Painted Cave, Santa Cruz Island CA

Allow me to share with you our adventure that will unveil the enigma of the fourth largest sea cave in the world. It is called Painted Cave, because of the striking multicolored striations that adorn the walls of the sea cave, that come from a mix of naturally occurring minerals, lichens and algae, that creates a vibrant pattern of red, green, yellow and white.  The sea cave is a breathtaking masterpiece of mother nature, hidden within the rugged beauty of Santa Cruz Island, one of the northern Channel Islands off California's coast. It stretches 1,227 feet deep within the island and may even go back further! Exploration of the back of the cave is not thorough due to the sea lions that dwell in the darkest depths of the sea cave.

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Why isn't this breathtaking natural wonder more widely recognized? In every treasure movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, Uncharted, Treasure Island, Cutthroat Island, Blackbeard the Pirate, they all depict treasure buried in sea caves. Painted Cave is the perfect place for pirates of the pacific to hide treasure. Santa Cruz Island itself is covered with sea caves! Rumors have it that artifacts, maybe even treasure may yet to be found in one of the sea caves surrounding Santa Cruz Island, and why not within Painted Cave?

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I have long thought that treasure was buried on Santa Catalina Island, as everyone knows from my research of the evidence gathered by Charles Holder, the founder of the Tuna Club in Avalon, but now my interests have shifted to Santa Cruz Island.

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My husband, Chad and I met on Santa Catalina Island in 2013 and in 2020 we returned to live in Avalon for a year. Now, our upcoming trip is our final chapter in our explorations of the Channel Islands. Follow us as we investigate Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island with Island Packers and Channel Island Expeditions.

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Legends swirl around its depths, with whispers of the 16th-century Spanish explorer Cabrillo possibly resting in eternal slumber within its confines. Could this cavern guard secrets untold, or even a treasure buried in the echoes of time? The mere thought ignites the imagination!

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It invites intrepid explorers to uncover its wonders and perhaps write the next chapter in its ever-mysterious tale. Ready to dive into this living legend?  On this adventure we will get an up-close glimpse of what lives and is potentially hidden inside Painted Cave and the mysterious history surrounding Santa Cruz Island.