Care for Catalina — Visit with a Light Footprint

Care for Catalina invites people to Visit Catalina Island while keeping their impact light. Protecting limited resources and reducing waste are essential to preserving lasting experiences for both visitors and residents.

The Care for Catalina Initiative

Established in 2019, Care for Catalina is guided by a vision of protecting Catalina Island, a distinctive destination that welcomes visitors from across the globe. The initiative promotes conservation and sustainability, seeks to reduce human impacts, and works to safeguard the environment so future generations can continue enjoying the island. In collaboration with community and statewide partners, Care for Catalina is helping create a stronger standard for sustainability and a healthier environment for everyone.

Travelers are encouraged to Visit Catalina Island with a light footprint. Limiting waste and conserving precious resources is especially important on Catalina Island, where the long-term experience of visitors and residents depends on responsible choices.

In 2024, Care for Catalina became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization governed by the board of Love Catalina Island. The organization’s nonprofit Bylaws are available for review.

Current Sustainability Work

Care for Catalina continues to develop as a community sustainability effort. In May of 2025, the organization completed a Sustainable Tourism Plan with Pepperdine University. The plan illustrates Care for Catalina’s objectives and goals, builds awareness of current challenges, and identifies practical steps toward a balanced, sustainable tourism model.

The Catalina Island Conservancy oversees nearly 90 percent of Catalina’s majestic landscape. For its extensive trail work and efforts to make the infrastructure under its control greener, among many other activities, the organization was honored as CalTravel's Tourism Steward of the year for 2018/19.

Care for Catalina also collaborates with the Catalina Island Marine Protection Area's collaborative to communicate where boating and fishing are permitted around the island. A map of Catalina's Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is available.

Most local fishing boats and seafood restaurants support sustainable fishing practices. Love Catalina Island Tourism Authority, is a proud member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

Care for Catalina is an evolving program, with additions and changes made over time.

Ways Visitors Can Help

One effective way to reduce visitor impact is to explore less-visited locations or travel during off-peak days and times of year. July is the busiest month of the year, while Saturdays bring the highest number of guests arriving on the island.

For help organizing a low-impact trip, contact the Catalina Island Visitor Center. Suggestions and comments based on island experiences are welcome. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council also provides information about how and why to travel responsibly.

The Care for Catalina Promise

• Leave places as you found them—or improve them.
• Carry in what you bring and carry it out again. Put litter, crumbs, peels, and cores into the nearest waste or recycling bin. Anything brought to the island should return home with you.
• Show respect for every living thing. Carving or cutting plants and trees can kill or permanently disfigure them.
• Take plastic beach toys home with you. Deflate them before departing to preserve comfort and space for fellow travelers.
• Leave plants, rocks, and historical items in place so others can share the experience of discovery.
• Photograph any of the 400 native plants and 200 non-native plant species rather than removing or damaging them. A camera can preserve the memory forever.
• Join Voluntourism opportunities such as beach clean-ups, harbor clean-ups, group volunteer programs with the Catalina Island Conservancy, and other activities. Voluntourism can also serve as a group project before or after an island meeting or event.
• Avoid plastics whenever possible. Plastics are the top ocean pollutant and are extremely harmful to ocean species.
• If you encounter a sick or injured wild animal, contact the appropriate agency. Report sick or injured marine animals to 800-399-4253 and land animals to 310-510-0393.

Protect Catalina’s Natural Resources

• Declining a linen change during a Hotel or Bed & Breakfast stay saves over 17 gallons of water and lowers the use of fossil fuels and cleaning chemicals.
• Make Short Showers standard wherever you travel, and especially on Catalina Island, where water depends on mother nature or costly desalinization systems.
• Avoid sunscreens with high content of Titanium Dioxide. This mineral does not biodegrade and is found to react in warm seawater to form hydrogen peroxide which is harmful to all sea life. Oxybenzone and octinoxate, the two chemicals recently banned in Hawaii and are believed to cause coral bleaching.
• Keep yourself, your dog, and anything else needing a wash at least 200 feet from waterways. Use biodegradable soap.

Protect Marine Life: Boater Guidance

• Never discharge raw sewage into the waters surrounding the island.*
• Use public toilets onshore.
• Dispose of holding tank waste at pump out facilities in Catalina Harbor or Two Harbors.
• Keep the “Y” valve secured correctly and closed while navigating around the island to prevent accidental discharge.
• Fill fuel tanks carefully and do not top them off.
• Check fuel lines and hoses regularly, replacing them when necessary.
• Do not hose down gasoline spills or use detergents or soaps on them.
• Maintain clean bilges. Do not use detergents during cleaning.
• Never throw trash overboard.
• Keep plastic bags, drink cans, and other loose items from blowing overboard.
• Sort all trash. During the summer, a trash pick-up vessel named “The Salad Boat," serves all leeside coves. Returning trash to the mainland is greatly appreciated.

Avalon Harbor Dept. discharge ordinance *Discharges of untreated sewage are prohibited within the navigable waters of the U.S. Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.1321 et seq.)

Hiking, Camping, and Biking

Pack Light and Pack Properly

Bring reusable water bottles or hot drink tumblers to reduce waste and stay hydrated without creating plastic waste. Avalon’s free water bottle filling stations and additional options in campgrounds in the Island’s interior are identified on a map.

Every ounce affects the fuel used by the boats, planes, and helicopters transporting guests to and from the island. Coordinate packing with fellow travelers so supplies are not duplicated. Keep the combined weight of carry-ons to 50lbs or less. Avalon’s stores and restaurants provide most of what is available on the mainland, so food and supplies generally do not need to be packed unless they are highly specialized items.

Remain on the Trail

Shortcuts may seem appealing, but staying on the established route protects plants and the homes of Catalina’s true locals.

The island offers 165 miles of marked trails, eight designated campsites, and 17 boat-in campsites, so there is no need to travel beyond those areas. Stay within these locations and camp at least 200 feet from lakes and streams to help keep natural areas intact.

Use Fire Safely

Check fire restrictions before starting a fire.

Cool island breezes do not eliminate the danger created by summer heat and dry conditions. Keep campfires small and manageable to help prevent wildfires, and build them only in designated locations.

A fire must never burn unattended. Extinguish it with water until the embers can be handled.

Smoke carefully. Put cigarettes out completely and take cigarette butts with you. Smoking is not allowed on Avalon’s beaches.

Keep Wildlife Wild

More than 60 plant and animal species found on Catalina Island exist nowhere else in the world. Encounters are possible, but people should not approach these species for the safety of both wildlife and visitors.

Feeding wild animals is harmful rather than adorable. It can change their natural behavior, expose them to predators, or even lead to euthanasia.

On dog-friendly trails, keep pets leashed and carry their waste all the way to a trash can. Dogs are not allowed on Avalon’s waterfront beaches or along Crescent Avenue, although other pet-friendly locations are available.

Share Trails, Camps, and Beaches Considerately

Choose JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) by silencing your cell phone before entering nature and speaking quietly without using the speaker function.

Rather than concentrating on people-watching, consider exploring lesser-known paths and sites.

When passing others on trails, be considerate and yield to uphill hikers and bikers, who need to maintain their momentum.

Let nature be heard. Keep voices and music quiet so everyone can enjoy the peace of Catalina Island.

Community-Based Actions

Care for Catalina addresses more than responsible visits; it also supports residents in caring for the island.

Community-wide clean-ups take place monthly. Upcoming community clean-up days are listed on the calendar.

Care for Catalina also conducted a study of how visitors and locals are placing demands on island infrastructure. The findings determined that infrastructure meets demand on all but a handful of days per year.

In partnership with SMG, the organization implemented a resident and business sentiment survey. It examined how both groups perceive the effects of visitors on the island and separated differences in those impressions among homeowners, vacation homeowners, business owners, renters, and others.

Care for Catalina Partners

The following organizations partner with Care for Catalina to improve the sustainability of the Island:

• Avalon Beautiful
• City of Avalon
• Bleu World (Community Clean-ups)
• Bluewater Avalon (Sustainable Seafood)
• CalTravel Sustainability & Stewardship Committee
• Catalina Courtyard Suites
• Catalina Divers Supply (Underwater clean-ups)
• Catalina Express
• Catalina Island Marine Protection Areas
• Catalina Island Conservancy
• Catalina Island Marine Animal Rescue
• Catalina Island Company
• CatBev
• Pepperdine University Service Leadership Program
• Rotary Club of Avalon
• Scuba by Design — Learn about Kelp Forest Conservation and become a Citizen Scientist for the day.
• Visit California
• Wetspots Rentals
• Wrigley Institute (research and sustainability center located at Two Harbors on Catalina Island)