San Pedro is one of four places (Long Beach, Redondo Beach and Newport Beach on The Southern Coast are the others) from which ferries make an hour-long crossing to Catalina Island. The ferries put ashore within walking distance of Catalina’s only town, Avalon (population 2,000), which is filled with whimsical architecture and locals getting about on bicycles and electrically-powered buggies – the cost of shipping cars to and from the mainland is prohibitive.

On one side of Avalon, the art deco Avalon Casino (http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/activities-adventures/catalina-casino) is a reminder of William Wrigley Jr.’s (Wrigley effectively purchased control of the island in 1919) successful attempt to bring mainlanders to Catalina with the promise of gambling. Guided tours of the former casino are fascinating – don’t miss the luscious art deco ballroom, where big bands serenaded revellers during the 1940s. Also very interesting is the adjoining Catalina Museum, which outlines the demise of the Gabrieleno Indians who occupied Catalina for 4,000 years before being forcibly relocated to the mainland by white fur-trappers.

Outside Avalon, Catalina is free of development and retains the wild appearance which all of southern California had before it disappeared beneath freeways and suburbia. Catalina’s upkeep is funded by the Santa Catalina Conservancy, which has also enabled much of the island’s unique flora and fauna to survive. Some of the island’s wild flowers can be seen inside the Wrigley Botanical Gardens, 1400 Avalon Canyon Road.

To penetrate backcountry Catalina, you’ll need either to plan a lengthy hiking trip or to arrive on the first ferry of the day.