Two Harbors: a guide to Catalina’s quiet side

Avalon is the town. Two Harbors is the village: a narrow neck of land, about half a mile across, at Catalina’s west end, with a harbor on each side. Isthmus Cove faces the mainland; Catalina Harbor, everyone calls it Cat Harbor, faces the open Pacific. Between them are a pier, one restaurant, a general store, a dive shop, a lodge on the hill and a campground, and a couple of hundred people who live here year-round. It is about 13 miles from Avalon by sea and 22 by the island’s dirt roads, and it feels much farther.

Almost everything in the village is run by the Catalina Island Company, and almost all of it is cashless: bring a card or a phone that pays. There is a cash-to-card kiosk outside the general store if you only have bills.

Getting there

By ferry

Catalina Express sails to Two Harbors from San Pedro; it is the only mainland port with Two Harbors service. Some sailings go direct and some call at Avalon first, which adds over an hour. From mid-October through March there are no Two Harbors boats on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so plan around that. Live ferry times and fares →

From Avalon

• By boat: in the warmer months the Catalina Island Company runs an open-deck boat, the Cyclone, from Avalon’s Green Pleasure Pier to Two Harbors in about 40 minutes. It is seasonal, roughly late spring to early fall, and doesn’t run in winter.
• Over land: there is no scheduled bus between the two. The Conservancy’s Wildlands Express shuttle runs from Avalon to the Airport in the Sky and on to Little Harbor (reservations required), and Two Harbors is a hike of about five miles from there. Private shuttles and charters are the other option.
• On foot: the Trans-Catalina Trail runs from Avalon through Two Harbors to Parsons Landing, 38.5 miles in all, with campgrounds along the way. A free hiking permit is required.

By your own boat

The Two Harbors Harbor Department manages more than 700 moorings across a dozen coves, from Isthmus Cove and Cat Harbor to Fourth of July Cove, Cherry Cove, Howland’s Landing and Emerald Bay. Most are rented first come, first served when the owner isn’t using them: call Harbor Patrol on VHF channel 9 when you arrive. Weekend moorings can also be reserved online, with bookings opening each Thursday. The shore boat runs year-round in the main coves; hail it on channel 9.

Where to stay

• Banning House Lodge: the Banning brothers, who owned the island at the time, built this Craftsman house on the hill above the village in 1910. It is now a bed and breakfast of about a dozen rooms with views over both harbors, continental breakfast, an evening wine and cheese hour and a van down to the village. Two villas next door sleep up to eight. Weekends have a two-night minimum.
• Two Harbors Campground: on a bluff about a quarter mile from the pier, open year-round, with tent sites, tent cabins with cots, fire rings and cold outdoor showers. No pets.
• Parsons Landing: eight primitive sites on a beach at the end of the Trans-Catalina Trail, about 6½ miles from the village over the hills or 8 along the coast road. There is no drinking water: pick up the key to the water-and-firewood locker at Two Harbors Visitor Services.
• Little Harbor: on the island’s wild back side, a hike from Two Harbors or a stop on the Wildlands Express. Sunset magazine called it one of the best campgrounds in the West.
• Boat-in sites: a handful of primitive sites along the leeward coast for kayakers and boaters, with no water or toilets.

Campsites for the whole year open for booking on January 5 through the Catalina Island Company, and summer weekends go fast. Every campground on the island →

Eat and drink

• Harbor Reef Restaurant: the village’s sit-down dinner: burgers, steaks and ribs, with a patio over Isthmus Cove. In summer, when the swordfish flag flies on the pier, there’s line-caught swordfish.
• Harbor Reef Saloon: home of Buffalo Milk, the island’s signature drink, a creamy, boozy cousin of the White Russian. It was invented here by a bartender back when the place was called Doug’s. DJs play the patio on summer weekends.
• West End Galley: grab-and-go breakfast and lunch.
• Harbor Sands: palapas and lounge chairs on the beach at Isthmus Cove, in season.
• Two Harbors General Store: groceries, beer and wine, ice, firewood, camp fuel, fishing gear and pizza, and the place to stock up before a hike.

What to do

• Get on the water: the Two Harbors Dive & Recreation Center rents kayaks, paddleboards, snorkel and scuba gear and bikes. Paddle along the coast toward Blue Cavern Point and the coves to the east.
• Snorkel and dive: the shoreline east of the village is the Blue Cavern marine reserve, where nothing may be taken. Kelp forests here can hold dozens of fish species, and visibility often tops 60 feet.
• Hike: climb the ridge above the village for both harbors at once, walk the flat road across the isthmus to Cat Harbor, or head out on the Trans-Catalina Trail. Get your free permit at Visitor Services, at the foot of the pier.
• Watch the sunset from the Harbor Reef patio, then the stars: there is very little light out here.

Two Harbors through the year

• June: Beach BBQ & Art Fest.
• July 3: Independence Day in Two Harbors, a day early, with a children’s festival, a dinghy parade and fireworks over Isthmus Cove. (Avalon’s fireworks are on the 4th; the two are never the same night.)
• July: Brew Fest. Labor Day weekend: the Jimmy Walker “Buffalo Chip” Toss.
• September: Wine Fest, which sells out, so buy early.
• Early October: Buccaneer Days, the village’s big pirate weekend (21 and over; moorings sell out).
• Holidays: Thanksgiving dinner and New Year’s Eve at the Harbor Reef.

A short history

People have lived on Catalina for at least 8,000 years; some of the oldest evidence comes from Little Harbor, just over the hill. In 1864, during the Civil War, Union soldiers came to the isthmus to survey the island and built barracks above the cove. The building still stands: since 1951 it has been the Isthmus Yacht Club (it isn’t open for tours).

The Banning brothers bought the island in 1891 and built their house here in 1910. Later the isthmus became a movie location, with parts of Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) filmed here, and in World War II the Coast Guard trained recruits on the isthmus. At Big Fisherman Cove, just east of the village, the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center has run research since 1965, along with the hyperbaric chamber that treats injured divers from all over Southern California. Island science →