Santa Barbara Island
4Heads up2 park alerts, one naming this campground · 2 fires, nearest 44 mi
- Right now
- Santa Barbara Island Dock Closed; Landings Restricted to Adjacent Rocky LedgeInformation naming this campground · open
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 2110 on recreation.gov
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 17 notices
In the agency’s own words
Once visitors have scaled the rugged cliffs using the steep trail from the Landing Cove, they will be rewarded with a campground perched on the bluffs with magnificent coastal views. Santa Barbara lies much further south than the other four northern Channel Islands and is the smallest, measuring just one square mile. The islands' native vegetation is recovering slowly with the help of the National Park Service's restoration efforts. This recovery, along with the removal of nonnative predators, has aided in the reestablishment of nesting land birds and seabirds. Keep reading
The island is one of the most important seabird nesting sites within the Channel Islands, with 11 nesting species, including western gulls, California brown pelicans, three species of cormorants, three species of storm-petrels, and one of the world's largest colonies of Scripps's murrelets. The rocky shores of Santa Barbara Island also provide resting and breeding areas for California sea lions, harbor seals and northern elephant seals.
Recreation
With five miles of hiking trails, ocean access nearby the campground and generally good weather, Santa Barbara Island offers a variety of recreational activities, including hiking, swimming, snorkeling, diving, kayaking and wildlife/wildflower viewing. Since Santa Barbara Island is a cliff island, access to the water is only at the Landing Cove via a dock. There are no other accessible beaches unless you have a watercraft. There are no services on the island, so all gear has to be brought to the island. For more information about recreational activities in the park, visit https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/index.htm .
Facilities
Santa Barbara Island Campground offers 10 campsites (4 persons per site). Camping is primitive and campers must bring their own food, equipment and water. Picnic table, food storage box and pit toilet are provided. Distance from landing to campground is a quarter-mile and includes a 200-foot climb. Access to the island is by Island Packers Cruises or by private boat. Due to the Island Packer boat schedule, minimum stay is generally three days.
Natural Features
Steep cliffs on this small island rise above rocky shores and give way to a grassy mesa flanked with twin peaks. The highest point, Signal Peak, is 635 feet in elevation.
Nearby Attractions
The Landing Cove near the campground is an ideal place for swimming, diving, snorkeling and kayaking, but there are no lifeguards on the island. The island is also home to just over five miles of trails that meander over gentle slopes and low mountain tops to dramatic overlooks and magnificent coastal views. All hikers must stay on the trails for visitor safety and to protect fragile vegetation and nesting seabirds. No off-trail hiking is allowed. Portions of trails are subject to closure when pelicans are nesting from January through August.
What the agency tells you
Santa Barbara Island may only be reached by boat. Visitors are required to arrange boat transportation to the island before reserving a campsite. Contact the park's authorized concessioner Island Packers or use your own private boat.
Camping reservations are required prior to arriving on the island. There are NO walk-ups at this facility.
One party or group may reserve a maximum of 2 individual sites per visit. There are 10 individual campsites. Max 4 people per site.
Everything else this campground posts · 14
Upon arrival, meet ranger at beach, landing dock or campground. However, park staff is not always available on the island. Please have confirmation letter, receipt, or campsite number with you.
Hike In Distance to Site: 1/4 mile. Visitors must carry all their own gear.
Primitive camping. Tent camping only, no electricity/water/sewer site hook-ups at this campground. Bring low profile tents and extra food for weather delays. No shelter or shade. Picnic table, food storage box, vault toilet provided. Must bring your own water. No stores or services.
Quiet time is enforced at 10:00 pm. Check-in and check-out times are at 11:00 a.m.
Proper food and trash storage is required. Food/Trash storage lockers are provided at each site. Recommend hard-sided container (i.e. action packer) to further protect food/garbage from animals.
Visitors are required to pack out what they pack in, including garbage.
No campfires or charcoal fires. Only enclosed gas camp stoves are allowed.
Smoking is only allowed on the dock.
Avoid contact with deer mice. Hantavirus has been found in island deer mice. For more information visit: https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/hantavirus.htm.
To help prevent the introduction of nonnative species the following items may not be brought to the park: pets; live or potted plants; soil; cut flowers; firewood or any untreated, unfinished wood (including hiking sticks); corrugated boxes; tools or equipment with attached soil; motorized vehicles; bicycles; and single-use plastic grocery bags. Prior to departure, visitors are required to use pest-proof packing materials, inspect and clean their gear and shoes of all soil, seeds, and insects. Learn more about biosecurity and watch the required video at Protect Your Park Through Biosecurity.
No fishing in marine reserves. California fishing license and ocean enhancement sticker required to fish outside marine reserves.
Kayakers: ocean conditions can rapidly change, requiring expert abilities. Ocean kayaking is an inherently dangerous activity. Always check weather and do not kayak beyond your experience level.
Since Santa Barbara Island is a cliff island, access to the water is only at the Landing Cove via a dock. There are no other accessible beaches unless you have a watercraft.
No off- trail hiking is allowed. Portions of trails are subject to closure when pelicans are nesting from January through August.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 21 · 20 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Not allowed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
Around the campground
- On the water
- Beach, Coast
- Birding
- Boating
- Fishing
- Guided Interpretive Walks
- Hiking
- Information Site
- Ranger programs
- Picnicking
- Ranger Station
- Sailing
- Scuba Diving
- Sea Kayaking
- Snorkeling
- Swimming
Something open on 30 of the next 30 bookable nightsread 15:58 UTC
recreation.gov lists 10 of the 21 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:58 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
21 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 21 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 10 of the 21 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 20 of the 21 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND | TENT NONELECT | type not stated | ||||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 30.3 mi | 192 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 001 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 30.3 mi | 213 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 002 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 61 ft | 30.3 mi | 253 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 003 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 63 ft | 30.3 mi | 321 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 004 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 005 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 005A | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 30.3 mi | 346 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 005B | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 30.3 mi | 374 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 006 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 30.3 mi | 360 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 006 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 60 ft | 30.3 mi | 420 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 007 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 68 ft | 30.3 mi | 487 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 008 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 81 ft | 30.3 mi | 562 ft | $15 |
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 009 old | tent only nonelectric | $15 | |||
| SANTA BARBARA ISLAND AREA | 010 | tent only nonelectric | $15 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Anacapa IslandChannel Islands National Park · 42 mi
Circle X Ranch Group CampgroundSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation Area · 44 mi
Scorpion Canyon CampgroundChannel Islands National Park · 50 mi
Santa Cruz Island ScorpionChannel Islands National Park · 50 mi
Santa Cruz Island Del Norte BackcountryChannel Islands National Park · 52 miPrisoners Harbor CampgroundChannel Islands National Park · 53 miBoat transportation can be arranged with Island Packers from Ventura Harbor.
To park headquarters in Ventura, California: Highway 101, exit Victoria or Seaward to Ventura Harbor.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Malibu, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 54°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 44°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Santa Barbara Island is in California’s 24th congressional district. Its representative, Salud Carbajal (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →