Catalina Island | Avalon | Two Harbors | Santa Barbara | Oxnard | Long Beach | Ventura

Welcome, California Travelers! I’m Amy, and this is my husband Mike. Nice to “meet” you.

Our beloved Golden State is an amazing place offering you your pick of outdoor adventures, cultural insights, culinary delights, intellectual stimulation and, occasionally, weird experiences. Whether your preferred terrain is sandy beach, rocky mountain, asphalt freeway or the limed oak hardwood flooring that’s currently trendy in luxury retail stores, you’ll find it here in California.

Whatever your reason for wanting to travel in California, we’re glad you found us. Perhaps you’re planning a California vacation, or maybe you’re thinking of taking a business trip here. Perhaps you’re a California resident looking for day trip ideas. If you’re interested in California travel for any reason, we invite you to explore our California travel pages. We’ve shared insights about the following California travel destinations here on our website:

Catalina Island

Santa Catalina Island is one of the world’s most magical places. Why do I say that? Bunches of reasons:

• Because if you explore her coves and paths and roads, you’ll find a broad assortment of enchantments — tiny hummingbirds hovering to sip nectar from delicate flowers. Colorful tiles handcrafted by talented artists. Fascinating herds of bison. Playful sea lions. Majestic pelicans. Rowdy ravens. Spectacular ocean views. And SO MUCH more…
• Because, despite being part of Los Angeles County and a cruise ship destination, she has managed to resist “big-boxification”. This is one of the few places left in California (and, in fact, anywhere) you can still go for unique experiences free of the likes of McDonalds, Walmart, Costco and Home Depot. The main exception I can think of: There is a Vons grocery store on the island.
• Because everywhere you point your camera on the island, there’s something delightful on the other end of your lens to photograph.

I could go on! And on…and on…

From 2010 to early 2012, Mike and I cruised the California coast in a sah-weet vintage wooden sailboat called “Typhoon”. We spent most of that time cruising around Catalina Island. Those were fun times.

As a result, we’re pretty well acquainted with Avalon and Two Harbors, which are two of Catalina Island’s most popular destinations. We also explored bunches of the island’s lesser-known coves, hideaways, hiking trails and campgrounds. If you want the scoop on Avalon or Two Harbors, we invite you to go directly to our pages about those destinations — and if you want info about some of the island’s other, lesser-known spots, we invite you to check out our main page about Catalina Island.

Two Harbors is one of my two favorite sailing destinations in the entire state of California — I love, love, LOVE it there.

Santa Barbara, California

We’ve sailed to Europe, the Middle East and bunches of destinations in the USA — and we’d put Santa Barbara, California on our top 10 list of the world’s most beautiful cities. Your host Mike counts Santa Barbara as one of his two favorite California travel destinations. Click here to learn more about Santa Barbara.

See also:

• Top 28 things to do in Santa Barbara
• Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara
• The Santa Barbara Mission
• Kayaking in Santa Barbara

Oxnard, California

The Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California is one of my two favorite California destinations when we’re sailing. I enjoy it because it’s scenic, it’s sheltered, it’s rarely crowded and it’s within easy walking distance of things that are important to cruising sailors (groceries, laundry facilities, etc). There’s more to Oxnard than its harbor, including under-utilized surf spots and lovely, quiet beaches. We can’t figure out why hardly anybody uses them. Click here to learn more about Oxnard.

Long Beach, California

There are zillions of things to love about Long Beach, California. Our favorite things about Long Beach are its central location, its cultural diversity and its lovely climate. When we’re in Long Beach, our favorite pastime is exploring the waterfront. Our favorite annual event is the reggae festival. Click here to find out more about Long Beach.

Ventura, California

Ventura is a remarkable city offering travelers many reasons to visit. We’d definitely recommend a trip to Ventura if you’re a vacationer or business traveler planning to arrive by car or airplane. If you’re a cruising sailor, we wouldn’t make the same blanket recommendation unless you’ve planned your Ventura trip carefully and pre-arranged all the details of your accommodations.

Our friends Jack and Julie lived aboard a boat in Ventura Harbor for many years. Before that, Jack was a liveaboard cruising sailor who traveled all over the world, literally. He says Ventura Harbor is the best place on earth to live aboard a sailboat. Our experiences were drastically different; as cruisers, we found Ventura to be less than hospitable. Someday maybe we’ll write about our underwhelming, disappointing Ventura, California adventures. For now, let it speak volumes that we haven’t bothered to post any pages on the topic of Ventura, California travel.

These are just a few of the places we’ve enjoyed traveling in California. We wish you happy travels too, and we hope you’ll enjoy the time you spend traveling in the spectacular state of California, USA.

This page was last updated on 4-26-2019.