Santa Rosa Island
Channel Islands National Park · near Santa Barbara / Ventura · Central Coast
Scuba & Snorkel
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Depth
- 90
- Water temperature
- 54–66°F · 7mm or drysuit
- Best season
- Late summer/fall (weather-dependent crossing)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No dive permit. Second-largest Channel Island, a longer and more exposed crossing than Anacapa/Santa Cruz — usually a multi-day liveaboard. Cooler, windier, and wilder. Boat-access only; for advanced divers comfortable with open-ocean conditions.
What is here
- Marine life
- Kelp forests & walls · Sea lions & harbor seals · Rockfish, sheephead, lobster · Occasional pelagics
- Features
- Wild, remote outer Channel Island · Healthy kelp & wall diving · Big sea lion colonies · Fewer divers, more wilderness
Worth knowing
- Certification required
- Yes
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Scuba & Snorkel detail
- Dive type
- scuba
- Entry
- boat
- Viz
- 30–80 ft
- Intl tip
- Usually a multi-day liveaboard from Ventura/Santa Barbara — more exposed and cooler than the inner islands. Advanced, open-ocean diving. Late summer/fall for the calmest crossings. Combine with San Miguel on the same trip. Big animal colonies and pristine reef reward the effort. Take seasickness precautions for the crossing.
The guide
Santa Rosa Island is the second-largest of the Channel Islands and one of its wildest dives — a big, windswept island on the ou…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Santa Rosa Island — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.953, -120.09