Kayaking: Channel Islands – A Must-Do SoCal Adventure

What a cool, yet local SoCal trip you can take! It’s only 3 hours from San Diego, 2 hours from LA and wow it’s so worth it! We checked in at the Ventura Harbor which had plenty of parking, and boarded the Island Packers Cruise Ship for about a 45-minute cruise to the Channel Islands. The boat DOES have a snack bar, just FYI! We had a nice guided tour in which we learned about the sea life, and yes saw a whale! It was a gorgeous boat ride to the islands.

Once we docked, we easily found our tour guide and he explained a lot about the Channel Islands. I had no idea that there are 16 islands in total- 8 US, and 8 owned by the Mexican Government! There were also plenty of pirate stories to hear! It is a national park, and camping is allowed with permits.

We decided to do the Sea Cave Kayak tour.  It was about a 4-hour tour around the islands. Our guide was very informative, and he really helped direct us through some tough sea kayaking through the ocean caves! The sites around the islands were amazing, even the GoPro couldn’t capture the beauty of all the nature that surrounded us. So much sea life and the seals seemed to love to swim right next to us!

At the end of our sea cave excursion, we had a chance to hike up the mountains on the island that we docked on. Gorgeous 360 views, and a peaceful step onto the untouched nature, we really found inner peace just being there, besides a great day’s workout!

I definitely recommend putting this on your bucket list of things to do, and Santa Barbara Adventure Company was a fantastic company to guide us on this fun weekend getaway!