Guide to Channel Islands National Park – Santa Cruz Island

When doing research on visiting Channel Islands National Park, there wasn’t much information online. We’ve created a comprehensive guide to visiting Santa Cruz Island below:

What Is Channel Islands NP?

• The Channel Island is a unique NP that protects five islands off the coast of California near LA.
• To visit you’ll need to book a ferry ride via Island Packers Cruises to visit one of the islands. We chose to visit Santa Cruz, which is the largest of the five islands, closest to the coast and a ~1 hr ferry ride from Oxnard.

• They offer two cruises to Santa Cruz: either to Scorpion Ranch or Potato Harbor. 
• We chose to land at Scorpion Ranch as our top priority for the day was hiking and it looked like there were more hikes that left from the region. There is actually a hike from the Scorpion Ranch region that will take you to the Potato Harbor Overlook. We didn’t experience Potato Harbor area from the ground but from above, the water looked beautiful!
• The ferry cost was $63 per person in May 2021 when we visited. Make sure to reserve online in advance.
• They will provide you with and this hiking guide and have a couple of NPS rangers at the island when you land to help answer questions.

How to prepare for your visit?

• There is potable water on the island but no food. Make sure to pack a lunch!

Top Tips for visiting

• We booked the earliest and latest ferry to the island, which left at 8AM and returned at 5PM. However, you don’t need the full day here unless you’re planning to do multiple longer hikes or a kayaking tour.

• It was a little confusing from the hiking guide when planning, but you can make the Cavern Point Loop, Potato Harbor, and Scorpion Canyon Loop a large loop that start at the port and ends at the Santa Cruze campground. The trail only took half a day.

• After that, we spent some time around the visitor center, which had a nice exhibit about the history of Santa Cruz Island.

• The rest of the day was spent hanging out on the beach and there were quite a few people in line trying to catch the earlier ferry back (including us).

• Keep your eye out for the island scrub jay and island fox (which was recently taken off the endangered species list due to conservation efforts). These species are only found at Channel Islands!

• On the boat ride to Channel Islands, you’ll likely see see plenty of wildlife including dolphins! The boat captains make it a priority to show passengers wildlife.

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