Bison, bobcats and bears. These creatures are common in our national parks. Garibaldis, island foxes, and island scrub-jays—not so much. Yet the waters off Channel Islands National Park are teeming with the bright orange fish—the California state marine fish—and the tiny foxes and scrub-jays are among Channel Islands species found nowhere else on the planet.

The Channel Islands are eight bodies of land that stretch off the Southern California coast, as near as 12 miles and as distant as 70 miles from the mainland. Five of them make up Channel Islands National Park. The wildlife is abundant, and the crystal clear water makes it one of the best cold-water diving spots on the planet. In less than an hour from the Valley, you can be on a boat bound for this enchanting offshore world.

Within the national park, San Miguel Island is known for its tens of thousands of seals. Santa Rosa Island has stands of rare Torrey pines, and Santa Barbara Island (currently closed due to storm damage) is a sanctuary for nesting seabirds. Anacapa, nearest island to the mainland, is a safe haven for the world’s largest breeding colonies of western gulls and brown pelicans. Santa Cruz, the second-nearest and largest of the islands, has hundreds of sea caves to explore.

Independent kayakers can paddle in and among these caves, but guided tours with the Park’s official concessionaire, Channel Islands Adventure Company, are recommended. Once in the caves, you’ll see purple sea stars and tiny crabs scurrying across the dripping rocks. You may even spot a sea lion resting on a rocky outcropping. 

Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island is one of the largest sea caves in the world—big enough to house a blimp. Even if you don’t opt for a kayak tour, you can see Painted Cave on a boat tour with Island Packers Cruises, the park’s official boat concessionaire. The family-owned company takes passengers from Ventura Harbor to Santa Cruz and Anacapa Islands year-round, and the outer islands from March through November.

Island Packers co-owner Cherryl Connally says each island has its own charm, but one of her favorite spots is on Anacapa. “Inspiration Point is just a great place to breathe and rest and enjoy the ambiance,” she says, adding that “it’s outrageously beautiful.”

Santa Rosa Island, she shares, is popular for camping. Santa Cruz is known for its vast kelp forests off Scorpion Anchorage, where the diving and snorkeling are amazing. “It’s a protected marine sanctuary, so snorkeling there, you’ll see a lot of fish,” says Cherryl. Channel Islands Adventure Company offers snorkel and wetsuit rentals and guided snorkeling and kayaking tours from the sandy beach at Scorpion. 

Each island offers scenic trails for hikers. One Anacapa trail leads to a 1932 lighthouse, and another to Inspiration Point. On Santa Cruz Island, Prisoners Harbor is known for its native plants such as giant coreopsis and island buckwheat. Cherryl notes that more than 2,000 species of plants live on the Channel Islands, and 200 of them are found nowhere else on earth.

You can camp on any of the five Channel Islands, except the currently closed Santa Barbara Island. It’s a shared experience. You’ll cohabit with thousands of birds, seals and sea lions on Anacapa; island scrub-jays and the indigenous island fox on Santa Cruz; marine birds and an island fox subspecies on Santa Rosa; and the prehistoric-looking brown pelicans on both Anacapa and Santa Cruz.

Getting to the islands is often half the fun, because you’re almost certain to see whales, dolphins, and scads of seabirds en route. “For many years we didn’t have the whales in our channels,” says Cherryl, “but because we have a sanctuary and the ocean has changed, we pretty much have them year-round.”

If all these adventures haven’t piqued your interest about the Channel Islands, there’s the appeal of romance. With the water so clear, you may be able to see male garibaldis luring ladies into their kelp dens during the spring-to-fall reproductive season. When their eggs have been laid, the females swim away, leaving the males to raise the fry. It’s just one of nature’s many wonders in Channel Islands National Park.