So close, but yet so far. That’s how many residents in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties feel about a trip to the Channel Islands.
As the crow flies, it is a reasonable distance — comparable to a work commute, but the Pacific Ocean serves as a huge roadblock adding hours to most people’s already overbooked lives.
There is an alternative. Now, it’s possible to fly to Santa Rosa Island from either the Santa Barbara or Camarillo airports.
Channel Islands Aviation offers day and camping trips to the famed island noted for its surrounding turquoise water, kelp beds, and indigenous flora and fauna. Part of the Channel Islands archipelago, known as the North American Galapagos, Santa Rosa is home to Arlington Springs Man, human remains dated to 13,000 years ago, and fossils of pygmy mammoths.
The airplane ride, which affords breathtaking views of land and sea, is 25 minutes. Tour groups are intentionally kept small and led by National Park Service docents.
The Channel Islands National Park is part of the National Park Service. For day trips, there are two departures, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Camping trip schedules vary.
Channel Islands Aviation is one of the few companies in the United States to operate Britten-Norman Islanders planes and is the only bush-flying operation in Southern California. Click here for more information, or call 805.987.1301.
— Jennifer Goddard is a publicist representing Channel Islands Aviation.
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