Coral Reef (Anacapa)
Anacapa Island · Channel Islands National Park · California
Visibility Breakdown
Visibility by position
Solid = diver report · outlined = today's forecast
Post Break: The range past where any waves are forming, where the water starts to have a significant increase in visibility. There might be some sediment here, but swell energy is diffused and the water is calmer.
Open Water: This zone is far out enough from the shore that the water is at its clearest. It’s deep enough that sediment is not disturbed by the wave energy at the surface. Haze can sit near the surface, so the water is usually clearer the deeper you go.
Through the day
Today's visibility readings at this spot, shown at the hour each one was taken.
Every bar is a reading for the Post Break zone.
This chart shows measured diver reports only.
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Coastal Bulletin
About Coral Reef (Anacapa)
Why it reads 42 ft
Today's forecast runs
The clarity holds through the day, with a light afternoon onshore the only disturbance to the entry shallows.
High confidence
7-Day Forecast
Today is the live headline above. Tomorrow onward is the algorithm's forecast from predicted swell, wind, and rain, updated each morning and at 6 PM Pacific.
Map and parking
Channel Islands National Park · California
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See the offshore water on Pelagiscape →Clarity, temperature breaks and kelp off this beach.
About Coral Reef (Anacapa)
Coral Reef lies on the seaward side of the west end of West Anacapa Island, a set of two or three rocky reefs running parallel to the island in twenty-five to ninety feet of water. The name comes from the dive community rather than from any hard coral. The reef has no tropical coral at all and is instead carpeted with encrusting anemones and sponges in lavender, yellow, pink, and orange, plus a famous brittle-star carpet between sixty and eighty feet that is the deepest section of the site. The dense invertebrate cover and the brittle-star carpet make it one of the most photographed dive sites in the park.
Species found here
Researched habitat and range candidates. A listed species may be seasonal or depth-limited; this is not a confirmed sighting at this location.
Spot strategies
Surf Zone
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