Catalina Express

Catalina Channel Express is a passenger ferry service that operates scheduled passenger service between Avalon and Two Harbors on Santa Catalina Island and San Pedro, Long Beach and Dana Point on the California mainland. The service was founded in 1981 with one sixty-passenger retrofitted vessel to make the channel crossing between the mainland and Catalina Island in about an hour and fifteen minutes, with 2 departures daily. The current fleet now includes eight high-speed vessels that make the channel crossing in under an hour, with multiple trips daily. Catalina Express controls ninety-five percent of passenger and freight traffic to and from the island when including its sister company, Avalon Freight Services.

Background

Catalina Express has various ports that are located in Long Beach, San Pedro, and Dana Point, and vessels depart from all to the Avalon,Two Harbors and many Ports on Santa Catalina Island.[1] Catalina Express runs throughout the entire year, and runs up to thirty trips a day in peak season. The ferry service transports over one million passengers each year,and over 17 million in their first thirty years. The company has reported it has transported over 25 million passengers as of August 2015. Catalina Express celebrated thirty-five years of service in July 2016, being founded in the year of 1981. The founders of this company include Doug Bombard, Greg Bombard, and Tom Rutter. The most popular port of departure is the Downtown Long Beach Landing, offering the most trips daily. The San Pedro Terminal underwent renovations in 2012, and is the only port to offer daily service to Two Harbors. On April 1st, 2016, Catalina Express and Harley Marine began operating the new sister company, Avalon Freight Services from the Catalina Sea and Air terminal in San Pedro. Avalon Freight Services will run its service with the new self-propelled landing craft, the Catalina Provider, and the newly rebuilt tug, the Lucy Franco. Catalina Express also has a partnership with Long Beach Transit, operating the Aquabus and the Aqualink around the Long Beach Harbor and Alamitos Bay during the summer and holiday months.

The Fleet

The company began with only one vessel that held about 60 passengers, but now the company runs over eight high-speed vessels.[2]

Name Type Length (Feet) Capacity (Passengers) Top Speed (Knots) Crossing Time (Minutes) Built (Not the date it joined the fleet)
Catalina Jet Catamaran 144 450 37 60 1999
Starship Express Catamaran 134 300 37 60 1999
Jet Cat Express Catamaran 145 381 42 60 2001
Cat Express Catamaran 97 360 28 60 1987
Islander Express Monohull 97 149 32 60 1994
Catalina Express Monohull 97 149 32 60 1994
Super Express Monohull 95 149 32 60 1989
Avalon Express Monohull 95 149 32 60 1990

There is a bar and a snack bar on each ship as well as special commodore and captain lounges, depending on the vessel.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "How to get to Avalon, Catalina Island". Santa Catalina Island Company. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Catalina Express. Retrieved 26 September 2013.

External links


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