Adventure. Calculated risk. Adrenaline rushes.

While vacations with those kinds of characteristics may not be geared towards dryland-focused retirees who enjoy vacation cruises, food-and-alcohol centric hotel stays, or driving around in large recreational vehicles, the growing interest in darecations are reportedly trending in 2026.

Open water swimmers – of all ages, but especially for the over 50-year-old crowd – have long been spending their well-earned money on aquatic darecations.

Whether they swim long or in cold water, open water swimmers have long done destination swims (also known as bucket list swims or dream swims) throughout the world. Here is a small sampling of what is possible from Argentina to Canada.

As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the renowned German writer and statesman, emphasized a theme of urgency and proactive living: “Rest not! Life is sweeping by; Go and dare before it dies. Something mighty, something noble, leave behind to tell your story.”

Long Darecations

• Molokai Channel: swim amid massive water movement, huge waves, and marine life over 45 km between Oahu  and Molokai Island in the state of Hawaii
• Catalina Channel: swim through night with currents, waves, marine life over 32.3 km between Catalina Island  and Palos Verdes Peninsula on the Southern California mainland
• 36 km Travessia do Leme ao Pontal: swim in night with currents, waves, and marine life over 36 km in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Swim Around Key West: swim in warm water, blistering sun, and marine life over 20.1 km around Key West, Florida
• 20 Bridges Manhattan Island Swim: swim around the largest metropolitan area of the United State over 45.9 km in New York City
• Big Island Swim Challenge: swim 37 km in Ilha Grande in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Maui Channel Swim: swim with currents, waves, and marine life over 15.9 km between the islands of Lanai and  Maui in Hawaii
• Pennock Island Challenge: swim in cold, amid challenging currents and marine life around 13.2 km around  Pennock Island in Ketchikan, Alaska
• Santa Barbara Channel: swim in cold, amid currents and marine life over 19.6 km between Anacapa Island and the California mainland
• Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean: swim 32 km from shore to shore in cold, wavy water in Roberval, Quebec, Canada
• Trans Tahoe Relay: swim in cold water at high altitude over 15.5 km across Lake Tahoe in California
• Reto Acapulco: swim in warm, challenging waters over 22 km in Acapulco, Mexico 
• Los Cabos Open Water Swim: swim in warm, challenging, beautifully tropical water over 32 km from point to point ending in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• Corazón de Mar Bahía de Banderas: swim in warm, challenging waters over 34 km along the Pacific coast of Mexico across the Banderas Bay
• Cruce a Nado Río de la Plata Uruguay Argentina: swim across the Río de la Plata that separates Argentina from Uruguay
• SCAR Swim Challenge: swim 60 km over 4 days in 4 lakes in wildly variable water temperatures and conditions along the Salt River in the desert of Arizona
• Mount St Helens Classic: swim 61 km over 4 days in 4 lakes surrounding the Mount St Helens Volcanic Monument within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in the state of Washington
• Swim for Alligator Light: swim 14.8 km in Islamorada in the Florida Keys around the Alligator Lighthouse

Short Darecations

• Waikiki Roughwater Swim: swim 3.8 km across Waikiki Bay on Oahu in Hawaii
• The Bogue: swim in warm, current-challenging water over 5 km between Little Cayman Island and Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands
• Alcatraz Island: swim 2 km in cold, swirling currents between Alcatraz Island and Aquatic Park in San Francisco Bay in northern California
• Bonaire EcoSwim: swim 1 km, 2 km, 3 km, 5 km, or 10 km in the tropically warm waters of Kralendijk in Bonaire
• Barbados Open Water Festival: swim 1.5 km, 3.3 km, 5 km, or 10 km in tropically clear and warm waters of Carlisle Bay in Barbados
• El Cruce: swim 3 km or 10 km in tropically clear and warm water from Cancún to Isla Mujeres in Quintana Roo, Mexico
• Flowers Sea Swim: swim 1.6 km, 5 km or 10 km in tropically clear and warm waters along Seven Mile Beach on  Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands
• Nevis to St. Kitts Cross-Channel Swim: swim 4 km in tropically warm waters from Nevis to St. Kitts in the  Caribbean Sea
• Race For The Conch Eco-SeaSwim: swim 0.5 mile, 1 mile or 2.4 miles in the tropically warm, clear waters in Turks & Caicos
• St. Croix Coral Reef Swim: swim 1.6 km, 3.2 km or 8 km in the tropically warm, clear waters of St. Croix
• Great Bear Swim: a cold water lake challenge in the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada.

Cold Darecations

• An Ice Mile at the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston along the Boston Harbor in Massachusetts
• An Ice Mile in Lake Tahoe
• Vancouver Polar Bear Swim in English Bay, Vancouver, Canada
• Nado Frente al Glaciar Perito Moreno Parque Nacional Los Glaciares: ice swimming amid glaciers in the Perito Moreno Glacier National Park in Argentina
• Cruce a Nado del Canal Beagle Argentina-Chile: swim across the Beagle Channel, a strait separating islands of the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago in extreme southern South America between Chile and Argentina
• Swimming Camp Laguna del Inca Argentina-Chile: swim at 3,000 meters in the Andes Portillo area in Valparaiso, Chile in sub-5°C water
• Patagonia: ice swimming in Argentina at Steffens, O’Higgins, Grey, Calluqueo, Jorge Montt, and San Rafael in sub-5°C water
• Lake Titicaca: swim at 3,811 meters between Peru and Bolivia in sub-15° water
• Strait of Magellan: swim 2 km in the cold waters of Patagonia in southern Chile
• Cape Horn: swim 2 km in the cold waters of southern Chile

© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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