Santa Cruz Island & the Channel Islands
Channel Islands National Park · near Ventura (mainland gateway) · Central Coast
Sailing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Late summer–early fall (calmest crossings); spring windiest
- Water temperature
- Mild (upper 50s–60s°F)
What is here
- Amenities
- Wild National Park anchorages · Sea caves, kelp & abundant wildlife · Total solitude & dark skies · The 'Galapagos of North America'
- Best for
- Wild, self-sufficient island cruising & anchoring
- Features
- Premier wild California cruising · Remote NP anchorages · Sea caves, wildlife & dark skies · The 'Galapagos of North America'
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Open-channel crossing (wind & chop build afternoons) · Exposed anchorages — swell & wind shifts · No services, fuel, or facilities on the islands · Sudden gusts (sundowner winds) off the islands
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Lessons
- No
Sailing detail
- Styles
- cruising
- Breeze
- moderate
- Venue
- ocean
- Exposure
- 5
- Sailing
- California's premier wild cruising destination — remote National Park anchorages (Scorpion, Smugglers, Prisoners) reached across the open Santa Barbara Channel
- Intl tip
- California's premier WILD cruising destination — remote National Park anchorages (Scorpion, Smugglers, Prisoners) across the open Santa Barbara Channel. Sea caves, kelp, wildlife, dark skies — the 'Galapagos of North America.' ADVANCED/self-sufficient: cross early (afternoon wind/chop builds; the route crosses busy shipping lanes), NO public moorings or all-weather anchorages (anchor at your own risk), and NO services/fuel/facilities. No landing permit needed on the NPS-managed east end of Santa Cruz Island, but a Nature Conservancy permit is required to go ashore on the western three-quarters. For experienced cruisers. Utterly unforgettable.
- Nickname
- The Galapagos of North America
The guide
Santa Cruz Island — the largest of the Channel Islands and the centerpiece of Channel Islands National Park — is California's p…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Santa Cruz Island & the Channel Islands — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.02, -119.75