Via Casino Catalina Island
The Casino Point Underwater Park is located next to the world-famous Casino Building. First established in 1962, this park is the first nonprofit underwater park in the country (and maybe the world), and offers the best shore diving in California! To make entry and exit in and out of the water as easy as possible, there are cement stairs with handrails. The Park is about 2.5 acres in size, which means it is large enough to do several dives without traversing over the same areas. The Park’s boundaries are clearly marked with a line of buoys to keep boats and divers away from one another. The diverse under-sea world at the Underwater Park offers both beginner and expert divers a dive experience like no other area
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Scuba diving and snorkeling enthusiasts who come to enjoy clear waters and abundant sea life find it free of mainland pollution and surf. The depth ranges from the rocky shoreline to 95 feet deep. Primarily the park consists of the fastest growing plant in the world, Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera).
The park's bottom contour reveals rock walls and outcroppings, boulders, pinnacles and a sandy seafloor on its outer edges, which is truly representative of Catalina Island's different characteristics.
Water temperature ranges from 70-74 degrees in the summer to 55-59 degrees in winter, with September to mid-October being the warmest. It’s not uncommon to enjoy 100’ visibility in the late summer to early fall.
- Title: Via Casino archway on Santa Catalina Island, a rocky island off the coast of California Creator(s): Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer Date Created/Published: 2013 May. Medium: 1 photograph: digital, tiff file, color.
- Book your tickets online for Catalina Island Casino, Avalon: See 865 reviews, articles, and 494 photos of Catalina Island Casino, ranked No.2 on Tripadvisor among 16 attractions in Avalon.
- The island of Catalina, off the coast of Southern California, has been a popular spot for weekend adventures for over a century. The iconic building, known as the casino, is one of the island’s most well known landmarks. The casino is not a casino in the traditional sense with gambling and such, but a gathering.
- The Casino Point Underwater Park is located next to the world-famous Casino Building. First established in 1962, this park is the first nonprofit underwater park in the country (and maybe the world), and offers the best shore diving in California!
Because of strict local laws prohibiting taking of game or salvaging artifacts, the park has become a home for a large variety of marine life. Plant life of all colors abounds, from the Giant kelp to the smallest algae. Living within the rocky reef are lobsters, abalone, octopus, small fish and moray eels, including our friendly 'Fang'. Numerous mollusks and nudibranchs also make their homes on the reef.
Swimming freely in the kelp forest are Kelp bass, Senorita fish, Sheephead, Opaleye, Blacksmith and our state marine fish, the Garibaldi. Where the rocky reef ends, the sandy bottom begins. Scuba divers may find angel sharks, bat rays, banded guitar fish and halibut. Numerous wrecks are also found in the sandy areas, which have become home to many types of marine life.
Casino Point has become a mecca to scuba divers and snorkelers worldwide.
Catalina Island Art - Avalon California, Via Casino Arch, Oversized Wall Art, Coastal Home Decor, Photography Prints, Black and White Art PaulVelgos From shop PaulVelgos.
For nearly 100 years, the Catalina Casino has greeted island visitors, the magnificent architectural marvel providing a dramatic welcome to Avalon Harbor. Home to a theatre and a ballroom, the building is an integral part of the island experience.
The Catalina Casino is full of secrets
For many Catalina visitors, the most important secret to know about the Catalina Casino is that there’s no gambling inside that iconic building. Here are three others:
Via Casino Catalina Island Resort
The murals — the Avalon Theatre murals are masterpieces of art deco design that pay homage to the island and early California life. Deer leap, steeds charge and ships sail across the fanciful landscape that has intrigued generations. Those murals hide a number of secrets — one of which is the artists who painted it. Five monks are found on the left side of the mural; four of those monks’ faces were painted as self portraits by the artists. The fifth, whose face is hidden, represents John Gabriel Beckman, the renowned artist who designed the mural.
The seats — When the Catalina Casino was completed in 1929, it was the pinnacle of luxury. Designed to showcase the latest in movie technology, it also featured the latest in comforts and convenience. In the 1920s and 30s, no self-respecting gentleman would appear without his hat — and a place for that hat was essential while enjoying the movie. Beneath the seats of nearly every seat in the theatre was a hat shelf, the perfect place to hide your head gear. While the upholstery has been replaced several times, the hat shelves remain beneath the seats, a hidden testament to long ago fashion.
Some Catalina Casino secrets are hidden in the walls
Via Casino Catalina Island
The walls — Once the United States joined World War 2, the entire country took part in the war effort and Catalina Island was no exception. The resort destination was transformed into a military base, with several branches utilizing it for everything from lookout station to training base. Once the war ended, practical minds prevailed, and the war surplus left behind was catalogued and what could be used was turned into emergency supplies. Stashed in metal 55-gallon drums are first aid kits, blankets, cots and other supplies. Those drums are hidden in a secret space in the interior walls of the Casino, ready to be put to use if they are ever needed.
Want to learn more about the Catalina Casino and its many secrets? Book the Discover the Casino Tour or the Casino Behind the Scenes Tour.
Experience authentic Catalina with the help of our friendly island travel advisors.
Via Casino Catalina Island Hotel
