Ventura is one of those towns that's best known for being on the way to someplace else. You might have blown past it heading to Santa Barbara or L.A., but there are good reasons to pull off the freeway here instead. For one, it's the jumping-off point for the startkly beautiful Channel Islands, a must-do for any California camper. One of our least-visited national parks, it deserves to have that fact reversed—although as long as it sits under the radar, all the better for the canny travelers who have it to themselves.
Day 1: Your blast of nature begins with a ride to Anacapa Island on an Island Packers ferry, during which you'll probably see schools of dolphins pacing the boat. They're so close to the bow it seems as though they're about to be sucked under, but they know what they're doing. You may have to move around the boat a bit to escape the squeals of ecstasy from fellow passengers as they watch doplphins play, though.
Home to the biggest brown pelican rookery in the nation and the rare Xantus's murrelet, Anacapa is a bird-watcher's fantasy. Wander the flower-carpeted island, peer at seea lions off the cliffs, and listen to the birdsong and the foghorn.
Back in Ventura, if you're staying at the quirky Pierpont Inn and Racquet Club, take time to wash off the salt spray and play a set or two before dinner. The rooms of the historic ocean-view inn, a refuge for Golden Age film stars like Bette Davis and Charlie Chaplin, feel like a series of time capsules moving from Arts and Crafts to Spanish revival. Sadly, it's smack up against the Ventura Freeway—the inn came first, in 1910, and wasn't able to fend off the 101—so you'll want to follow up a night or two here with a little camping on the islands. Still, the inn has more character than most hotels in town, and the Pierpont's athletic club, with tennis, squash, and racquetball and two big pools, goes a long way toward remedying the freeway's intrusion.
A find downtown is 71 Palm, a relaxing French country kitchen run by the delightfully bubbly Didier Poirier. Maybe you wouldn't expect to come across fish soup this good or monkfish in lobster sauce in Ventura, but suspend your disbelief. Poirier explains that local folks expect big portions, hence the 16-ounce rib eye.
HOW TO GO: Direct flights to LAX from SFO up to 15 times daily on United; direct flights from Oakland up to 22 times daily on Southwest. Rent a car (it's about an hour-and-a-half drive) and head up the coast.
BEFORE YOU GO: When planning your trip, book guided kayaking and transportation to and from Santa Cruz Island through Channel Islands Kayak Center first, then reserve your campsite through the National Park Reservation Service.
Day 2: Breakfast the next day only proves Poirer's point. Whether you opt for Sunday brunch at the Pierpont, where you can nosh on calamari steak and Belgian waffles, or linger over your paper at the nearby Café Nouveau with chile verde and eggs or an omelet packing shrimp, crab, and scallops, you'll be in need of a little exercise. A 17-mile haul up to woodsy Ojai should do the job. You can rent wheels at the pier at Ventura Bike Depot. By the time you get back to Ventura you'll be hungry again, naturally, so clean up and check out chic Westside Cellar Café & Lounge. The savvy waiters there know how to pair tastes of a staggering ensemble of wines with small plates ranging from halibut seviche to butter-tender duck capped off by pot de crème.
Before bed, drag yourself to the market to stock up for a couple of days' worth of camping.
In the morning, pack up your backpack (you'll need to walk a ways to the campground) and head for your kayaking jaunt and overnight stay at Santa Cruz Island, or skip the camping and return the same day if you prefer.
DON'T MISS: whale-watching season. June through September for blue whales; late December through March for grays.
Days 3-5: With a mellow guide from Channel Islands Kayak Center, which also rents you the equipment, you'll tour the corrugated arches of sea caves carved out by the lapping and crashing of ocean waves over the centuries. Seals will bob up and check you out as you skim along clear water over kelp forests, and bright starfish clinging to rocks will lure you over to look at them. If the tide is right, you can even ride some of the swells around sharp corners in the caves, with no points deducted for bashing your paddle into the cliffs. You don't need to be an expert paddler for this excursion; still, it's best to go on a fairly calm day, since swells determine how many of the caves you can visit. (The water's usually calmest in late summer and early fall—come winter, tours don't go out every day.) The center will help you suss out upcoming conditions.
After a day's kayaking, while the day-trippers pile back onto their boat to head for the mainland, you'll fetch your gear from the beach near the dock and stroll a half mile to your bare-bones campsite. Imagine drifting off in deep, primal silence, except for the rustles and calls of the burrowing owls and seabirds, under a sky full of stars. When the sun wakes you up, you can hike some of the 96-square-mile island, explore tide pools, bird-watch—or just loll on the beach and pretend you did.
DON'T FALL FOR: the notion that a guided tour means you don't have to pay attention. Buckle your freakin' helmet before you go into the caves!
MAKE LIKE A LOCAL: Wear layers, just like you do in San Francisco. You might be browning on a beach in Ventura or ducking salt spray on your way to the islands. And year-round, the islands are often quite windy and foggy.