SC Island, sea caves part 2, 10/2/11

I had another opportunity to paddle Santa Cruz Island On Oct first and second. Jim I led us on a fun adventure that makes me want more..much more. Check out the pics...

....why on earth don't I see any fishing rods on those kayaks?

a few more. We paddled more caves thn I can remember, but we did get to Elehant belly, Cavern Pt, in&out, ooh-Ah. the green room, boatwreck and dogleg, to name a few. Vis was very good, tide was high in the afternoon, and although it was windy it stayed warm and 'islandy".

....why on earth don't I see any fishing rods on those kayaks?

no-take zone Mooch. You could  paddle south, but with the caving and rock gardening, I was plenty busy.

....why on earth don't I see any fishing rods on those kayaks?

no-take zone Mooch. You could  paddle south, but with the caving and rock gardening, I was plenty busy.

That would be a hard pill for me to swallow

Looks like a great Adventure Sean...Sometimes just YAKING can be fun too.......i guess From the looks of it there were a lot of people out there, one big group?

That would be a hard pill for me to swallow

I fished the closed area in 2001 before the closure, and I blanked. I was told of big calicos, halibut, WSB, even yellowtail. But the immediate proximity to Scorpion Anchorage meant the area just got hammered.  I tried swimbaits and trolled lures for nada, and gave up after the second day of a 5 day trip.
If you look at a map the closure ends at Little Scorpion on the Anacapa side, and at potato harbor on the other side. Potato was once known as a hali spot. You could totally still fish, it would just be a paddle of 2-4mi to get to the grounds.  I did see several folks with fishing gear, and they caught nothing. Nowadays paddling there is more about rock gardens and paddling challenging water.
Plus, I get all the fish I need out of Santa Cruz

PS: another that will probably turn Mooch off was the "no SUP' rule aboard the Island Packer ferry. Not sure why that is, some of the tandem yaks they transport are bigger than an SUP, but it probably has to do with stowage and transport. They are pretty rough on the gear they load, but there isn't much choice due to safety concerns. It was gusting 24kts on Sunday.

MBP, yeah it was a busy day on the island. Probably 30 yaks OTW at least from several guided trips. However, you get spread out and we were paddling at a pretty "advanced" pace (no serious hangovers) so we were pretty much on our own the whole time. We never had to wait to get into any of the caves, and it mostly felt like we were there alone.

If anyone is interested contact AquaSports, their site is islandkayaking.com

Awesome!

Wow!  I didn't even know such places existed.  Thanks for sharing your adventure!  Gotta put that on my to-do list for me and my son!

Jonathan

looks like a great trip, though it must feel freaky at first

nice trip Sean.....i could leave the poles behind for a day trip like that!!  thanks for the pics!

Nice scenery!  Thanks for sharing the trip Sean.