Conjure up a mental image of an explosive “whoosh” of water and air – twice the size of a blue whale “spout” – horizontal and aimed right at you! Now combine that with a sudden roar as loud as a major waterfall.
That is what an island blowhole is like when we have massive swells pounding the rugged north shore of Santa Cruz Island as we did recently, and fairly often at this time of year.
That ragged, cliff-dominated shoreline features hundreds of small (and some not so small) sea caves and deep crevices. These rapidly and repeatedly fill with water as swells pour in, creating intense pressure from trapped air and the force of powerful open-ocean swells pounding the cliffs.
That’s when nature’s eruptive forces are unleashed, expelling (like exhaling) vast quantities of atomized water and air that look to me like a gigantic, pressurized vapor water cannon. Sometimes, when blowholes are active, a glorious rainbow will briefly form, mutate through a range of shapes and color bands, then dissipate just as quickly.
These phenomena are a sight to behold and to remember. Once you view these eruptive blowholes up close but at a safe distance, when big swells are running, you’ll be telling the story for years to come. This is a perfect story for telling around a blazing campfire on a dark evening.
A casual cruise along the face of the cliffs at Santa Cruz Island can suddenly be interrupted by these impressive horizontal spouts whenever a set of swells sweeps through. I’ve seen blowhole spouts spray a hundred feet and douse everyone aboard with water vapor.
It can be a scary moment but nearly always results in hysterical laughter, followed by much toweling off. Then folks tend to go for their smart phones to video the next set of swells and erupting blowholes.
It is difficult to predict exactly where blowholes will spout because different sea caves and crevasses are positioned at differing heights above sea level, and changes in tide and swell size activate different blowholes.
Given a high enough tide and big enough swells, maybe even Painted Cave can perhaps become a blowhole of epic proportions. I’m not sure I would want to be out there with swells that big.
The best chances of finding an active blowhole can be found from the west end eastward to roughly Twin Harbors. Once an active blowhole is spotted, it is likely to blow again and again until the tide or swell size change. Ready for an adventure? Go find some island blowholes.
