When you think of an airport, you often think of delays, waiting, annoying security checks, and being grumpy—not a fun place to go on your vacation—but at the Airport In The Sky, it’s a bit different. For one thing, it’s a small airport, without any commercial jets. In fact, if you want to fly in you’ll probably need to own or hire a private plane.

There’s more to the airport than just landing and taking off though, and those other things are what makes the Airport In The Sky such a great place. Each month the Catalina Aero Club hosts a fly-in, which is a fun chance to see a variety of planes, including some historic ones, and talk with pilots & flying enthusiasts. DC-3 Gifts & Grill is most splendid, and more than enough reason to visit the airport. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating, serves breakfast and lunch daily, with a menu including buffalo tacos, and some of the very best burgers you’ll ever taste. During the summer, join them for a barbeque. At the shop you’ll find commemorative clothing, knick-knacks, books about Catalina, buffalo jerky, and DC-3’s world famous chocolate chip cookies!

You can get up to the airport by a variety of different methods: hiking, bicycling, taking a shuttle bus, or some other tour vehicle. It’s a little over nine miles to the airport from both Avalon and Twin Harbors, which would be a fairly long walk. Some people recommend taking a ride to the airport, and then hiking around up there, as you are given a spectacular view of the land from up on the highest point.

One other highlight of the airport that you mustn’t miss is the Nature Center. The exhibits there educate about the Island’s ecology and history. There is a history timeline, with life-sized cutouts of the sorts of people that have lived on the island throughout its long history, from the native Tongva people, to cowboys, and beyond. There is a giant wildlife mural by Eve Templeton, and an impressive 40′ x 28′ tile map of Catalina Island.

The Airport In The Sky is a fun place with a variety of attractions, ranging from food to airplanes, to hiking. If you like any of those things, you’ll definitely enjoy a visit.

There are three main outfits that offer glass-bottomed boat tours:

CatalinaTours.net has 45 minute long tours every day of the week save for Tuesday. Guides aid you in identifying the different types of fish, and you can feed the fish for an additional charge. Tickets are $21.95 for adults & $16.95 for children. There is an additional $6.95 processing fee per order. Reservations must be made at least 48 hours in advance.

CatalinaAdventureTours.com offers a tour that is also lasts 45 minutes, and has similar perks. Tours happen daily, and cost $18 for adults, and $14 for children. Register online, and get $2 off each ticket (reservations must be made 24 hours in advance).

VisitCatalinaIsland.com has 40 minute tours at 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm every day, year-round. Adults are $15, children are $13. Not only do they have incredible prices, they also offer an experience like no other: night trips. With advanced registration you can charter a ride that will let you tour the sea during the night, with the aid of underwater lighting. Different fish swim around at different times of day, so the night tour will give you a completely different experience. For more information, you can call them at 800-626-1496.

For $25, you can rent a glass-bottomed kayak from CatalinaKayaks.com, and see the swarms of fish in peace and quiet, all by yourself.

No matter which route you take, you shouldn’t be disappointed, as you have a fun experience like you’ve never done before.

By the 1830s, the entirety of the island’s population had died from diseases bought by the Spanish colonists, or gone to work for the California missions, or as ranch hands on the mainland. The island became a major smuggling point and hideaway for pirates, with its many hidden coves and its proximity to the California mainland. China Point, on the southwestern side of the island, received its name from being a smuggling depot for illegal Chinese immigrants.

In 1854, Catalina Island experienced a gold rush, thanks to three Otter hunters. George Yount and Samuel Prentiss had been searching for 30 years for some buried gold treasure that was supposedly on the island. They both died in 1854, but not before finding a promising sample. News of this finding brought in Stephen Bouchette, who staked a claim, and raised $10,000 in funding after stating that he’d found a rich vein of gold. These funds were used to dig tunnels that stretched over 800 feet, although some people claimed that instead of searching for gold, he was attempting to find the buried treasure. In 1874 he and his wife loaded their things onto a sailboat and left the island, never to be heard from again. No one has been able to determine whether he did eventually find the treasure, or simply gave up in despair. Stephen was not alone in searching for gold however, and by 1863 as many as 70 miners were scouring the island for shiny metal. In 1864 the Union Army shut down the island, evicting all of the miners, and foiling the plans of Confederate sympathisers to outfit privateers. The oldest building on the island is the Union soldiers’ barracks, which is now the building for the Isthmus Yacht Club.

As the 19th century was coming to a close, and America was making strides forward in science, manufacturing, and technology, and becoming a wealthier nation, tourism began to flourish. George Shatto saw that Catalina Island could make an excellent tourism spot, and proceeded to buy the island for $200,000. He started the settlement that was to become the town of Avalon, and built the island’s first hotel—the Hotel Metropole. Unfortunately, Shatto wasn’t able to make enough of a profit early on, and ended up defaulting on his loan. In 1891 the island was once again bought for the purpose of tourism, this time by the Banning brothers, sons of American businessman Phineas Banning. The Bannings had better luck, and developed Avalon into a proper resort community, made roads into the island’s interior for stagecoach tours and access to hunting lodges. The new roads also enabled tourists to get to Descanso Beach, Lover’s Cove, and other locations, from the town of Avalon.

In 1915 disaster struck, and a fire on the island destroyed half of the island’s buildings. A combination of the debt incurred during rebuilding, and a decline in tourism as a result of The Great War forced the Banning brothers to sell the island in 1919. This is when William Wrigley Jr., the great chewing-gum magnate, took possession of the island. It’s thanks in large part to him, his wife Ada, and son Philip, that the island is what it is today. They invested millions of dollars into infrastructure for the island, and constructed the Catalina Casino, one of the island’s greatest attractions. Once the island was developed as a fantastic place for tourists, the next step was to get the tourists to actually come. Wrigley did this with a number of public spectacles, like bringing the Chicago Cubs (who he happened to own) to the island for their spring training in 1921 (with the tradition continued until 1951). He also held an ocean marathon, awarding the first person to swim between the mainland and Catalina Island.

During World War II, the island was shut down for tourists, and used as a training location for the military. Since the close of the war, the island has continued to be a beautiful and engaging place for a vacation—or even just a fun weekend, with a fairly temperate climate, great beaches, and an abundance of great activities and attractions.

Around the memorial lies 38 acres of botanical gardens,  with a broad array of different species & varieties, and a special emphasis on plants endemic to the California isles—those found nowhere else in the world. These include such plants as Catalina Live-Forever, St. Catherine’s Lace, and Catalina Mahogany, among others. The Desert Plant Collection is the oldest on the island, and was established by Ada Wrigley herself. The garden is a great attraction on its own, but it is also the beginning of the Garden to Sky hike.

You can get to the gardens by a 30-minute walk from downtown Avalon, or take a golf cart or bicycle, or ride the Catalina Trolley. You can visit the garden any time from 8 am–5 pm, except for on major holidays. Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for children. Click here for more information.