About Catalina Adventure Tours
Catalina Adventure Tours is the premier tour operator in Avalon, running a diverse lineup of land and sea excursions that showcase the island's marine life, rugged interior, and rich history. Their fleet includes the semi-submersible Nautilus — modelled after America's first nuclear submarine — which cruises five feet below the surface through Lover's Cove marine preserve, giving every passenger their own porthole view of Garibaldi, bat rays, kelp forests, and moray eels in a climate-controlled cabin.
Beyond the Nautilus, the company operates glass-bottom boat voyages through Avalon Harbor, Safari Island Adventure tours into the interior highlands where bison herds roam, coastal eco-cruises along the island's dramatic sea cliffs and sea caves, and the popular Inside Adventure tour that explores the ornate art-deco interior of the Catalina Casino Building. Each excursion runs multiple daily departures from the Green Pier, and most last between forty-five minutes and two hours — making it easy to stack several experiences into a single day trip.
What makes Catalina Adventure Tours stand out is the sheer breadth of what they cover under one booking platform. A family can ride the submarine in the morning, take a bison safari after lunch, and catch a coastal eco-cruise at sunset — all from the same departure point. The guides are naturalists who weave conservation messaging into every trip, and the semi-sub in particular offers an underwater perspective that's accessible to guests of all ages and mobility levels who may not want to snorkel or dive.
