United StatesIsland
Santa Catalina Island
194 km² rising to 648 m out of the Pacific Ocean.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
194km²
Area
105km
Coastline
648m
Highest point
Mount Orizaba
4,096
People
20°C
Warmest sea
August
25km
To the mainland
When to go to Santa Catalina Island
Best for the beach from July to September.
The sea is warmest in August (20 °C) and coolest in February (15 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in Los Angeles County, California, United States
Santa Catalina Island is an island in United States. It covers 194 km², with 105 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Orizaba, rises to 648 m. About 4,096 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 25 km away.
Getting there
- Long Beach International Airport (LGB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 54 km in a straight lineCar hire at LGB airport (Long Beach)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesLong Beach - Avalon, Dana Point - Avalon, Avalon - Two Harbors, Long Beach - Two Harbors
- 25 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From July to Septemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Santa Catalina Island.
- 66beachesMiddle Beach, Descanso Beach, Lorenzo Beach and 63 more
- 7viewpointsLone Tree Point and 6 more
- 3ferry terminalsCabrillo Mole Terminal
- 23named peaksMount Orizaba, Black Jack Mountain, Silver Peak and 20 more
- 1ruins and archaeological sites
- 3dive centresRon Moore's Dive Catalina, Kelp Forest, Catalina Divers Supply & Snorkeling
- 2waymarked walking routesTrans-Catalina Trail, Garden to Sky Trail
- 38campsitesWillow Cove, Italian Gardens, Ben Weston Beach and 35 more
- 26hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 29restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Santa Catalina Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Santa Catalina Island, each with its own numbers.
12beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
20.6°C
Bannings Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
12 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Bannings Beach20.6°C
- Gallagher Beach20.6°C
- Hamilton Beach20.6°C
- Ben Weston Beach20.6°C
- Button Shell Beach20.6°C
- Empire Landing20.6°C
- Johnsons Landing20.4°C
- Lorenzo Beach20.4°C
4 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 246 m above the sea. 38 % of it is below 200 m.
- 8 %0–50 m
- 30 %50–200 m
- 61 %200–500 m
- <1 %500–1,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
20 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Avalon3,799 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 17 |
| Night low (°C) | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 13 |
| Sea (°C) | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 16 |
| Rain (mm) | 68 | 73 | 35 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 26 | 64 |
| Wet days | 6 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Sun h/day | 6.7 | 7.4 | 8.4 | 9.7 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 9.3 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 6.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +1.5 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +1.9 | −0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2021 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.4 | +0.5 | +0.4 | −0.2 | +0.6 | +0.2 | −0.3 | −0.7 | −0.3 | −0.1 |
| 2022 | −0.1 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.1 | +1.0 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +2.4 | +1.4 | ±0.0 | +0.1 |
| 2023 | −0.3 | −0.8 | −1.0 | −0.8 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +1.0 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +0.3 | −0.4 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.1 | −0.4 | −0.9 | −0.3 |
| 2025 | −0.5 | −0.8 | −1.0 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +1.6 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q845229) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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