2021. 7. 24 – 8. 2 | The Channel Islands National Park, California
Last week, I joined Bill and Eric for a week-long adventure of sailing and diving the Channel Islands. In six days, we covered five islands, including Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, Santa Barbara, and Catalina. We spent a reasonable amount of time hiking (except for Anacapa due to the unfavorable weather), sailing, and diving.
We left San Diego on Sunday night and arrived in Catalina the following day. At Avalon, we added fuel and started the journey to Santa Rosa, the second most remote island of the Channel Islands. We arrived the following day with calm seas and light wind. I was excited because I had never been to this island. Our first dive was at Bee Rock. The underwater scenery looked exotic to me. The ocean bottom was full of some giant anemones and covered with brittle stars. A strong current of 1.5-2 knots picked up before the second dive, making it unsafe to anchor the boat and dive off it. Bill dropped Eric and me on the channel between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz. We drifted along with the current. In the channel, there was no reef, but all sands. It was an uneventful dive. Later we hiked the Santa Rosa, where I saw a little island fox for the first time.
The second day we sailed to Santa Cruz and dove the Ruby Rock. At Santa Cruz, I didn’t see the kelp canopy, but the underwater life was rich. There were lots of starfish, short kelp (sea palm), mussels, and some sea urchins. In the shallower water, I found lots of green sea anemones and giant stars. After the first dive, we visited a cave. It was deep into the island with some sea birds and a few sea lions in it. Unfortunately, my drone crashed and went underwater. Bill and Eric spotted the crash site, and I was able to retrieve the fallen drone. It was too late for the second dive after the visit to the cave, so we sailed to Olive Cove for the anchorage. We attempted to go ashore. But the waves at the beach were too strong for the dingy to land safely. As darkness fell, we gave up and went back to the boat.
On the third day, we sailed from the Olive Cove to the Scorpion Cove, where the ferry and the campground were located. Santa Cruz has the best public facility. We hiked the island and made another dive at a rock near the ferry. After the dive, we sailed to Anacapa, which was only a short distance away. We dove into the cat rock and enjoyed a dense, healthy kelp forest. By this time, the wind had picked up. We headed to Santa Barbara Island after the dive.
We arrived at Santa Barbara Island a little past midnight and anchored at Landing Cove. As soon as we anchored, I heard the loud noise of birds and sea lions, which had been absent other islands. In the morning, we decided to go ashore. The landing facility had deteriorated significantly, and a few bull sea lions had occupied the steps. It took us a while to land and secure the dingy. The sea lions turned out to be shy. They left the steps as soon as we walked up to the hill. We were the only visitors to the island. Despite the off-season, there were still a lot of seagulls and pelicans on the island. We hiked across the island and enjoyed different terrains, plants, and birds. By the afternoon, a strong wind picked up. Bill was confident that we could still make two dives, which we did. These two dives turned out to be the most breathtaking dives on our trip. We went to the cave and saw many sea lions, a peaceful kelp forest, and a curious giant sea bass. Santa Barbara Island became my favorite destination. By the time we finished the second dive, the wind had picked up, reaching 20 knots. The kelp caught our boat. It took some serious effort to finally free the boat. Once freed, we headed toward Catalina Island.
We sailed to Catalina at an average of ~6.5 knots and arrived around midnight. This time, we picked a mooring to anchor and had a good night of sleep. In the morning, we head to Bird Rock, which was just a few minutes away from the anchorage. The diving turned out excellent: abundant and healthy kelp with lots of fish. We all enjoyed the dive and decided to skip the second dive as the wind picked up again. In the afternoon, we hiked from Two Harbor and reached the backside of the island. From the above, I stood in the cloud and enjoyed watching the rugged coastline of Catalina Island. Heading down the hill was difficult as I was wearing a pair of worn-out sneakers. I was happy to finish the hike. Back at Two Harbor, we each enjoyed a cup of buffalo milk and continued the hike toward the south. We walked to the USC campus and the hyper-barbaric chamber facility. After that, we dined in a restaurant to celebrate the near ending of our trip.
We stayed at the same mooring for the second night at Catalina. In the morning, we decided to dive early to avoid the wind. We went to the ship rock. Since the anchorage here was tricky, Bill and Eric took turns and did a live drop. I joined both and was able to go around the rock. The visibility was excellent, and we saw a lot of fish and healthy kelp. With Bill, I made my first dive ever without a camera. Now I can’t tell people that I bring my camera to all my dives. For the second dive, we dove into the reef near the ship rock. The Sargassum mainly occupied this site, but I still saw a lot of blacksmiths and garibaldis.
As soon as we finished the dive, we headed back to San Diego. The wind and waves were strong, and we were under a small vessel advisory. For the first time, I experienced near 10 ft waves while sailing. As we approached San Diego, the wind and waves slowly dissipated. By the time I finished my watch at 3 a.m., the fog had rolled in. Eric did the last watch and safely motored the boat back to the slip.
This island passage is an adventure I never imagined. There was work on the boat, and the rough sea conditions made it even more challenging. I had bruises and cuts all over the place but couldn’t be happier being this close to the ocean and nature. My sincere thanks go to Bill and Eric for such a raw adventure.
These are the highlights of my dives. But the experience was far beyond these clips. We had tense moments as well as leisure times with a lot of laughs. Those are hard to capture with a camera, and I can only store them in my heart.