Scorpion Anchorage

Scorpion Anchorage sits on the northeast corner of Santa Cruz Island, in a mixed sand and cobble cove sheltered by a low headland on the east and the cliff that rises toward Cavern Point on the west. The Island Packers ferry from Ventura Harbor lands at a small dock at the back of the cove, and an NPS campground, a concession kiosk for snorkel and kayak rentals, and a network of trails up into the island's interior all sit above the beach. The shore-entry dive starts where the cobble meets the water at the east end of the cove and runs out into a kelp bed that drops gradually from the surface to forty or fifty feet on rock.

The cove is the most accessible water in Channel Islands National Park. The crossing is mild on settled days, the ferry runs daily in summer, and a snorkeler off the beach can be in clear water with kelp at eye level within minutes of landing. The site has carried that role since the 2003 reserve network closed the cove to take, and the recovery of the cove's fish life since then is a well-documented outcome of the reserve network.

Giant kelp anchored on the cove's rocky shelf and growing up through the water column to the surface makes Scorpion Anchorage a kelp forest biome. A rocky reef biome runs east from the cove out to the small island of Scorpion Rock, with cobble and boulder between the kelp patches.

Shore access is from the ferry dock and the beach. Charter boats also moor outside the cove, and kayaks rented at the concession paddle east toward Scorpion Rock or west toward Cavern Point through the sea caves. The day is set by the ferry schedule, which leaves about four to six hours on the island for diving. Conditions inside the cove are calm in most weather, but the outer cove turns surgy on north and northwest swell.

Fishing and spearfishing are not legal here. The Scorpion State Marine Reserve covers the cove, the entire northeast corner of the island past Cavern Point, and the offshore waters out to the matching federal reserve. All take of marine life inside the reserve is prohibited, including hook and line from the beach and the dock. Standard California recreational rules apply only east of the reserve boundary at 119°32.8′ W and south of 34°02.7′ N, both of which lie outside Scorpion Anchorage itself.

Potato Rock is a small pinnacle with macro life and nudibranchs near Potato Harbor, roughly three kilometers west of the Scorpion ferry landing along the same northeast shore of Santa Cruz Island. The pinnacle sits near the western boundary of the Scorpion State Marine Reserve and should be treated as no-take, with the same rules as Scorpion Anchorage. Access is by charter boat or by paddle from the Scorpion landing in calm conditions.