously restored and furnished to represent the time that the Wrigley family lived in the house. Located on top of Mt. Ada overlooking Avalon Bay, the home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Chimes Tower
Built in 1925, the Chimes Tower was presented as a gift to the town of Avalon by Mrs. Ada Wrigley. Located up and across from the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel, the chimes have been tolling on the quarter of the hour between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm since 1925. On holidays and special occasions the chimes are played manually and can be heard throughout Avalon.

Zane Grey
In 1926, American author Zane Grey built a pueblo-style home on the hillside overlooking Avalon Bay. He spent most of his later life in Avalon writing and fishing. The home is now a popular hotel that has many of Grey's original furnishings. Grey's other legacy on Catalina Island - in 1924, Hollywood came to the island to do a movie version of one of Grey's books - they brought 14 head of American bison, or buffalo for the filming, when they left, the bison stayed.

The Tuna Club
Founded in 1898, the Tuna Club is the oldest fishing club in the United STates. The club's main goals were to elevate the sport of fishing to its highest possible standard and for the protection of the game fish of Southern California. The Tuna Club is responsible for the development of modern angling rules and sportsmanship that has been adopted by angling clubs the world over. The Tuna Club is a California Historical Landmark and is on the National Registry of Historical Places. The original building, constructed at the turn of the century at the edge of Avalon Bay, was destroyed in the 1915 fire. The present structure was built in 1916 at the same location. Many notable dignitaries and personalities have been members of the Tuna Club such as Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill,, General George S. Patton, Cecil B. DeMille, Charlie Chaplin and Bing Crosby.

Catalina Country Club and Golf Course
In 1919, William Wrigley purchased Catalina from the Banning Brothers. He already owned the Chicago Cubs, and in less than 10 years, he brought his two passions together by bringing the Chicago Cubs to Catalina for Spring Training. For 30 years, the Cub's returned to Avalon. The baseball field at Catalina was built to match the dimensions of Wrigley Field in Chicago. A clubhouse was built, adjacent to the Catalina Island Golf course, to house the baseball team's lockers and provide a social setting for the players. While only a plaque remains on the site of the field where the Cubs once played, the Catalina Island Golf Course and the historic clubhouse, now known as the Catalina Island Country Club still remain. Originally opened in 1928, it was designed by the same architects who designed the Casino building. The Club features full service conferences facilities as well as a restaurant, pro shop and locker rooms.

Holly Hill House
Built in 1890 by Peter Gano, the Holly Hill House, with it's red roof and striped cupola, captures the attention of everyone entering Avalon Bay.
The current owner has restored it and furnished it with turn-of-the-century antiques.

Tours
Aerial Tours
Avalon Tours
Botanical Garden Tours
Casino Tour
Flying Fish Tour
Glass bottom Boat Tours
Interior Tours
Nature Center Tour
Sea Lion Tour
Semi-submersible Tours
Submarine Rides
Sundown Isthmus Tour

Activities
Arcades
Art Gallery
Bicycling
Boating
Camping
Fishing
Golf
Horseback Riding
Kayaking
Miniature Golf
Movies
Museum
Parasailing
Shopping
Snorkeling
Volleyball
Wave Runners