Channel Islands: UCSB Senior Year Bucket List

Senior year at UCSB meant trying to check off as many experiences as I could. At the top of my bucket list was making it to the Channel Islands. So when the opportunity presented itself, I pounced, blood pounding when a signup list came out for a trip in April. 

There were 15 of us girls, mostly strangers until we slowly gathered in front of UCSB’s Excursion Club house, exchanging names and distributing food while the sun rose over the ocean across the street, dusting the sky a light pink color. They would be my companions for the next two days, people I hoped to share my top senior year bucket list experience with.

After a 40 minute drive to Ventura, CA, we were on the ferry to Santa Cruz Island. In the middle of the channel, a pod of hundreds of dolphins raced our boat. They moved like synchronized swimmers, weaving and jumping in and out of each other as though controlled by a hive mind. The way they ride the current of the boat is mesmerizing, their bodies twisting and rolling effortlessly in the draft.

I had only ever seen a couple at a time when they surfaced near shore, but hanging over the hull a mere 15 feet above the water had the whole boat excitedly chirping. All the while, I was willing a whale to breach, telling everyone we had to see whales, it was just going to happen, it couldn’t not happen… Even as we docked. 

On the island, we hiked a little ways up from Prisoner’s Harbor to set up camp, passing the tiny foxes that scampered through the wild grasses. And then we set off on our first 10 mile hike. Suddenly our supposed luck in getting sunny weather was feeling more like dehydration, but it was all part of the experience.

The sun was blissful once we made it to Smuggler’s Cove on the other side of the island. We stretched ourselves out on the rocks, chatting, napping, and listening to music in between dips into the ocean.

On day two, I woke up ready to tackle the day, slipping on my fleece and sneakers just before dawn and running blind, bleary-eyed, and wobbly to catch up with my friend, Taylor. We hurried down to the water, a few girls trickling in behind us, and then up the bluff bordering a cove, just in time for the sunrise to bathe us in its gold.

The rarity of starting my day with a sunrise makes it an unparalleled moment of reverence. It’s not quite like the peace of the cool purples and blues of a sunset. It’s this energy, a giddiness of greeting the sun and starting the day while your world is still empty and slumbering.

While the horizon was still painted with light yellows, we found some of our group clustered on the beach. As they huddled up, we dressed down. It was grounding and freeing to jump into the water together, giggling and splashing around like kids before racing for the warmth of the sunrise and clothes. 

A sunrise skinny dip to embrace our bodies was the reason it was just women on the trip. Our guides wanted us to feel free to simply exist in our flesh. And what better place than camping on Santa Cruz island, no crowds, no leering eyes, just some foxes and women in the quiet of the morning. It felt like a powerful bonding of sisterhood and acceptance and love for the earth, the sea, ourselves, and each other. 

On the boat back, my whale prophecy came true. Two sets of two breaching humpback whales had me unable to close my mouth. There’s nothing like seeing whales and their gentle enormity and beauty that’s like seeing a mountain for the first time. I was stunned and the girls kept attributing them to my apparent magic. The trip left my psyche satiated by the nature, lack of cell service, and new friendships formed.

Check out more of my Senior Year here.