Descanso Beach
Avalon · Catalina Island · California
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Updated 11:15 PM PT today · September 11, 2026The clarity holds through the day, with a light afternoon onshore the only disturbance to the entry shallows.
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33.351° N · 118.328° W
Avalon, CA 90704
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Open in Apple MapsAbout Descanso Beach
Descanso Beach is a small sandy crescent north of the Catalina Casino, a short walk from the Avalon ferry terminal. The Descanso Beach Club rents cabanas, runs a bar, and operates a zip line out of the canyon behind the sand, and the beach itself stays free public access. Small boats moor in the cove year-round. The water is shallow and calm enough for swimming families and waders, and most of the diving in the area happens around the corner at Casino Point Dive Park, five to ten minutes on foot.
Giant kelp grows on the rocky shelf just outside the cove, which makes Descanso Beach a kelp forest biome. The shape of the cove traps water inside it, so visibility tends to hold a day longer than the open coast on either side.
Parking on Catalina is essentially nonexistent. Most visitors arrive by ferry to Avalon and walk the quarter mile around the casino. Rod-and-reel fishing is legal here, but spearfishing is not, because City of Avalon Ordinance 303 prohibits spearfishing in city waters from Casino Point through Hamilton Cove.
Kelp Forest
The kelp forest biome is giant kelp anchored to rocky bottom and growing up through the water column. The canopy and stipes form a three-dimensional habitat that shelters fish, invertebrates, and the predators that hunt them. Learn more about this biome and the species found in it by clicking the link below.
Learn more in the Biome GlossaryTarget Fish Species
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Rocky Reef
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