California's Channel Islands
The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America. Five of the islands comprise the Channel Islands National Park. Five islands -- Anacapa, Santa Cruz, San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Barbara Islands and waters surrounding them for six nautical miles were made into the Channel Islands National Park in 1980.
Channel Islands in Southern & Central California
National Parks - Area mi -Tallest Summit - Feet
Anacapa 1.14 Ventura Summit 2, 930
Santa Cruz 96.51 Devils Peak 2450
Santa Barbara 1.02 Signal Hill 634
San Clemente military 56.81 Vista Point 1965
San Nicolas military 22.75 907
Santa Catalina residential 74.98
Mount Orizaba 2123
Santa Catalina Island is the only one of the eight islands with a resort, the city of Avalon, and the unincorporated town of Two Harbors. While this southern to central California coast attraction is amazing, the beauty of the underworld continues on in Monterey.
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) is a Federally protected marine area offshore of California's central coast. Stretching from Marin to Cambria, the MBNMS encompasses a shoreline length of 276 miles and 6,094 square miles of ocean. Supporting one of the world's most diverse marine ecosystems, it is home to numerous mammals, seabirds, fishes, invertebrates and plants in a remarkably productive coastal environment. The MBNMS was established for the purpose of resource protection, research, education, and public use of this national treasure. The MBNMS is part of a system of 13 National Marine Sanctuaries and one marine national monument, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration