This is an underrated and under-reviewed experience. On a practical level, it's transportation, but it's also a scenic byway across Catalina Island - probably than 1% of Catalina visitors ever journey across the Island by Safari Bus. The Safari Bus, which can be anything from an 8-passenger van to a "retired" school bus will take you on an approx. 2-hour journey between Avalon and Two Harbors (which is approx. 14 miles as the crow flies, but much longer via windy roads.) So a huge percentage (like 75% or more of the Island is owned by the Catalina Conservancy and is protected from new development. The Safari Bus is the only way I know that you can visit the "interior" (aka Conservancy property) without obtaining a permit (hikers and other can obtain permits for a modest fee in either Avalon or Two Harbors.) Some of the windy roads on the Island are hairpin turns with little or no road edge and no guardrail. Rest assured that your drivers are natives who could probably drive the road with their eyes closed (they don't) but if you have anyone really skittish about heights, put them in the middle seat :) Along your route, you are very likely to see the bison (non-native, but now so iconic that they remain, albeit on birth control :) and the native Catalina fox (very small and VERY cute.) Most of the vans/buses will not have A/C, and their shocks are pretty worn. The roads are just as worn, so be prepared for a pretty bumpy ride. You'll pretty much stay under 25 mph, though. The bus runs Avalon-Two Harbors approx. 1-4 times a day, with a lot of runs in the peak season (late June - Labor Day), and fewer in the shoulder season (spring/fall) and fewer still in winter. It's best to make reservations if it's critical to take the bus. In the summer, buses are regularly full and you might miss out. You can make reservations online through the Santa Catalina Island Company website (they operate most of the touristy things on the Island) or at the kiosk in Avalon, or the check-in office in Two Harbors. The website is (currently) weird. (many things on the Island are!) You have to book each leg separately. Know that the legs are 1) Avalon, 2) Blackjack/Airport, 3) Little Harbor and 4) Two Harbors (or the reverse if traveling the other direction) and you'll figure out which leg(s) to book. From Avalon, you ride about 45 minutes to the Catalina Airport. Blackjack campground is nearby - if there are campers to be picked up/dropped off, they'll stop here briefly, too (not very common, because Blackjack doesn't have much shade and is not close to the water. It's mostly a stopping point for those hiking the Trans Catalina Trail.) You don't usually take the same van/bus all the way. One van does the Avalon-Airport leg and another does the Airport-Two Harbors leg. You will disembark at the Airport and have a 20-30 minute wait for the next van. There's a counter service grill restaurant and a gift shop. If you want food, order it right away so that it's ready before you depart. There's some nice seating outside with a great view. The second van will take you from the Airport to Two Harbors and will usually stop at Little Harbor on the way. The second leg is about 30-45 minutes. Little Harbor is beautiful, remote beach camping on the west side of the Island (see my separate review.) Nothing but firewood and water can be obtained there, so the Safari Bus driver may stop in Little Harbor to pick up passengers, to drop something off to campers, or to take reservations from them (I don't think any cell phones work here.) Little Harbor is especially gorgeous after the Spring rains - it's lush and green and stunning. P.S. There's a separate service that will deliver kayaks and other gear to you in Little Harbor. Lastly, the Safari Bus has some limits on gear (I think it's two items per person, not including a small personal item.) In the summer, they are more likely to be strict about this due to sold-out trips. It's best to consolidate your gear as much as possible. Lastly, it's nice to tip your driver(s). Bring some cash for two drivers/each leg. Enjoy! read more

Safari Bus - One option between Avalon, the Airport, Blackjack, Little Harbor & Two Harbors (but if few riders, it's an airport shuttle van.) - Tours Near Me

We went to Catalina in early Feb. They don't have the tour that shows the bison, so we settled for the Safari tour. The information showed bison and fox...um, no. They are not active at this time of year so all we saw was the same view for two hours. There were some pretty locations, but not worth the $80 ticket. Add to it the fact that the vehicle is a converted military vehicle. The seats have no cushions and the road is rough. By the end of the tour my back and neck ached. And then there was the tour guide, who belched and coughed into the open mike and had no personality. Honestly a disappointment from all angles. read more

First of all, don't get fooled by the pictures on fliers and brochures! All colorful scenery and nice "enclosed" bus? Ha! You know... I should have known better as a Californian for more than 25 years. There is no such place in Southern California that is green at all! Let me start with bus. The day I visited, Nov 15th 2016, temperature hit above 90s in inland. In the Catalina Island, it was well above 85. I was expecting a tour bus with windows and nice cool AC as seen on their brochures. Instead, this bus without any windows arrived and I already knew this isn't going to be nice. Well... what the heck, my wife and I got on and up we go to the airport. Ride was ok, good thing it wasn't too hot but worse part is yet to come. As soon as we got on unpaved road, all the dust started to smolder in to bus. Are you freaking serious?! Maybe driver didn't care since all the dust was getting in to bus somewhere middle part to back of the bus. And the tour guide/driver... (that's another story) was talking to visitors as if that's nothing. To make short, I had dust piled on all over the body. Entire unpaved road, which is about 60% of the trip, I had to cover my nose with my jacket. Some part of the road, dust was so severe that I couldn't even open my eyes! And if there are any cars passes by or goes in front of the tour bus... it gets worse... The guide/driver. I forgot his name but he was African/American who seemed very enthusiastic. That's good... until certain point. For my personal view of a guide, a guide should be professional and of course it would be plus if a guide is also funny too! He was funny for the first 5 to 10 mins. After that his enthusiastic laughing started to annoy. I couldn't understand why he was laughing out of nowhere. And to you sir, I specifically talked to you regarding the bus that has windows. You said I will be cooked in that enclosed bus. I would have rather be cooked than breathing in all that dust! So... over 2 hours or so, all I got was dust, 2 buffalo and some view. Maybe it used to be more green during raining season. Oh yeah, one more thing about dust. So, after that day, we returned to home in inland. My wife showered and told me that there was this brown water running down while water was running down over her hair... Maybe I should have done the Zipline... -_- read more

Safari Bus - This is all I got after all the dust... priceless.. - Tours Near Me

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Have you ever been on any safari which you won't be able to see any wild animal. Total rip off. Don't waste your money!!! Just some ocean view and that's it. Boring tour. Just rent a golf cart which is 10 times better than this rip off tour!!! Guys believe me, don't get this tour!!!!! It is rip off!!!!! read more

We took the Skyline Bus Tour with Discovery Tours. The bus tour was great. We had an excellent but driver...so, I don't need to use the name Paul. I think his name was Steve. He is an excellent driver. I wish we could have spent more time at the airport. We barely had a snack and then it was time to go. We had a nice cashier at the store. He said it was a beautiful drive to work up the mountain everyday instead of highway traffic. Great cookies!!! Great views throughout the entire tour...scary mountain roads, lol. read more

So far it has been a nightmare and we haven't been on the darn bus yet... we called and booked it by phone for the price of $115 for 2. They told us to go to mini golf place. We went there and the kid who I guess started yesterday said it isn't the case place. So we walked back to the beach again to info center and they said that isn't true and the golf place has the tickets. Bare in mind we have hiking and camping material so like 40-50 pound on our backs walking back and forth. The kid said that's odd and this isn't the place and we asked him if he can find out for us and he said he cant. His coworker walked in then and asked if we need help. Then she printed and handed us our tickets in 2 secs. Like if you are charging 100 bucks for a crappy bus ride, atleast train your staff?! read more

Vacation spoiler. No even a real safari. Go ahead if you want to waste $$$ and ride in bumpy bus for 2 hours to the airport and back. You'll see couple of buffalos if you're lucky. read more

The Safari Bus is the only motorized means of transporting you and your gear out of the booze soaked melee of Avalon and into the gorgeous tranquility of the Catalina "interior" to hike, camp, and beach on your own schedule. It runs from Avalon to Blackjack to Airport-in-the-Sky to Little Harbor to Two Harbors and back (with a bus change at the airport). But we had the darndest time trying to get tickets from Avalon to Little Harbor and back. The website made us book each leg of the trip separately, so we thought it would be easier to book by phone. First mistake. The website's phone number goes to a recording and then to the Hotel Atwater. However, no one at the Atwater could help us book tickets. They said we could buy tickets on midnight of the day we want to travel. So at MIDNIGHT we called and they said to call back at 6am. At 6am they said the bus was sold out!! WTF!! Trying to find a live person to help us was equally frustrating. The kiosk that says Safari Bus in the tour plaza was closed, and the lady at the Discovery Tours kiosk on the pier said she didn't know the bus route and couldn't help us because she didn't handle Safari bus ticket sales. What? Really?? The website says you do!! We had to track down the personal cell numbers of the bus operators before we could reserve tickets! To avoid this nightmare, just buy your tickets online or at, of all places, the mini golf kiosk (in tour plaza). You will need yellow print out tickets to board the bus. You can buy them in advance or day of - it seemed like there are usually a few seats still available for day-of arrivals even on the busier holiday weekends. The prices are steep though. I think we paid $65/person for our trip. If you run into trouble or have any questions, call this number for help: 310-510-4205. All that said, everything went smoothly on the day of our trip. The bus leaves from tour plaza. It sticks to the schedule-10am departure from Avalon, 4pm departure from Two Harbors (4:30 from Little Harbor). The drivers are great. They stopped for bison so folks could take pictures and answered our questions. Nahtia warned us that the ride from the airport to Little Harbor was dusty, bumpy, and twisty (which it is - you're in an old school bus on a dirt road after all), but I don't think anyone on the bus thought the ride was unpleasant. I saw two different drivers go the extra mile to make the backpacking/hiking experience just a little more pleasant for Safari bus riders. Great to know the Safari Bus has your back in the Catalina wilds. I just hope they get better signage and put more information on the website to guarantee a great adventure for all. read more

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!! The worst idea I may have ever had. They should just call it a site seeing tour. Better off renting a golf cart and checking out the inland on your own. Not worth over $300 that we paid. We took a big L on this one. read more