Santa Cruz Island
MVP
Dramamine—I have Dramamine to thank for me and my eldest being able to enjoy the island. We saw a little kid get sick on the boat, and I am thankful that that wasn’t me or my kids. Even with Dramamine though, both my eldest and I did not feel well until the second day on the island.
Camp Review:
This was a wonderful campsite (we stayed at the lower loop of Scorpion Ranch Campground) where everyone was respectful and everyone just seemed chill. Maybe it’s a side effect of being on this island.
There are three vault bathrooms on the island and they are very clean—one of the nicest vault toilets I’ve used.
Each site has plenty of space for the limited amount of things that you can bring on the ferry. Each reservation comes with a fox box and picnic table. The two water spouts on the island (both at the campground) are potable, with a slight chemical smell.
We had site 4, which isn’t shaded at all during the day, which wasn’t great. But it meant that we could smile and wave at the neighbors, which was great. :)
If we come back, we’d rather have sites #1 or 2.
What I Learned:
Our favorite meal of the trip was Mountain House Mashed Potatoes and Chicken. It was just a delicious meal that far surpassed even the amazing Mountain House Lasagna.
We thought we had packed too many snacks, but we ate it all. Glad we over packed on them!
I brought the 16,000mah external battery charger, but between the switch and my phone, it lasted less than 24 hrs. If we were going to be here longer, I should bring another one.
The ferry ride takes a little over an hour, and during the time, because we were all getting a little sea sick, it was a bit boring. Though, on the ferry ride back, we saw a huge pod of dolphins, which made up for the ferry ride to the island.
There are island foxes that are just the cutest things ever. Because they like to scavenge their food from humans, they were all around the camp site and we never got tired of seeing their cute faces.
We decided before the trip to not bring our hiking shoes and just play on the beach, and it seems like that was a good decision. We have so many trips where we’re busily going about our day that this super-chill trip of just hanging out at the beach was a really nice change of pace.
The wind was relentless on the island. We got unlucky, as all three days had winds from 10mph to 20mph. The campsite has these giant eucalyptus trees that give wind cover, but walking around the island (and at the beach), there are only a few places with wind cover.
We want to come back here when the girls are bigger. The kayak tour seems fun, and so does the snorkeling, though the water is a bit cold, so a wet suit sounds like a good idea.
Because the current was constant, the 2-4ft waves cause the boat to be very rocky and unstable on the way to the island. On the way back, none of us felt ill at all, as the boat moved with the current, so things were much gentler. However, I still felt a bit nauseous until the next day.
What Happened?
We drove down from my apartment starting at 3am and got to Ventura at 8am. We got there early, so we stood in line for about 45 minutes, with the ferry ride taking about an hour 10 minutes. We got to the island without getting sea sick, but all three of us were tired and pooped out. I think we ended up sleeping 12 hrs that first night.
We went back and forth between the beach and the campsite (located less than 1/2 a mile away) all three days and we grew to love this island. At around 4pm each day, the ferry would take back all the day hikers, and the only people left on the island were the campers—this was our favorite parts of the day. It was just so quiet with there being so few people on the island.
On the last day, we again took it easy. The ferry ride back was much nicer as the boat was much calmer. Another plus was that a huge pod of dolphins decided to visit the boat, which resulted in a show that I will never forget.
I can’t recommend this island enough for anyone who can withstand a one hour boat ride. The waters were beautiful on the island, the foxes were uber cute, and the ride itself is worth it for the chance of seeing dolphins and whales (a fellow day hiker passenger told me that in the morning ride over, a trio of humpback whales gave the ferry riders a show by jumping out of the water 20ft from the boat).
