Honeymoon... part 2 (Sea Kayaking the Channel Islands)

So on Day 3 of our honeymoon... I confirmed a few reservations during the brief breaks between riding and tasting wine to head out to the Channel Islands. I picked up a local magazine at the bike shop where we purchased a new tire that had all the information to get out to the Channel Islands NP. I called... made a few reservations, and made it happen.


View Larger Map

Day 4. (Anacapa Island)


Terry was nice enough to give us a ride to my car so that we could head out from Lompoc to Oxnard (1.5 hr drive) and make it down to the harbor by 8:30 am so we could rent our kayak and hop on the ferry at 9.

The Channel Islands are 11 miles off the coast... some folks even kayak out there... (maybe next time), and are know for their sea caves. The eastern side of the island is protected, meaning there is no fishing allowed... so there are giant lobsters, fish, and the water is very clear.

The highlight was the Dolphins on the way out... you gotta see this to believe... but there were hundreds of dolphins... seriously amazing. Check out the vid.



Also... in case you didn't know this, the water temperature is significantly warmer south of point conception (pink dot). So you only need a shorty wet suit to go out in the water. And you can jump in without one and be comfortable for an hour or so (like I did). The kayaking was awesome... the snorkeling was awesome... I'd like to go back there. Probably to Santa Cruz Island.


The whole island is cliffed out like 100+ feet on all sides. This is the welcoming ladder up to the island.

After the day-trippers left, we were alone with 3 others camping, and the care-taker (who has a small house out there). We walked around, watched the sunset... and it rained on us for about 10 seconds. Later that night we had a dry thunder storm that I totally slept through.



The sunset was quite nice too...

Day 5.


We woke up early to go kayaking since there is less wind and the water is smoother earlier in the day. We stayed on the northern side of the island and went past Middle Anacapa to West Anacapa to Frenchy's Cove... where winds picked up, and we had a little snack while waiting for the wind to subside. In fact, we took a nap curled up on our life jackets... probably looked uncomfortable, but one the best naps ever...



After getting back, we packed up camp, jumped off the dock a few times...

... and I borrowed a snorkel and mask and did some snorkeling. The ride back wasn't as exciting, as we didn't see any dolphins... but still very nice. We got back around 6 pm, and drove into LA. We decided to stay with Pat and Sidone, they showed us around LA, went out to dinner, and we grabbed some drinks with their friends.