While our normal habit is to make a park visitor center our first stop, the weather forecast helped us decide to visit Santa Cruz Island first on our February 2015 trip and then visit the visitor center on the mainland. The park has one concessionaire, Island Packers, providing boat transportation to the islands and three concessionaires that provide kayak tours from Scorpion Bay on Santa Cruz Island. After researching the three concessionaires online, we chose Aquasports for our guided tour. It turned out to be an excellent decision. Tony, our guide and instructor, met us outside the entrance to Island Packers' ticket office to check in and sign the required liability waivers. At this point, we discovered that we were the only kayakers on Tony's tour.
Island Packers operates three catamarans from its Ventura dock. These US Coast Guard inspected boats have a lower, enclosed deck with a snack bar as well as a covered upper deck. Our passage to Santa Cruz took about an hour. After disembarking, we walked over to the kayaks stored near the beach where we had a safety briefing and kayaking lesson on land. Dry bags are provided for any items you wish to take with you, such as a spare bottle of water and a snack. Large items such as coolers or backpacks should be locked in the equipment lockers and not be left unattended as the birds team up to open them. Small valuable items such as wallets may be taken with you in the dry bag or locked in the equipment locker.
After donning personal flotation devices, otherwise known as life jackets or PFDs, and helmets, we carried the kayaks to the beach where Tony helped us launch into the almost non-existent surf. Helmets are required both for low clearances in the sea caves as well as falling or thrown rocks from the cliffs. From the beach, we headed left under the pier bridge toward Elephant Rock. After exploring several sea small caves, we rounded Cavern Point before heading back toward Scorpion Anchorage. Once past the beach, we explored an arch in one of the islets as well as the cliffs and inlets on Santa Cruz. We then explored another sea cave on the larger islet before returning to the beach. Since we were his only customers, Tony tailored the trip to our abilities, lack of experience, and interests. Tony has been leading tours for many years and often camps on the island, so he knows everyone and a lot of the recent history of the islands. He pointed out wildlife, explained the kelp forest ecosystem, provided geological information, and even identified wildflowers along the way. In We leisurely paddled just over four miles in just under five hours.
Once we helped lay the gear out to dry, we had time for the snack lunch we had brought as well as time to walk around the Scorpion Ranch area before boarding the boat to head back to Ventura.
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| Kayaking route |
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| Approaching Scorpion Anchorage |
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| Elephant Rock is the second point northwest of Scorpion Anchorage |
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| On the beach |
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| On the water |
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| Sea lion pup |
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| North shore from Cavern Point |
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| Looking back at Elephant Rock |
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| Juvenile Brandt's cormorants |
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| Sea cave |
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| California brown pelicans |
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| Paddling over the kelp to a larger sea cave |
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| An islet arch southeast of Scorpion Anchorage |
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| Low tide blocked our route beyond the arch |
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| Clearing skies and calm seas |
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| Clear water |
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| The sea is full of life |
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| Another view of the seabed |
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| Lots of small fish |
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| Folded sedimentary rock on the cliff face |
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| Preparing to navigate between the islets |
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| Through the gap and into calm water |
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| Exiting a large sea cave in an islet |
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| The aptly named Green Room |
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| Another cave |
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| This cave has a bit of whitewater |
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| Pockmarked hillside approaching Scorpion Anchorage |
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| Concessionaires have equipment lockers as well as kayaks |
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| Scorpion Valley |
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| Morning glory |
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| Coreopsis blooming |
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| Abandoned farm implements |
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| Scorpion Ranch Visitor Center |
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| The Island Fox is endemic to the Channel Islands |
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| Looking back at the beach before boarding the boat |
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| The two islets we kayaked into with Anacapa Island in the background |
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| An obvious fault zone on the cliff near Cavern Point |
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| A gray whale exhales near the horizon |
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| A Steller sea lion and a smaller California sea lion hauled out on a buoy |
There is no entrance fee at Channel Islands National Park. However, the islands are only accessible by private boat or by park concessionaire boats or planes. Island Packers (http://www.islandpackers.com) has scheduled trips to four of the five islands. San Miguel Island was closed to the public in 2014 due to concerns about unexploded ordinance. The island was used as a bombing range by the U.S. Navy from the 1940s until 1975. Channel Islands Aviation (http://www.flycia.com/) only has scheduled flights from Camarillo to Santa Rosa Island.
Aquasports website is http://www.islandkayaking.com/.
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm.
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