I took an Island Packers "Island Wildlife Cruise" to Anacapa Island (on the bottom right of the photo), one of the five islands in the Channel Islands National Park. The other islands are Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara (not in the photo).

Anacapa is made up of three islets: East, Middle, and West.

Leaving Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California, located in Ventura County (the county bordering LA County on the north). Many very expensive houses in this area with an almost empty public beach. Brown pelicans roosting.

More brown pelicans seen when coming out of the harbor.

Brown pelicans.

Brown pelicans.

Anacapa is 12 miles from the mainland. It took us about 1 hour 15 minutes to reach the island. You can see Anacpa in the distance. The ocean was not calm today so we had a bumpy ride with much sea sprayed on us.

Anacapa. This is the part of Anacapa that you would visit if you got off the boat here. There are no concessions stands, hotels, or commercial enterprises on the islands in the Channel Islands National Park, though you can camp on them. The islands are almost entirely in their natural state. The Channel Islands have been inhabited at least for 13,000 years, with the Chumash Indians here when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese exploring for Spain, arrived here in 1541. The Chumash Indians are now north of Ventura in Santa Barbara County and are quite weathly due to their casino earnings.

The lighthouse and ranger buildings on the island.

The lighthouse. My late husband and I visited four of the islands (there was no previous service to Santa Barbara Island). Anacapa looks very dry now but when we went there this hill was green and there were fields of bright yellow giant coreoposis and also numerous sea gulls from babies to older ones.

Our boat took us for a view of all three of the islets, a view we did not get when we got off the boat to go on the island.

Sailing around Anacapa.

Sailing around Anacapa.

A black sand beach, probably the only one in California.

Sailing around Anacapa.

Sailing around Anacapa.

Sailing around Anacapa.

Sailing around Anacapa.

Sailing around Anacapa.

A long view.

We backtracked and went into the dock at Anacapa to pick up some passengers that were dropped off on the island earlier in the day.

There are 154 stairs from the dock up to the top. First, the fire escape-like stairs and then cement stairs. The stairs freaked me out when my late husband and I went here.. He had already gone up them but then had to go all the way back down to encourage me to go up them. I did make it up and then back down again.

This is the blue lagoon that you will fall into if you slip on those stairs.

A seagull in the rock face.

We are now at the end of the island and will be sailing to the back side of it. This is called Horseshoe Rock.

Horseshoe Rock and the lighthouse.

Looking through Horseshoe Rock.

Looking back on Anacapa.

A long view back.

We are now on the backside of the island.

A sea lion rookery is here.

Sea lions.

Sea lions.

Sea lions.

Sea lion.

Sea lion.

Sea lion.

Sea lions.

Sea lions.

A long view of the backside of Anacapa.

Going back to Horseshoe Rock.

A long view of Anacapa Island. From here we sailed back to the mainland.

You get off the Island Packer boats differently at each island. This photo I took on San Miguel Island where we got to shore on a dingy. Santa Cruz Island has easy docks and Santa Rosa and Santa Barbara have docks but you have to climb a ladder from the boat to the pier. There is a memorial stone for Cabrillo on the San Miguel Island as it is believed he is buried here. He died from an infection while wounded protecting his men from warrior Native Americans (not the Chumash). San Miguel Island is closed now as the U.S. Navy is looking for bombs and bomb fragments on the island from when they were using it as a bombing range.

At one time there were many sheep ranches on the islands. I took this photo of an old sheep ranch on Santa Cruz Island.

On Santa Rosa Island with Santa Cruz Island in the background.