A trip to Channel Islands National Park with Channel Islands Outfitters can include time for snorkeling to meet the 'locals'/Channel Island Outfitters
Editor's note: This is a special advertiser-supported article from the 2nd Annual Essential Guide to Paddling the Parks.
If you're trying to find your way off of the Los Angeles freeways, away from the urban crowds, just offshore is an island wilderness waiting for you. Channel Islands National Park is close, wild, and beautiful. These five islands, just 18 miles from Ventura, beckon to those with a need for quiet and solitude.
The park is an ocean gem, a wilderness within sight of the bustling Southern California coastline, filled with wildlife, birds, caves, and tidepools. There are more than 2,000 species of animals and plants in the park, 145 of them found nowhere else. You might spot migrating gray whales, or even the immense blue whale, in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary that surrounds the islands. Santa Cruz Island is the most popular landing, with over 60,000 acres of room to explore with the Nature Conservancy managing 60 percent of the land and the National Park Service the rest.
For an interesting read, take along the classic book, The Island of the Blue Dolphins, which is based on the true story of a native woman's life on San Nicolas Island, just to the south.
And one of the best ways to explore this park is by water. Channel Islands Outfitters has been leading clients out to the islands for years and is ready to put you in a kayak and show you around their backyard. They have a number of trips, from novice to expert, but their most popular trip by far is the Caves and Coves Classic, according to guide Matt Adkisson. Or try the Caves and Kelp Combo for a bit of snorkeling, or camp overnight for a special experience.
Channel Islands Outfitters
'¢ Sea kayaking and snorkeling adventures at Channel
Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary
'¢ '20 Years Of Excellence'
'¢ Certified B Corporation
(805) 899-4925
The Caves and Coves Classic trip includes transportation to the island from the Ventura Harbor, and a 3-hour kayak trip around Santa Cruz Island, and lunch. You'll explore up to a dozen sea caves, and watch peregrine falcons surf the air current while California sea lions lay about on the beaches below. You'll possibly see the stealthy Channel Islands fox, which has just recently come back from the brink of extinction. Clients can snorkel, explore the tidepools, and hike on other trips.
Channel Islands Outfitters' guide to paddler ratio is kept under 1 to 8, which makes for a personal experience.
'Their equipment was in great condition, masks were clean, and the kayaks had nice supportive backs,' one client wrote. 'The snorkeling was breathtaking and the cave kayaking certainly makes our list of top 10 lifetime adventures.'
Lunches are healthy and tasty, with ingredients all locally sourced from Channel Islands Provisioners. They might include fare such as red curry chicken, fresh berries, and puff pastries. In line with their environmentally conscious business, they use sustainable packaging, meaning no plastic whatsoever.
Speaking of which, Channel Islands Outfitters, with roughly 5,000 clients annually, is committed to, 'Saving the oceans through education, adventure, and outdoor experiences,' and is putting their money where their mouth is. As a 1% For the Planet partner they donate 1 percent of their gross sales to local non-profit organizations that help educate young people about the oceans.
'Working on the ocean lends a firsthand and intimate glimpse into the critical issues that are facing the largest ecosystem on planet Earth,' they write.
Exploring Channel Islands National Park by kayak allows time to explore some of the caves that the ocean over time has cut through some islands/Channel Islands Outfitters
The outfitter also is committed to offset all of its carbon emissions, and they calculate their carbon emissions on an annual basis.
Their education programs include Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) instruction, wilderness medicine workshops (in cooperation with the NOLS), and an ocean risk management program. 'We take a lot of kids' groups, including Boy Scouts, out to the islands,' says Adkisson.
If you'd like to learn to paddle a SUP, or kayak, their two rental locations in Goleta and Santa Barbara Harbor will set you up. Spend a bit of time to have some instruction while you're there; it's well worth it. A four-hour kayak rental will cost around $30, and they have all of the gear for SUP, surfboards, and sea kayaks. It's an intimate experience being on the ocean in a sea kayak, and the Channel Islands are a great destination.
If you want to master the SUP, the guides will teach you the correct ways, and places, to learn, and to avoid the '5 Common SUP Beginner Mistakes,' which include: staying on glassy waters, holding the paddle in the correct position, account for the movement of the water, using your core for power, and of course, to not be overconfident. Once you've mastered those, it's time to paddle on out.
Or, next June show up for the Save the Mermaids Day. In conjunction with World Ocean Day, Channel Islands Outfitters and local non-profit 'Save the Mermaids' help clean up the beaches of plastic waste. In sea-shell bras and smiles, they've made a difference in our environment.
And while the urban centers sprawl and the traffic roars just miles away, you'll have a great time discovering the islands, the ocean, the environment, the wildlife, and even yourself on this island getaway.
Comments
Kayaking the sea caves on Santa Cruz is fantastic. And if you're already out that far, try to overnight on San Miguel and Santa Rosa--great hiking and views of the Pacific.