Anacapa Island

As I mentioned on Spencer's birthday blog, his present was snorkeling with Dave at the Channel Islands. They went this past weekend, and I think they had an amazing time. Dave took him out of school a little bit early Friday (to avoid Memorial Day weekend traffic) and drove down to stay with friends in Thousand Oaks. They had to be at the dock in Oxnard (half an hour away from Thousand Oaks) at 7:15 Saturday morning for the 8:00 boat to Anacapa Island. Their boat is the one directly behind Spencer. It sat about 20 people on top and 20 on the bottom, and there was a little snack bar inside.

They were the first ones on the boat, so they got the best seats; although Dave said that Spencer didn't sit much at all. He was running all around looking at things while everyone else just sat there.

They saw a dolphin as they were leaving the bay.

Then about halfway to the island they were met by a large pod of common dolphins. The captain estimated there were about 1000 of them! The boat slowed down and the dolphins swam all around them. It looked just like Blue Planet. They also saw a mink whale.

Approaching Anacapa, the closest of the Channel Islands to the California coast. It's 12 miles from Oxnard and takes 1 hour by boat.

They chose Anacapa because friends told them it was the best one for snorkeling and scuba diving. However there isn't a beach there - just a sheer cliff.

The boat dropped them off at a platform and left. There were steps to go up to the top of the island and steps to go down to the water.

They went snorkeling in the cove, but it was very cold - even with their wetsuits on. They brought frozen peas to lure the fish, but they didn't see as many fish as they did in San Diego last year. Dave was talking to a guy whose friend went to Catalina recently and he said there weren't as many fish there as usual either. And the water was colder than usual for this time of year, too.

Then they climbed up and explored the island. There was a lighthouse and a building used by the Navy years ago, but otherwise there wasn't anything up there. Not even trees or bathrooms.

The land in the distance is the California coast.

Apparently there were a bunch of nesting seagulls, and they were very protective of their chicks.

They even saw a chick cracking out of its shell.

The boat came back to pick them up at 12:00. Then they sailed around the island. The captain said there were a lot more seals than usual - perhaps that's why there weren't as many fish.

Then they headed back, ate calamari at an outdoor cafe and drove back home. Spencer excitedly told me every little detail as soon as he walked in the door. Dave gave me a kiss and immediately fell asleep on the couch. Tyler's already asking when he gets to go to the Channel Islands. I think 10 is a good age for a trip like this - they're old enough to take care of themselves yet still young enough that they're super excited about everything. It just might have to become a family tradition.

La Jolla Cove

Before our trip Dave did some research online and found out there was good snorkeling at La Jolla Cove Beach, just minutes from our hotel. It's protected by bluffs on either side and gets deep quick, so there are a lot of fish close to the shore.

As much as we love our local beaches, the water here is freezing. But down south it's nice and warm - no need for wet suits. Even I put on my swimming suit and got in, and it felt wonderful. We arrived at 9:00, and it was already sunny and warm.

It was great for exploring because there were lots of rocks and tide pools on one side. They found hundreds of hermit crabs, sea anemones and cool shells.

Brennan even ventured into the water a tiny bit, which he never does.

This was Spencer's first time snorkeling in the ocean, and Dave was amazed at how quickly he picked it up. We gave Dave a snorkel set for Father's Day, so the two of them swam all over the cove together and saw tons of fish.

We saw this fish the next day in one of the aquariums at Sea World, and they said they had seen bunches of them in the ocean.

Snorkeling was definitely one of Spencer's highlights of the trip. Here he is telling me all about it.

Then Dallin tried it out, but he just put his face in the water for about 2 seconds and was done. He and Tyler did a lot of body surfing, since boogie boards weren't allowed at this particular beach.

Tyler tried snorkeling too, but he just stayed close to the shore.

After a few hours at the cove, we went up the stairs to a huge grassy field overlooking the ocean and had a picnic lunch. I was glad we went to the beach early, because by the time we left it was getting really crowded there. We were going to go check out another beach in La Jolla to go boogie boarding, but we were all beached out and the boys wanted to go swimming at the hotel pool instead.