Catalina Island Behind the Scenes Casino Tour

Overview

Take a trip down memory lane to the days when bands were big and movies were just beginning to talk. The Catalina Casino epitomizes everything glamorous about Santa Catalina Island. You'll see the extraordinary Art Deco murals and a classic 1929 pipe organ inside the Avalon Theatre, which still shows nightly movies on its massive screen. A short film is shown highlighting the history of this iconic building and its Hollywood connection. This tour requires uphill walking inside the casino.

City: Catalina Island

Sun 23 Feb

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $37.45

Make a reservation

Sun 23 Feb

Starting at $37.45

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Professional guide

Additional Info

Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
A moderate amount of walking is involved, including climbing 8 ramps in a 12-story building, then descending the 8 ramps back to ground level.
Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a non-motorized wheelchair
Please check your email through Viator for your confirmation number and tour information

What To Expect

Catalina Island Casino

Tour areas of the Casino once closed to the public for over 70 years. Visit green rooms used by Errol Flynn and Cary Grant; see the room where Cecil B. DeMille screened his latest films; and stand on the stage where Benny Goodman became the King of Swing

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (10)

Mark_T

Nov 2022

The "Behind the Scenes Casino Tour" at the Catalina Island Casino is a unique blend of living history, music history, movie star anecdotes, and luxury life in the 1930s. My wife and I booked the longer Behind the Scenes Tour online three days prior. On previous trips to the island, we found that the tour was usually booked if you tried to purchase tickets at the door. This time we were successful and were there waiting first in line. A few minutes before tour time, a very dapper, polo shirted manager type person greeted both my wife and me by name! Wow! But he was obviously going to tell us bad news and he did. He told us 16 people had canceled (mostly for bad weather) and the remaining couple had not yet arrived. Expecting the worst, we held our breath, and instead, were treated to a big smile and the words..." but we are going to do the tour anyway!" Wow again! Sean Mcalpin is a very talented Personal Concierge for the Catalina Island Company and for our 90-minute tour he proved to be a charming, knowledgeable companion totally dedicated to promoting the wonders of this American Masterpiece of engineering and architectural innovation. Shawn is a bit of an explorer and curator as well as a businessman. He himself has discovered a literal treasure trove of paintings hidden in a previously undiscovered room within the casino. Sean continues to explore the many hidden places in this massive 12-story structure and regularly adds rare items to its tour collection. We could see he really loves this place. We were eventually joined by a couple just off the boat and he gave them a warm welcome and caught them up on the details they had missed. The behind-the-scenes tour included a few extra rooms for our benefit since we were able to move much more quickly than the normal 20-person tour group. We saw the upstairs Ladies' Room... full of mirrors and original period divans, not normally featured on the tour. The Ladies' Room is notable for being the most haunted part of the casino and will soon be featured on a TV episode of "Ghost Hunters", The Men's Room has an adjoining Shoe Shine Room in which John Wayne brawled with another unfriendly patron and having beaten him, picked him up, brushed him off, and bought him a drink at the bar down the hall! You can still smell the shoe shine polish in this beautifully tiled room. So if the Men's Room and the Lady's Room have this much unusual history, just think how much more the Art Deco Movie Theater or the 6,000-person capacity Ball Room with priceless ceiling Tiffany Lamps, hidden spy rooms, and perfect acoustics have to offer! (By the way, James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) proposed to Linda Hamilton (Terminator) in the middle of this ballroom, and you can do the same for $10,000 a night.) We took photos inside the casino and out on the circular colonnaded balcony overlooking Avalon Harbor. The sky was blue, the water azure and we could see LA and parts of San Diego from the same elevated viewpoint on this 12-story structure! Too much to tell here, but the Catalina Island Casino is obviously the pride of the Avalon community and a popular venue for many West Coast music and movie celebrity events. You'll never see anything like it anywhere else. Thank you Sean!

Linda_W

Aug 2022

Tour guide was very knowledgeable and personable. She brought the tour to life and made sure that we were able to see everything.

Dwight_S

Jun 2022

After many tries to see this Amazing building we not only did the normal tour but we going to do the behind the scenes tour that was more then amazing.