A Guide to the Best of Southern California : EXCURSIONS : Island Hopping

Too few Californians get to know the quiet side of the Golden State.

But Channel Islands Adventures can help change that. The tour operator’s planes take off in Camarillo and land not far away in a place with pristine beaches, rolling meadows and coastal mountains scarcely touched by people.

You can do the day trip ($135), which includes an aerial view of three of the islands, stops on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz, a big lunch, and a guided tour, via four-wheel-drive vehicle, of Santa Cruz’s tide pools and beaches.

Or spring for the three-day escape (starting at $297) to Christy Ranch. Guests stay in either a 1800s-era--except for the modern plumbing--ranch house or bunkhouse in the heart of the Nature Conservancy’s 54,000-acre preserve on Santa Cruz Island. The buildings are set in a meadow and separated by a creek that runs to the ocean. There’s nothing to do but hike, surf-fish, watch for whales--in a word, relax.

Channel Islands Adventures, 305 Durley Ave., Camarillo; (805) 987-1678 .