Santa Rosa - Channel Islands - California

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The Channel Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, just miles away from California. It is comprised of 5 unique islands - Anacapa, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and San Miguel. I planned this trip for over a month now, so I had no problem waking up at 5:30a.m. that day. Reservations are highly recommended. The last thing you want to know is that you have to turn back after you are all geared up for a day of hiking.

I am a light packer - when I go traveling, I only want to travel, I dont intend to make a fashion statement. I only bring whatever I need. For this trip, I made sure I have a good sturdy backpack to hold my camera, sunscreen, jacket, bathing suit, water, sandwich, sunglasses, my visor, and my wallet. These items were recommended by the Island Packers - the place that arranges all the boat rides to the island.

The trip to the Santa Rosa island was 3 hours long - with one stop to unload some visitors at the Santa Cruz island. You can imagine a morning boat ride on rough waters wasnt the greatest thing - quite a few people was suffering from motion sickness, including myself, but my dream in my nap somehow carried me back on the ground - which made me feel so much better - psychologically.

When we arrived on the island, the sun came out and we were welcomed by the turquoise blue lagoon, big pelicans, and the island wind. It felt like I had travelled much farther away from California. This is not a tourist island. You can only do so much on this island - Walk (hike), run, eat, use the restroom, play on the sand, bumming on the beach, and walk back to the boat. Sounds like a great escape from the city eh?

We had a good 3 hours alone on this island and we were ordered to rendevous back at the pier by 3, or else, the boat WILL leave. Some visitors planned to spend overnight on the island in their pre-reserved tents, but most are just day visitors.

The trip ended with a returned boat ride which took us to a part of the Santa Cruz island beyond the reach of any humans. We taxi-ed into a huge cave with a ceiling of at least 6-7 stories high. The boat only traveled 1/4 into the cave entrance b/c it was just pure darkness ahead of us. I head that sometimes you will catch a sea of dolphins on the way back but this time, we just saw two.......

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