Catalina Fun Run
The Catalina Fun Run is scheduled to return in late September, bringing Southern California performance boaters back across the Pacific for a weekend run to Catalina Island.
The 2026 event is listed for Sept. 25–27, with the official agenda centered on a Friday departure from Newport Beach and a weekend itinerary on and around Catalina Island. While the run is commonly associated with the Southern California offshore boating scene, the current published schedule lists Newport Dunes in Newport Beach as the check-in and launch location.
The Catalina Fun Run is a high-performance powerboating event open to a wide mix of boats and experience levels. Event listings describe the run as welcoming all makes and models, with the basic route taking participants from Newport Beach down the coast toward Laguna Beach before crossing to Catalina Island.
According to the official event agenda, Friday morning begins with registration check-in at Newport Dunes, followed by a mandatory driver safety and logistics meeting at the launch ramp. After clearing Newport Harbor, boats are scheduled to gather offshore for photo and video coverage before running single file down the Newport Coast and heading west toward Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island.
Once on the island, the event shifts from open-water running to a destination-weekend format. The official schedule lists an afternoon beach party at Descanso Beach Club in Avalon, with cabanas reserved for the group and additional seating available nearby. Hotel information on the event site points participants toward lodging in Avalon, reinforcing the event’s multi-day island format rather than a same-day out-and-back run.
The Catalina Fun Run has grown into one of the better-known West Coast performance-boating gatherings. Speed on the Water reported that the 2024 edition drew more than 50 performance boats and marked the event’s ninth anniversary. The same report noted that participants came from Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California, with a boat mix including high-performance center consoles, V-bottom sportboats and catamarans.
The event’s late-September timing also appears to be intentional. Speed on the Water reported that the run moved away from its former Father’s Day weekend schedule in 2022, with organizers pointing to September as a better weather window and a stronger fit for the event’s expanded two-night Catalina format.
For Southern California boaters, the Catalina Fun Run combines several pieces of the offshore lifestyle into one weekend: a coastal group run, an ocean crossing, island moorings, beach parties and informal raft-up energy. It is not structured as a poker run built around card stops. Instead, the draw is the run itself and the destination weekend that follows.
Boaters planning to attend should confirm the final schedule through the official Catalina Fun Run site before making travel plans, especially for launch details, safety meeting timing, lodging, mooring logistics and any route changes tied to weather or sea conditions.