Best Catalina Coves

At this point in your sailing and boating life, you may be ready to skip the Catalina mooring fields all together and try anchoring out for the day, overnight, or the entire weekend. You would want a place where you can go ashore and explore, check out the surrounding area by kayak, SUP, or dinghy, and be on your own. You are in the middle of the island exploring new possibilities, so read on to get better acquainted with…

Rippers Cove

Photo by Jamen Rhodes

Rippers Cove

Lat 33° 25.7’ N / Lon 118° 26.0’ W
Rippers Cove location and Windy Forecast here

Located about 8 NM west of Avalon and 3.5 NM east of Two Harbors, Rippers is easy to miss when you are sailing by. Closer inspection though reveals a bay that has protection from moderate W winds, and feels a bit like Emerald Bay, but without the moorings. The watercolor is beautiful when the sun is high.

Heading E from Two Harbors, you pass the old quarry to your starboard, and you will identify the houses on the beach ahead at Empire Landing – Rippers is the very next cove E of Empire Landing. Heading W from Avalon you will pass Long Point, Twin Rocks, Little Gibraltar. 1.4 NM W of Little Gibraltar, Rippers Cove will open to your port (noted on NOAA chart 18757 Santa Catalina Island).

Most boats anchor bow and stern, and this enables you to stay closer the western shore for more protection from the wind and waves.

Rippers Cove has good protection from S winds, only moderate protection from the W, and is wide open to the WNW, N, and E. Rippers is best in settled conditions. Avoid Rippers when whitecaps are rolling in from the WNW.

Anchoring at Catalina: No Moorings? No Problem by Marc Hughston

Rippers Cove Schematic with sonar-survey depth contours. Photo by Jamen Rhodes. Sonar survey and rendering by Marc Hughston.

Best Anchorage and Special Considerations

Rippers Cove can easily accommodate 6-8 boats anchored bow and stern, and there is room for more anchored further out on a single hook. The E side of the cove is a bit deeper, and this is where I often see larger motor yachts anchored.

My preferred anchorage is bow and stern lying W of the black rocks marking the middle of the beach. You can set your stern anchor in about 12’ to 15’, and bow in about 25’ to 35’, and you will lie in about 20’ with a sandy bottom. Note the grass on the sea floor in the aerial photo. Do your best to avoid this grass, aiming to drop your bow anchor in sand. The western border has rocks extending from the shore below the surface, and these are easiest to identify from on deck by noting the darker watercolor when the sun is still high.

During the high season, Memorial Day to Labor Day, expect the wind to start out of the SW and to shift during the day to W and WNW. There is often a light E wind overnight. Years ago, an instructor friend told me he anchored bow and stern a bit too close to the W side of the cove, which was okay when the W wind was blowing, but when it switched to a light easterly overnight, the boat blew toward the W shore and his keel connected with one of the rocks. Keep that in mind as you survey the anchorage and choose your spot.

Moorings

There are no moorings in Rippers Cove.

Going Ashore and Exploring

The rocky beach is open for landing anywhere, though camping is by permit only. Walking down the beach is easy, but the hillsides get steep quickly. McNeely reports that a strenuous hike will lead to Two Harbors by following trails from the cove that lead to the island’s main dirt road.

Times to Avoid Rippers Cove

Rippers Cove offers little real protection from the wind and waves and should be avoided when there are whitecaps rolling in, or a forecast of winds over 15 knots from the W, NW, N, or E. In other words, I rarely stop here in the winter and spring.

Conclusion

Rippers Cove is very enjoyable in calm conditions. The watercolor is turquoise when the sun is high, and the underwater visibility is usually quite good. The shore is open for landing and exploration. The anchoring is very straightforward, though using bow and stern anchors will enable you to lie closer to the better protected western side. Enjoy!