If you don't want to read further this sums it up: Best time to be had on Catalina Island. I surprised my girl with a trip to Catalina on her B-day, and decided for an overnight stay to be able to get more out of the island. Chip, 3rd generation islander and owner of Wet Spot rentals took us on... More

My wife and I are seasoned world travellors and seldom go on arranged tours because the "cookie-cutter/one trip fits all" approach just isn't for us. Normally, after some advance research, we land in a location, grab the public transportation and get out and explore. Realistically, that is a bit hard to do on Catalina for several reasons: some roads have... More

Wanted to do something different after about 10 visits to Catalina. We found it in the Catalina Island Outback Tour & Beach Picnic. Lifelong Catalina resident and owner Chip Upton took us on this tour and regaled us with so many interesting stories about the island, its residents, history, geology, and biology I wished there was a book I could... More

We took a 3 hr. ride across Catalina with Chip our guide. He was incredably informative, polite, helpful & funny. We had a great day & got beautiful pictures. He let us stop anywhere we wanted & patienly waited while we took dozens of pictures. It was so beneficial to be with someone who lived there his whole life. We... More

My husband and I signed up for the 3-hour back country tour as we were interested in seeing the "real" Catalina, but were not interested in kayaking or beach activities. As it turned out, we were the only ones who signed up, so we had a private tour with the owner, Chip. He is a 3rd-generation Catalinian, and was not... More

This tour was the BEST part of our 4-day trip to Catalina Island over Memorial Weekend. Our group consisted of two families that included 4 children btw the ages of 10-13. (I won't mention the ages of the adults!) This tour showed us many different parts of the island and the owner/tour guide - Chip - was AWESOME at telling... More

Great family owned business. The service is perfect. I highly recommend the guided day trip to the other side of the island with owner Mike (Chip) Upton. The tour is called the Outback Tour, and Chip personalizes the tour by talking about growing up on the island, by stopping numerous times, to see the bison, to see a fox, eagles,... More

The tour was phenomenal! Best way to see the island, through the eyes of a local. Our pre-teens couldn't get enough of Chip's "lord of the flies" stories. Worth every penny! Up close with buffalo, eagles, airport in the sky, photo ops at every turn. Our Kids aged 9 to 13 had an absolute blast. More

We rented from these guys and had an okay time but we should have been told about the weather. We got soaked and really had no business going out in the bay. Good outfit though and we will try it again in less than gale force winds! More