Ok, one day? Eesh, how early can you get there? The glass bottom boat is pretty cool, but the best run is the first one in the morning because the angle of the sun illuminates under the boat really well. You want to ride Ocean View or Sea View, dont ride the sub looking thing or the big paddlewheel, everything good is in the real shallow water where they cant get you. If you are going into Avalon, a way you can save yourself a couple bucks if you were planning on doing one of the bus tours anyway is to do the tour split and backwards and board it at the airport when you fly in in the morning and take the last one back to the airport in the evening. You can call Catalina Adventure Tours for ticks, IIRC the phone number is 310-510-0409. The Casino is interesting, superb acoustics and a cool pipe organ. Marlin Club used to have the best breakfast Bloody Mary's, but they changed ownership and cleaned the place and got rid of the dank and it was never quite the same. If you have time the Botanical Gardens at the top of town are ok. Wrigley ranch is ok too, hopefully Island Company has picked up some new vehicles by now lol, they were still running 60s vintage gear with converted horse trailers pulled by trucks as tour busses in the early 90s lol. They used to have a lot of nice Arabians. If you like, there are horses to rent at the stables behind Las Casitas where I used to live, golf course is there as well. Nine hole and not the finest, but not bad. The evening run up to the airport is the best because the Bison all come up to the road. If you don't want to do Avalon, there is also the Isthmus on the other side of the airport (the skinny low part on the right side of the island, aim for it as you approach Catalina, cross the island then left 180 to enter downwind. Watch the traffic off to your left. This is the standard approach for locals as it keeps you out of the fray and let's you see all the tourists.) The Isthmus is owned by the Bombard Family and is a much different feel than Avalon. Avalon is is a crowded party central that sees 12,000+ people in 1 square mile that contains (at least then) 27 liquor licenses, the highest density in the state if not nation. Cruise ships pull up, some days 2 of them along with a constant stream of passenger ferries out of the mainland. Then there are also 500+ yacht moorings that in the summer will all be taken and there will be another 300-500 boats at anchor. This is party boater crowd. The isthmus is is much more laid back with mostly the cruising boat people, there is also much less there although they have the dive chamber there if someone gets bent. Hiking is nice although a bit arduous due to steep terrain and somewhat hazardous wildlife. While the bison are intimidating, the hogs are ferocious. Plenty of rattle snakes and goats as well.
All in all it,s a pretty neat place, although we just passed the time of year when the island is at its prettiest. The week after rainy season ends in early march the island is lush and green with lots of wildflowers, unfortunately it only lasts a few weeks.
Enjoy your trip.
Oh, if you want to get her a piece of jewelry, walk up the hill in Avalon and after you get through the turn watch on the left. There was a guy there who made the most amazing jewelry, a true artisan. Not cheap, but worth it. He made these otters on a necklace that held a diamond like like it was an oyster it was eating on its stomach, that was one of my favorites.
