Twenty-two miles off the coast of Southern California Santa Catalina Island. The island is referred to simply Catalina Island, or just Catalina. It is isolated island with fewer than 5,000 residents, and of them live in its only incorporated city, . It is part of a group of islands the Channel Islands of California. The climate on island is typically Southern Californian with warm temperatures year round. Catalina Island has a rich history dates back to the 16th Century when Spanish visited the island. Archaeological evidence indicates that Native tribes occupied the island centuries before that. The had been a possession of Mexico, and eventually the United States.

There are two common ways get to the island today. Most people travel Catalina by boat from either Orange or Los County points. Helicopter rides are also available for daring travelers. The island today is a tourist that features island tours, sport fishing, scuba diving, , parasailing, and beachcombing. In past years, the island a hotspot for the Hollywood rich and famous. -bottom boat tours are available for those interested in the reef system or the shipwrecks in the . The underwater dive park is also a popular for visitors.

Catalina Island is also famous, or infamous, as the location where actress Natalie Wood in the waters off the island's coast. The death occurred more than 30 years ago while and her husband, actor Robert Wagner, were sailing yacht. Her death is still controversial today.