We took the kids to Catalina Island for the day. We enjoyed touring the island in a golf cart, went to the Wrigley(chewing gum) Mansion (I remember seeing olives growing), and did the semi-submersible boat ride to see Garibaldi fish. I think it would be more interesting than a glass bottom boat. The family still mentions, years later, the great number of fish we saw that day.
Ok, now the cons. The boat ride was a high speed ride causing one kid to turn green and almost lose breakfast. The restaurants were expensive, so we opted for lunch at a take-out place and ate on the pier.
We are glad we did it, but once was enough. You will see Catalina Island pictured on TV and the kids think it is cool that they have been there.
We also had brunch on and toured the Queen Mary which is docked at Long Beach, that was well worth the price.