Island Maps

Side 1 features accurate shaded relief of the Island, with its surrounding waters depicted in descending hues of ocean blues to indicate depth contours. Shaded relief accuracy is from USGS digital elevation models, as interpreted by ArcView, a geographic computer program from ESRI.  The ocean depth contours are a direct trace of the local NOAA charts. Catalina Island’s miles of dirt roads are shown in the island interior and along its coast, with mileages indicated.  All of the main roads can be driven, hiked or mountain biked.  These roads include Old Stage Road (which becomes Airport Road in the middle of the Catalina Island), Middle Ranch Road (which leads to El Rancho Escondido, where equestrian shows can be watched), Escondido Rd., Two Harbors Roads and West End Road.  Also shown are the lesser roads, which are more than just trails, but which the Santa Catalina Island Company forbids mountain biking for safety and insurance reasons.  However, hiking is permitted just about everywhere at Catalina.  Catalina’s major peaks, names of valley’s, points, beaches, and other island features are shown.  Over 70 dive sites are located and briefly described so that the scuba diver or free diver has an excellent reference.  The list is long, but it includes famous sites such as Avalon Underwater Park, The wrecks of the Sue-Jac and the Valiant, Toyon Bay, Torqua Springs, Henrock Reef, Long Point, Italian Gardens (where you’ll likely see giant sea bass), Ripper’s Cove, Rock Quarry, Sea Fan Grotto, Bird Rock, Ship Rock, Eagle Reef, Indian Rocks, and Johnson’s Landing.  The windward side includes the famous and fabulous Farnsworth Banks, as well as less-visited sites like Pin Rock, Little Harbor, Lobster Bay, and Iron-Bound Cove.  If you have a boat and want to moor it at Catalina, this map shows every mooring area around the island.  If you want to do some boat-in camping at Catalina Island, that is there too.  So is the general camping at Catalina Island’s five campgrounds.

Side 2 shows details of Avalon including roads, trails, camping, hotels, beaches, dive spots (Avalon Underwater Park and Lover’s Cove), tours and The Casino.  Avalon’s famous Green Pleasure Pier is shown jutting out into Avalon Bay, where the location of the moorings, boat terminals, Casino Point, the Cabrillo Mole, and every swim area are shown.  The exact location for every hotel in Avalon are shown and numerically listed.  Two Harbors detail shows the local dirt roads and trails, dive sites including favorites such as Ship Rock and Bird Rock, where to kayak, the Two Harbors Campground, and the popular Boy Scout Camp at Cherry Cove.  Beside the full list of hotels found on Catalina Island, there is also a full list of transportation options to the island, as well as on the island, dive and ocean recreation services on the island, and a favorite feature: Kelp Forest Creatures.