Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [113]
Prices start at $26 per person for nonlanding tours and run $42 to $70 for full-day excursions. Island Packers also arranges specialty trips, primarily sea kayaking and snorkeling. Private yachts and commercial dive and tour boats also visit the park on a regular basis. Specializing in dive trips, the second boat concessionaire is Truth Aquatics (☎ 805/962-1127; www.truthaquatics.com). It leaves from Santa Barbara Harbor and charges about $60 for a 1-day round-trip to Santa Cruz; overnight live-aboard trips are also available. The trips take about 3 hours each way.
If You Have Your Own Boat. If you want to take your own boat, check with the mainland visitor center. Access to the islands is prohibited in some places and difficult in others—going ashore often requires a skiff, raft, or small boat. More details:
You may land without a permit on East Anacapa, Santa Barbara, and east Santa Cruz, between Prisoner's Harbor and Valley Anchorage.
West Anacapa, except the beach at Frenchy's Cove, is closed to the public to protect nesting brown pelicans.
Access to middle Anacapa requires a ranger escort.
Landings and beach use on Santa Rosa and San Miguel do not require a permit; inland hiking excursions are allowed on Santa Rosa. Special closures may exist; contact the park for up-to-date information.
To land on the private western portion of Santa Cruz, boaters must obtain a permit from the Nature Conservancy, Attn.: Santa Cruz Landing Permit Program, 3639 Harbor Blvd., Ventura, CA 93001 (☎ 805/642-0345, ext. 10; www. nature.org). A fee is charged, no overnight stays are permitted, and processing the request may take 2 weeks. Applications are available from the mainland visitor center or by contacting the Nature Conservancy directly.
Getting to the Islands by Air. If you want to get to Santa Rosa in a hurry, Channel Islands Aviation, 305 Durley Ave., Camarillo, CA 93010 (☎ 805/987-1301, ext. 0; www.flycia.com), will fly you there from Camarillo or Santa Barbara in one of its small, fixed-wing aircraft (around $130 per adult round-trip, $200 if you're camping).
INFORMATION
Contact Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura, CA 93001 (☎ 805/658-5730; fax 805/658-5799; www.nps.gov/chis).
For information on Ventura, try the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau, 89 S. California St., Suite C, Ventura, CA 93001 (☎ 800/483-6214 or 805/648-2075; www.ventura-usa.com).
VISITOR CENTERS
The main visitor center for the islands is on the mainland, in Ventura Harbor, where you'll also find the park headquarters. Visit the Channel Islands National Park Headquarters and Visitor Center, 1901 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura, CA 93001 (☎ 805/658-5730), to get acquainted with the various programs and individual personalities of the islands through maps and displays. A wide variety of publications are available; among the most helpful are the free handouts focusing on the individual islands. The center is open daily from 8:30am to 5pm (closed Thanksgiving and Dec 25). The visitor center on the mainland in Santa Barbara, 113 Harbor Way, 4th floor, Santa Barbara, CA 93109 (☎ 805/884-1475), is open daily; call for hours.
Anacapa and Santa Barbara islands also have smaller visitor centers. Rangers run interpretive programs on both the islands and the mainland year-round.
FEES
The park does not charge entrance fees, but you should consider the cost of getting to the islands when planning your budget. There is a nightly $10 per site charge for camping on all five islands; you must make reservations (see the "Camping" sections for each island, below).
SPECIAL REGULATIONS & WARNINGS
The islands' relative inaccessibility makes preplanning a must. The boat concessionaires are often booked a month or so in advance, so be sure to make reservations. Also, remember that once on the islands, you can't go back to your car,