My first question has to be, have you and the other members of your group
been kayaking at the Channel Islands before? If not then you will probably want
to travel a bit slower in order to explore the wonderful caves and rock gardens
there. If you have all been over there before, well then I guess you would
probably not be asking this question.
The crossing from Santa Rosa to the first legal campground at Santa Cruz is
close to twenty miles! While doable, this would not leave you much time to
explore and really enjoy what these islands have to offer.
So that would leave you with doing San Miguel and Santa Rosa, or some of
Santa Cruz and Anacapa. Which way you go pretty much depends on the type of
group you have.
Personally, I have always considered the crossing to and/or from Anacapa and
the mainland to be a big part of the adventure. So you might think about
paddling the 12 NM over to Anacapa and spending a night there. Then the next
day explore Anacapa as you make your way to Santa Cruz. The third and forth day
you could explore Santa Cruz, and then take Island Packers back home. Or you
could reverse the sequence and take Island Packers over to Santa Cruz and
paddle back home from Anacapa.
Part of your decision may be decided for you when you check with Island
Packers and see what Islands they are hitting on a particular day and how that
all figures into your schedule. You should also understand that most of the
camping on these channel islands require a fairly rigorous unloading procedure
and hike into the campgrounds. So make sure you plan to have enough time and
energy for that ordeal.
I hope when you do the trip you will post a trip report here so we can read
how it all went. The Southern California Channel Islands really are are a very
special and remarkable paddling destination I hope you have a great time over
there!

Scott
So.Cal.


Hello. I'm planning to go with a group out to the Channel Islands in
late November. The plan is to take a boat out there with our
gear/food/water and camp for 4 nights while kayaking to, and camping
on the different islands.

I'm trying to put together a good itinerary and was wondering if
anyone has any suggestions or advice. We are all moderate paddlers and
would like to cover nice distances each day, but also want to enjoy
ourselves and explore where we are camping.