Although the Channel Islands are comprised of eight islands off the coast, the ones in the northern area, Santa Cruz and Anacapa take the lead roles in this ocean movie.
Sitting at the crossroads of the Pacific where the warm southern waves meet the cold currents from the north, the Channel Islands are a smorgasbord of concentrate nutrients for kelp and plankton setting up an underwater fest which calls to underwater photographers and divers from all over the world. It is an endless march up the food chain of the seas: the zooplankton feed on the plankton, slightly larger creatures feed on the plankton, and so it continues until even the largest of the seas’ creatures are seated at the table.
San Miguel, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Anacapa Island make up what is known as the northern Channel Islands. The other four islands rest to the south; Santa Catalina Island, San Nicolas Island, San Clemente, and Santa Barbara Island. Although the southern Channel Islands tend to get more face time; it’s the northern chain we talked to Calboat Diving owner Ted Cumming about.
Cumming understands the draw to the northern Channel Islands; he spends a great deal of his time here introducing divers, photographers and the like to the areas bounty. “We make approximately four trips out to the Northern Channel Islands a day,” says Cumming. “The area is special; it is rated one of the top 10 dive sites in the world and it offers an amazing amount of marine life.”
Anacapa Island
The closest island to the mainland and the smallest of the northern islands, Anacapa is about 11 miles off the coast of Port Hueneme. The island actually is composed of three islets (east, middle and west Anacapa). Anacapa has around 69 species of birds, steep lava rock cliffs with numerous cave and crevices, and is home to only four mammals. The draw for divers is the kelp forests and walls where kelp bass and sheep head wrasse are encountered along with sea lions, horn sharks, torpedo rays, bat rays, and morays.
“Anacapa is protected to the north,” says Cumming. “Because it is protected the sea life tends to be amazing. There are several dive sites in the area we enjoy taking divers to. Cathedral Cove is an interesting dive. There are all sorts of wildlife outside the caves - countless species of birds, sea lions, seals and the occasional whale.”
Cumming also offers up Goldfish Bowl. This is a good spot for beginner divers. It is a site inside the marine reserve. “The site is well protected, and offers a shallow kelp forest,” Cumming says. “We take a lot of instructors and student divers out and this is a good place to take them.” Goldfish Bowl offers Navanax, spanish shawl, island kelpfish, garibaldi and sea hares. Sheephead, senoritas and blacksmith can often be found hiding out in the kelp forest and once in a while a diver may find a horn shark or catch a glimpse of a Bat Ray. Visibility is usually 30-50 ft. around Anacapa and the water temps are a little cooler.
Santa Cruz
Once the largest privately owned island off the continental US, and now part-owned by the National Park service, Santa Cruz Island is the largest of the Channel Islands. Santa Cruz also boasts the most diverse of the islands in the area and although Cumming doesn’t spend a lot of time around Santa Cruz, he still says it is a good place to dive. “There are a lot of caves and caverns,” Cumming says. “Diablo Point Cave is popular for cavern dive training.” The Santa Cruz Island Fault line could be the cause of the 77 miles of craggy coastline cliffs, giant sea caves, crystal clear tide pools, and huge beaches.
The Northwest section of the island is volcanic with steep faces and large sea caves. The Southeast section is more sedimentary with large plateaus and thick kelp beds. Santa Cruz offers more places to find good diving during rough weather periods than any other island due to its size and many coves. Seals, sea lions, bat rays, and many schools of fish are common sights while scuba diving along this island’s shores.
According to Underwater photography Guide (www.uwphotographyguide.com) the dive sites not to miss on Santa Cruz Island include:
- Gull Island - This marine reserve has lush kelp, large fish, sea lions and harbor seals, and large patches of purple hydrocoral in shallow water. Southwest side of Santa Cruz.
- West end Pinnacles - Great structure, pinnacles, sand channels, excellent macro life. Often not diveable due to exposed nature. This is the extreme west end of Santa Cruz.
- Painted Cave area - Sea lions, rich marine life, many walls nearby. On the north side of the western half of the island.
- Bowen Point - Lush kelp forests, good structure, torpedo rays. On the south side.
- Potato Rock - Potato rock is a small pinnacle with good macro life and nudibranchs.
- Flame Reef - located near the east end on the south side, flame reef is a great macro site filled with nudibranchs, small fish and other critters. If the current is not strong, do multiple dives here if possible.
“Both Santa Cruz and Anacapa have very diverse dive sites,” Cumming says. “There is something for everyone here which is why we enjoy going out there so much.” Cumming himself, a long time diver, prefers to dive the northern Channel Islands as well. He recommends putting the area on your bucket list for sure.
There are islands to the south in the Channel Islands chain including San Clemente, Santa Catalina, and the popular Santa Barbara Islands. “It is just an area that offers so much more in terms of sea life and diverse underwater landscape,” says Cumming. “It offers divers a chance to do many different types of dives all in one area.”
Cumming’s business Calboat sports an 85 ft. dive boat called the Spectre. He says it takes about an hour and a half to get to the Santa Cruz and Anacapa dive sites. He makes runs which begin at 7 a.m. and pulls back in at 5 p.m. “I have been a licensed captain for 29 years and have spent the past 15 years as skipper of the Spectre,” Cumming offers. “I enjoy my job. The Spectre sleeps 32 divers and has a fresh water hot tub on board. We BBQ daily…dive-BBQ-Hot tub…that’s how it works.”
For more info on Calboats visit www.calboatdiving.com. ■
Master diver Mike Hughes takes you on a whirl wind tour of the inner sanctum of Inner Puget Sound. 
Often called the “Sunrise Side” because it is located on the east shoreline of Michigan, Alpena calls to divers from out of the past.
When you think of diving for tropical fish, you probably don’t think of Rhode Island...especially in late September.
Come visit Isla de Guadalupe with writer Bruce Watkins and see the best place to observe and photograph these fascinating animals.
Meet the newest member of the Dive News Network, and no we aren't talking about a person!
For over 15 years Ernie Arellano has been in the forefront of dive industry innovations for other companies but now Arellano is striking out on his own. 
