Day One

Drive to Island Packers Cruises in Ventura Harbor

• Located at 1691 Spinnaker Drive #105B in Ventura
• Free overnight parking is included with your ferry reservation
• Protip: Book an afternoon ferry to dodge the day visitors taking the morning ferries!

Watch out for dolphins and whales during the ferry ride

• It's about an hour-long ferry ride to Santa Cruz Island
• Keep your eyes peeled for humpback, grey, or even blue whales!

Trek to Scorpion Canyon Campground and set up camp

• It's an easy 0.5 mile hike from the harbor
• Prep dinner and explore the campground

Sunset hike to Potato Harbor

• This is a 3.2 mile out and back trail with 300 feet of elevation
• Bring a daypack with a jacket, camp chair, and your headlamp

Return to camp

• Spend the rest of the night stargazing and swapping stories

CINP features five islands, but there are actually eight channel islands off the coast of California. Santa Cruz Island is the largest of them all.

Day Two

Sunrise hike to Cavern Point

• It's about a 1.7 mile out and back hike from camp to Cavern Point Overlook to watch the sunrise

Cook up brekkie and coffee

Hike to Smuggler's Cove

• It's an 8.2 mile out and back trail with 1,447 feet of elevation gain
• Pack a daypack with snacks, lunch to-go, a jacket, plenty of water (at least 2 liters per person), sunscreen, water shoes, swimsuit, and towel for the trek. There's no shade along the trail and very little shade at the beach so bring your sun gear!
• Enjoy lunch, swim in the ocean, and chill by the beach.
• If you're feeling ambitious, hike 0.4 miles round-trip to Smuggler's Ranch House from Smuggler's Cove
• There's a steep climb back to camp so save your energy!

Return to Scorpion Anchorage and go snorkeling

• You can rent snorkeling gear from Santa Barbara Adventure Company for $28/day, or bring your own!

Head back to camp, clean up, and prep dinner

• Chill and recuperate from the day
• Enjoy dinner and games at camp
• Spend the rest of the evening relaxing, and unwinding

For thousands of years, the northern Channel Islands were home to native Chumash communities.

Day Three

Prep brekkie and clean up around camp

• Take down your tent, check for litter and pack a lunch to-go

Hike back to Scorpion Anchorage and go on a sea cave kayaking tour

• Explore the island's beautiful sea caves with the Santa Barbara Adventure Company. CIMP's caves were shaped more than 20 million years ago and Cavern Point Cave, one of the highlights, is 200+ feet deep. This three-hour morning tour costs $161 per person.
• Pack water, snacks, and a dry bag for your phone if you want to take pictures during the kayaking ride. You're definitely going to get wet!

Enjoy a quick lunch before catching the afternoon ferry back to Ventura

• It never hurts to be early when you're trying to catch a ferry :)

Head home

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The Channel Island fox lives on six out of eight Channel Islands, and can't be found anywhere else on Earth! They're the largest of the park's native mammals, but one of the smallest canid species in the world. Adorbz.