Two Harbors

Two Harbors is the other town on Catalina, a small village at the Isthmus on the west end of the island where the land narrows to about half a mile between Isthmus Cove on the front side and Cat Harbor on the back side. The year-round population is around 200. The village has one general store, the Harbor Reef restaurant, a dive shop, a campground, a small kayak rental, and a sailboat anchorage. Everything closes early. The Catalina Express runs a separate ferry line from San Pedro, the Safari Bus crosses the island from Avalon, and most Catalina locals reach the village by private boat.

Harbor Sands is the small white-sand swimming beach off the Isthmus Pier, where families and waders spend the day. Snorkeling inside the cove itself is poor, and most of the diving activity on this side of the island happens at the nearby offshore sites. Bird Rock, Blue Cavern Point, Eagle Reef, Sea Fan Grotto, and Ship Rock all sit within a short boat ride of the cove, and dive shops in Avalon and San Pedro run half-day charters to them with scuba gear. Visibility at these offshore sites tends to run cleaner than inside the cove because they are further from the harbor runoff.

Dense giant kelp grows along the edges of both harbors, which is a kelp forest biome. Isthmus Cove and Cat Harbor are both partially enclosed protected anchorages with the calm water and harbor character of a bay biome.

There are no roads in. Access is by Catalina Express ferry from San Pedro, by Safari Bus from Avalon, or by private boat. Once on the ground, the village is fully walkable. Fishing and spearfishing are legal under standard California regulations. The surrounding MPAs are close: Blue Cavern Onshore SMCA wraps the headland just east of Isthmus Cove and is no-take, and Arrow Point to Lion Head Point SMCA sits to the west. Position should be verified with a chartplotter before harvesting near the village.