San Nicolas Island is the most northwesterly
of the four southern Channel Islands. Like its eastern neighbor San Clemente
Island, San Nicolas is a US Navy owned and operated island. Located 65
nautical miles southwest of the Point Mugu complex, San Nicolas Island is
the cornerstone in the Sea Range capabilities.
The waters surrounding the island are split into three zones that are
controlled by the Navy. Most charter diving is done on the north and west
sides of the island while the eastern side is generally off limits.
Divers
can enjoy diving expeditions offered through Horizon Charters. Thick forests
of giant kelp surround the entire island, attracting marine mammals, fish
and invertebrates. A diverse mixture of northern cold-water and
southern warm-water fish intermingle in the island waters. Sea fans, stars and anemones
and sea lions,
harbor seals and elephant seals are abundant at San Nicolas Island. They use
the island to raise their young and to rest between hunting excursions into
the ocean. www.horizoncharters.com
Divers
especially enjoy the majestic spire Begg Rock which rises 300 feet from the
ocean floor to the surface and is carpeted with invertebrate life!
Because of its instrumentation, isolated
environment, shoreline characteristics, San Nicolas Island is utilized for
test and training exercises, providing littoral warfare training, including
tri-service and theater warfare exercises. It also offers an environment
suited for classified operations. The main San Nicolas Island complex
provides complete housing, dining, recreation, transportation, and public
works support. Project billeting and logistic support is also available on
the island.
SNI is a Navy
owned and operated facility used as an instrumentation site. SNI is the
cornerstone in the Sea Range capabilities because of its land mass and depth
of surrounding waters. The main support facilities include a 10,000 foot
runway, an air terminal, housing, a power plant, a fuel farm and other
necessary base support functions. The main San Nicolas Island complex
provides complete housing, dining, recreation, transportation, and public
works support. Project billeting and logistic support is also available on
the island.
San Nicolas Island has extensive telemetry collection facilities including
three 30 ft, two 20 ft, one 8 ft, and 7 ft diameter antennas. Signals can be
recorded and routed to the Point Mugu operations complex for best source
selection. The SNI Telemetry Collection Facility also provides real-time
reception, recording and relay of telemetry data. SNI supplies this
telemetry data to Point Mugu for processing and display. Telemetry signals
are received through land-based antennas located at SNI and sent in
real-time by a fiber optic cable and/or microwave to Point Mugu. The best
source signals are then sent by fiber optic cable to the TDC, located in the
ROC for real-time processing and display. The SNI telemetry facilities are
ideally located to support operations throughout the Sea Range as well as
strategic and space launches from the Western Range (WR), Vandenberg Air
Force Base (VAFB). The capability to record and display Miss Distance
Indication (MDI) and video Doppler data is also available. Nearly all major
users of the Sea Range rely on telemetry support from SNI.
A 460-foot-long pier includes mooring systems and a ramp to facilitate
offloading the barges. A new operations building, and transit shed for cargo
are also included. The pier built on the southeast end of the island is in
an area called Daytona Beach.
Below is a
list of the Channel Islands open to the public:
