diving channel islands national park.
ventura harbor at sunrise.
for our tenth (and probably final) national park of the year, we decided to finally stop by channel islands national park. it's probably the closest one to us, but somehow we've never been. we booked a dive trip on spectre dive boat in ventura. they even provided rental gear (ready and waiting on the boat when we arrived to make things super easy).
looking back at ventura.
channel islands in the distance.
approaching anacapa island.
this was our first time diving in the kelp forests, and it was ridiculously amazing and beautiful and magical. we did a total of three dives, which was exhausting. the dives were also quite shallow (no more than 40 feet), so we stayed in the water for quite awhile on the first couple dives just exploring and observing. we were so exhausted during the third dive we came back up in less than 20 minutes! it probably didn't help that we got into ventura super late the night before so barely got any sleep, but it was definitely worth it in the end.
james in the kelp forest.
bbq lunch after dive two.
brownies and ice cream after dive three.
also, props to the crew of the spectre! not only were they super great getting us into and out of the water, the food was some of the best i've had on a dive and they even had a hot tub!
anacapa island lighthouse.
feeling small in the forest.
lobster trap full of lobsters!
i was definitely nervous at first and avoided going into the kelp, but once we got comfortable it was actually a very cool, surreal experience.
after the last dive, but before we headed back to the mainland, the crew took the boat past the lighthouse and arch rock. we left ventura the next morning, but next time we'll definitely take the extra day to step foot on some of the islands themselves!
arch rock, anacapa island.
