California Diving News: Island Reef, Anacapa Island Dive Site

Anemone

Island Reef
Island Reef is isolated from the rest of rocky Anacapa Island and its submerged rocks by a sea of surrounding sand, hence the name. The massive rock structure occupies about half an acre underwater, but what makes this particularly interesting are the perimeters of the reef. In some locations the rocks rise vertically from the sand bottom over 30 feet in a spectacular wall adorned with colorful marine life.

The most pronounced wall is on the north east side of the reef. Here, jumbled boulders on sand at 55 feet deep are at the base of a rock wall that reaches to a pinnacle only 19 feet beneath the surface. The boulders hold a few lobster, most small, and a variety of rockfish.

Along the perimeters of Island Reef are colorful walls

This is a great macro photo spot, both for invertebrate photos and fish pictures. The rocks, sand and gravel at the base of the cliff also hold beautiful tube, telia, and moonglow anemones. Gobys flit about the rocks. Up the cliff face corynactis anemones wall paper with color in shades of pink, lavender and red. Here and there are rock scallops, although none particularly large. This is good nudibranch territory with Spanish shawls being particularly abundant but also dorids and hermissenda. Additional color is provided by the many stars here, including bat stars in their various shades and patterns, blue gray giant spined stars, and the bright orange-red blood stars.

There are other walls elsewhere. A 20-foot wall is on the shoreward side of the reef with a small overhang. All along these walls are healthy stands of colorful gorgonian, including red, gold and purple gorgonian.

The top of the reef has ridges and mini-walls with an average depth of 35 feet. Between some of the ridges are patches of ivory sand. Life is not as plentiful on the top of the reef but worth exploring for the pinnacles here and there rising to about 20 feet. Channels, some 15 feet deep, lead away from the top of the reef at some points. The channels are dotted with beautiful stands of gorgonians. It is in the channels and sand patches that halibut sometimes reside.

Kelp growth across the top of the reef is seasonal and can go from very thin to moderately thick. Because the kelp can be thin at times, and is often laid over in current, this is not always a reliable way to find the reef. Water clarity here is usually pretty good, averaging 30 to 40 feet, so often the reef can be spotted from the surface.

This dive site has other distinct advantages. Being on the south side of the island, Island Reef is protected from the prevailing northwest wind and weather. Swells can sometimes come in from the open ocean to the south, but because the reef is about 200 yards away from the shoreline and a bit deeper than other reefs in the area, this is a good choice to avoid surge. Another advantage is the number of excellent dive sites nearby. Just to the north is Coral Reef, ranked by many as the best dive in all the Northern Channel Islands. Sections of Coral Reef are deeper so you can make your first dive here and then a second dive at Island Reef. If it’s calm, a great shallow dive is just inshore at a spot known as The Channels.

Experienced California divers know that for great diving, head to the “Island” — in this case, Island Reef.

Special thanks to dive boat Spectre for help in creating this article.

Black Perch

DIVE SPOT AT A GLANCE

Location: On the backside of West Anacapa Island west of Cat Rock. (GPS: W34°00.379', N119°25.837' For reference only. Do not use GPS as your sole source of navigation.)
Access: Boat only.
Skill Level: All.
Depths: 20 to 55 feet.
Visibility: Very good, averages 30 to 40 feet.
Photography: Excellent macro, good wide-angle at the drop-offs.
Hunting: A few small scallops and lobster, occasional halibut, little else.
Hazards: Currents.
Suggested Dive Charter Boats Frequently Serving This Area:
Spectre - (805) 483-6612
Peace - (805) 984-2025
Truth/Conception/Vision - (805) 962-1127
Liberty - (805) 642-6655
or see the California Scuba Calendar section of this issue for trips to Anacapa Island.

Dale Sheckler is Editor and Publisher of California Diving News, Producer of the annual SCUBA Show expo (each June in Long Beach, CA), and co-author of the book newly released A Diver's Guide to Southern California's Best Beach Dives, 3rd Edition.