Kayaking Painted Cave - Santa Cruz Island
Back to ZAGWAP site
A couple Summers back, Brent and Rick and I went with the Santa Barbara Adventure Company for their Adventure Sea Cave tour at Scorpion Landing on the South end of Santa Cruz Island. We did the Scorpion Landing tour again this year and even more people showed up. I wanted a bit more time on the water though. I dunno. Maybe I wanted to go back in time to when I used to hang out at the outer islands diving, reveling in the ocean wind and endless ever changing vistas. That was then. Now, what I had a chance to do was to take the kayaking tour of the Painted Cave area at the North end of Santa Cruz Island. I always loved that part of the island because there are towering cliffs rising up right out of the water. It might be Santa Cruz Island, but the north end is a harsh outer island with Kinton Point, Frazer Point and Gull Island as references to endless wide open diving, open to the Big Pacific Ocean. We would leave Santa Barbara on the Truth, one of the most serious of the hunting boats of my past and head across to launch our kayaks where there is no beach. Terry was coming with me. As a blue water sailor who learned to sail in Ventura, the terrain would be familiar to him. I'm not so sure about such a small boat though.
We left the Harbor about 8. So many times before I had left at 2 AM to start diving at dawn. It's about 2.5 hours across the channel. It was overcast, but warm enough. As usual, we saw a number of porpoises during the crossing. Shortly after leaving the harbor, it cleared and we could see the cliffs of Santa Cruz Island.
Making a page like this is a decision about what to show and what to leave out. I ended up with a lot of images. I just felt that was what was needed to tell this story. Captions are above the images. I hope you like it.
This shows the area and the route from Santa Barbara Harbor to Santa Cruz Island.
Sea Gulls and Pelicans like the sand spit at the entrance to the harbor. Sterns Wharf is on the left.
Leaving Santa Barbara Harbor. The clouds come off the ocean and pile
up against the wall of the San Ynez Mountains there.
The North end of Santa Cruz Island. It was clear and sunny.
Pre-Trip Briefing. Paddle in the air means "gather 'round".
Remember, it's all for the fun of it. Mike & Terry 2019.
Anchored at the Island.
Getting the Kayaks out and people in them from the dive step.
Getting ready to go.
One of the crew had his own little adventure in mind.
What is life but little and big challenges.
Terry before heading in. That red spot back there was a bucket. The guide picked it up.
The Truth would anchor further south where our trip ended.
The islands are dry much of the year. Below the surface it is always one of the lushest and
most vital places on Earth. in many places the cliffs extend to about 30 feet below the
surface and the reefs go out from there. Some places the cliffs stick out under water some.
You can be moving up the wall and actually bump your head on the bottom of the island
Moving Down The Island
It's actually a small swell coming from the north and we are completely protected from
the south swell by the island... but these are small boats.
Still, the waves on the rocks show that you need to be careful. Never forget you are in
the ocean. You may be comfortable there, but the rules are different.
Kayakers lining up to take turns going into the caves. They may be
deep, but they can be narrow too.
Waiting can be a nice break from paddling, especially after a couple hours.
Terry is pretty much always game.
Everything here tends to make you small.
We're all lucky to be here.
Got to the light. Go to the light.
Unfortunately it's very difficult to get good images within the caves.
They are generally just too big for a flash to work well..
Do not be careless. Do not go too close even on a calm day like this.
This is the great part about diving and kayaking at the islands. The inside is almost always protected from the big stuff.
Taking turns going in... You do want to be able to turn around.
So... how far does this go?
Almost out...
Some caves have plenty of room for everyone.
Deep coves are really nice for getting organized before heading out around the next point.
"OK... Listen up. This is the big one. This is Painted Cave!"
Here are some videos... For better or worse. They do give some idea of the caves.
This was a pretty big cave we went into before Painted Cave.
This is the entrance to Painted Cave.
This... is Painted Cave.
I keep saying Elephant Seals, but the sound is from a Bull California Sea Lion.