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Santa Catalina Island, California

It’s a 42-mile, 4-day hike across Catalina Island with beautiful tent camping spots on gorgeous beaches or hillsides! The beautiful Trans Catalina Trail off the California coast is a gorgeous hike and one of the best backpacking trips for beginners who are willing to do a little bit of hill training! Catalina Island is a perfect location for a backpacking and yoga retreat! The guided trip includes gorgeous beach camping spots, delicious, protein-filled, plant-based meals made with love, morning warmups, and evening yoga to help you stretch out and recover!

The best part about a gear haul service so you can hike with only a daypack! This also means that we get to bring more than just backpacking snacks. Chef Zach prepares gourmet, plant-based meals on the trail. You won’t go hungry on this backpacking retreat! Imagine veggie bowls, noodles, fresh fruits, fire-roasted tacos, and of course popcorn and s’mores. The Catalina Trail campsites often feature campfires, which is usually where the after dinner conversations linger.

This trip is for you if you want to go on a backpacking yoga retreat with a supportive group of people. Zach and Carrie hold the space, get the campsites, prepare the meals, and hire the truck. All you have to do is train, prepare, walk the trail, and bring your vibes! Our retreats are always drug and alcohol free, but definitely not boring. This retreat can challenge your fitness, so if you’re worried about being prepared for this hike, send us a message and we can give you some preparation tips!

The tour will take place on Santa Catalina Island, California, on the Trans-Catalina Trail. Have you always wanted to complete a through-hike? This is a great way to do it! During each hiking day we’ll get to enjoy incredible ocean views, local wildlife (foxes, buffalo, birds), and beautiful wildflowers. You’ll feel really “out there” and not have cell service for most of the trip. Disconnecting from technology, hiking, and yoga are all great ways to reconnect with your body and settle your nervous system!

Each day we’ll begin with a brief morning warmup to stretch out, feel our strength, and encourage each other. Every night at camp mindful, restorative and yin yoga to help with recovery is an option for whoever wants it!

Just like all of our retreats, this is a substance-free, recovery-supportive environment! Although you don’t have to be sober in real life to come on our retreat, you do need to be willing to take a break from any recreational substances throughout the entire retreat experience. We believe everyone is recovering from something, whether it’s addiction, stress, trauma, eating disorders, or just the disconnection of life in our busy, high-tech world. Bigger Life Adventures strives to create a safe and open space for vulnerability and openness about each and every healing journey. Our retreats don’t include formal recovery meetings, but our guests are always sharing and learning from each other as we all work to use the tools of yoga and community to become better and live bigger lives.

Distance: About 42 miles

Total elevation gain/loss: 9600 feet over the entire 4-day hike

Days of hiking: 4

Distance per day:

Day 1: Ferry to Avalon, hike Avalon to Black Jack – 13 miles

Day 2: Black Jack to Little Harbor – 9 miles

Day 3: Little Harbor to Parson’s Landing- 13 miles

Day 4: Parson’s Landing to Two Harbors – 7 miles

Day 5: Ferry back to San Pedro

Ferry tickets to and from Catalina Island
Campsites
Most meals, plant-based
Coffee, tea, and water
Group warm ups every morning
Daily deep stretch yoga and meditation after hiking each evening
Gear haul so you will only have to carry a daypack between campsites

Not included:
Tent, backpack, gear
Hiking snacks
2 lunches aren’t included. These can be purchased at the Airport Cafe and a cafe in Two Harbors along the way.

I LOVED this retreat ! The Catalina 9 ! The perfect mixture of challenge, acceptance, healthy food, yoga, adventure and a combination of experiences to replenish my body, mind and spirit !
-Linda, 2023

This hike was a ton of fun. It was an absolute challenge and I felt like I got a warrior badge and 10 new friends when I was done!!

The best thing was a sense of accomplishment by finishing the journey, (and feeling grittyand strong) but it was also the most bittersweet because that meant our time together was coming to an end. And as usual, sleeping by the ocean having just had a delicious meal from Zach — it’s pretty much the top of the world in experiences. 🌍
-Leslie, 2022

BLA are down to earth, real people where you feel free to be yourself, and I’ve never felt I had to be great at yoga or the most athletic to do any of the adventures.
-Jamie, 2022

$1150 per person

Reserve your spot with a $379 deposit today! Your remaining balance will be due on or before April 1, 2026.

1 half-price recovery scholarship is available for this retreat as well, so please apply!

Flying into LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) is the easiest and most economical option. We recommend flying in the night before then spending the night in Long Beach or nearby. In the morning you can Uber to Catalina Express San Pedro to meet us in time for the ferry. The airport in Long Beach is actually closer to the ferry port if you want to look at flights going there instead.

Flight research and booking assistance available for $50 – just contact us for help!

Since all retreat deposits and payments are used to secure venues, activities, and supplies, and since canceled spots require extra time and energy to re-fill, all deposits and payments are non refundable. In emergency situations, you may or may not be offered a credit for a future retreat or event, based on the decision of our team. Cancellations due to fear of travel are not transferable or refundable. Cancellations less than 1 month before your retreat are not refundable or transferable. We recommend travel insurance to protect your investment in the event you must cancel.