Surviving the Lagoon at the International Ocean Film Festival.

Fiji. Tahiti. Mo’orea. Samoa. Barbados. U.S. Virgin Islands. Bonaire.

There are just a few locations where open water swimmers can encounter the marine life in and around coral reefs in established events.

Surviving the Lagoon, directed by Gilles Kebaïli and Manuel Lefevre, is being showcased tonight at the 16th International Ocean Film Festival and reminds us about the vibrant life of these unique ecosystems.

The 2019 World’s Top 100 Island Swims include many swims where swimmers swim around, over and through coral reefs:

1. 20 Bridges Manhattan Island Swim 45.9 km around Manhattan Island, New York City

2. 358 Swim, 3 km, 5 km and 8 km along the Hamilo Coast at the Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club, Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines

3. Alcatraz Island swims, 2 km between Alcatraz Island and Aquatic Park in San Francisco Bay, California

4. Apolima Strait Swim, 22.3 km inter-island swim across the Apolima Strait between Upolu and Savai’i, Samoa

5. Bali Ocean Swim, 1.2 km, 5 km and 10 km on Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia

6. Barbados Open Water Festival, 1.5 km, 3.3 km, 5 km, 10 km in Carlisle Bay, Barbados

7. Beach-to-Beach Power Swim, 1 mile, 2.25 miles, 3.5 miles in Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Hawksnest Bay in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

8. Beginish Island Swim, 6.43 km around Beginish Island in Co. Kerry, Ireland

9. Bermuda Round-the-Sound, 0.8 km, 2 km, 4 km, 7.25 km and 10 km in Bermuda

10. BEST FEST, a 10-race 7-day competition in Mallorca, Spain

11. BISRA GaddinAbtGarnish, 1 km, 3 km, 5 km and 7 km around Garnish Island in Glengarriff, Co. Cork, Ireland

12. Bonaire EcoSwim, 1 km, 2 km, 3 km, 5 km, 10 km in Kralendijk, Bonaire

13. Canal de Menorca, 37 km between the Balearic Islands of Menorca and Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea

14. Caramoan 7K Swim Challenge, 3.5 km and 7 km between islands in Camarines Sur, Philippines

15. Catalina Channel, 32.3 km crossing between Santa Catalina Island and the California mainland

16. Cebu Strait, 12 – 16 km strait crossing from Cabilao Island to Argao on Cebu Island in the Philippines

17. Cocos International Crossing, 3.52 km crossing from Cocos Island to Guam

18. Cook Strait, 23 km between North Island and South Island in New Zealand

19. Cork Distance Week, 8-day swim camp including the Body Brain Confusion Swim in Sandycove Island and Sherkin Island in Cork, Ireland

20. Croatian Elaphiti Islands – Dubrovnik, 5-day swim vacation in the southern Dalmatian Coast along Croatia’s Elaphiti islands

21. Croatia Open Water Swim Cruise, 9-day swim vacation from Split and around Dalmatian Islands in the Adriatic Sea, ending in the 16 km Faros Challenge

22. Curaçao Channel Crossing, 26.1 km from Klein Curaçao to Curaçao

23. Deception Island, 1 km in South Shetland Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula

24. Duke of Marlborough Hotel Bay of Islands Classic, 3.3 km, 750m, 300m, 200m and 100m from Paihia to Russell, New Zealand

25. El Cruce, 3 km and 10 km from Cancún to Isla Mujeres in Quintana Roo, Mexico

26. Enoshima – Jogashima Channel, 21 km island-to-island crossing in eastern Japan

27. Escape from Mañagaha, 2.4 km channel crossing between Saipan and Mañagaha in the Northern Mariana Islands

28. Escape from Spike Island, 1.8 km in Cobh Harbour, Ireland

29. Fastnet Rock, 6.5 km on the most southerly point of Ireland

30. Fiji Swims, at Treasure Island and Beachcomber Island, Fiji

31. FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series, 10 km professional marathon swim in New Caledonia

32. Five Islands Challenge, including 7.4 km Manono Island Swim, 5 km Fanuatapu – Namu’a Islands Swim, ​5 km Namu’a Island to Lalomanu Swim, 5.3 km Nu’usafe’e Island Swim, 3.5 km Matautu Island Swim in Samoa

33. Flowers Sea Swim, 1.6 km, 5 km and 10 km on Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands

34. Freedom Swim, 7.4 km from Robben Island to Big Bay in Cape Town, South Africa

35. Generation Homes Sand to Surf, 2.6 km and 1.25 km around Moturiki Island in Mt Maunganui, New Zealand

36. Greek Symi Swimming Odyssey, 7-day swim vacation on Symi Island in the Dodecanese group located near Rhodes, Greece

37. Guernsey, 48.28 km around the island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy

38. Île du Diable (Devil’s Island), 14 km off the coast of French Guiana in South America

39. Île d’Oléron, 3 km to French mainland

40. Inisbofin Swim, 12.8 km from Inishbofin to Connemara, County Galway, Ireland

41. Isle of Wight, 90 km circumnavigation swim in the English Channel

42. Kapiti Island Swim, 5.6 km between Kapiti Island and North Island in New Zealand

43. Lake Toba Festival – World Super Swim, 3-day 117.6 km circumnavigation relay around Samosir Island, North Sumatra, Indonesia

44. Linden Scott Swim Around Gasparee Island, 5.6 km around Gasparee Island in Trinidad & Tobago

45. Malta-Gozo-Malta Open Water Swimming Competition, 5.5 km and 11 km in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily, Italy

46. Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, 36 km from Capri to Napoli, Italy

47. Marnaton eDreams Formentera, 4 km and 11 km on Formentera, Spain [see video above]

48. Maui Channel Swim, 15.9 km relay between the islands of Lanai and Maui in Hawaii

49. Mercer Island Marathon Swim, 20 km around Mercer Island, Washington

50. Moz Coral Open Water Race, 10 km from Haapiti – Site Tiahura on Mo’orea, Tahiti

51. Naples Island Swims, 200m, 500m, 1 km, 1.6 km and 4.8 km in Long Beach, California

52. Navarino Challenge, 1.6 km in Navarino Bay at the port of Pylos in Greece’s Ionian Sea

53. Nevis to St. Kitts Cross-Channel Swim, 4 km from Nevis to St. Kitts in the Caribbean Sea

54. Okinawa Uruma Hamahiga Open Water Swim, 0.4 km, 0.8 km, 1.6 km and 3.2 km on Hamahiga Island in Okinawa, Japan

55. Palk Strait, 59 km between India and Sri Lanka

56. Pennock Island Challenge, 13.2 km around Pennock Island in Ketchikan, Alaska

57. Perhentian Island Marathon Swim, 16 km circumnavigation swim in Pulau, Perhentian Besar in Malaysia

58. Quicksilver Reef Swim – Green Island, 1.5 km and 3 km from Green Island in the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, northeastern Australia

59. Race For The Conch Eco-SeaSwim, 0.5 mile, 1-mile and 2.4-mile in Turks & Caicos

60. Rathlin Swim Challenge, 11.3 km from Rathlin to Bellycastle in Northern Ireland

61. Rattlesnake Island Swim, 3.1 km and 7 km across Okanagan Lake in Peachland, British Columbia, Canada

62. RCP Tiburon Mile, 1.6 km from Angel Island to Tiburon, California

63. Rottnest Channel Swim, 19.7 km from Cottesloe Beach to Thomson Bay on Rottnest Island in Western Australia

64. Round Jersey, 65.9 km circumnavigation swim around the Island of Jersey in the middle of the English Channel

65. Sado Channel Crossing, 40 km prison island swim from Sado Island to Niigata Prefecture on Honshu in northern Japan

66. St. Croix Coral Reef Swim, 1.6 km, 3.2 km and 8 km in St. Croix in the Caribbean Sea

67. Saipan Swim Club Ocean Swim, 0.6 km, 1 km, 1.3 km, 2.5 km in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

68. Sandycove Island Challenge, 2 km around Sandycove Island, Kinsale, Co Cork, Ireland

69. Santa Barbara Channel, 19.6 km between Anacapa Island and the California mainland

70. Santa Cruz Channel, 30.5 km between Santa Cruz Island and Oxford on the California mainland

71. Santorini Experience, 1.6 km on Santorini Island, Greece [see video above]

72. Sherkin Island Swim, 2 km from Sherkin Island to the Cork mainland, Ireland

73. Shonan Open Water Swim, 800m, 2.5 km and 10 km from Zushi to Enoshima in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

74. Singapore Open Water Swim Stars, 1 km and 3.5 km at the Sea Sport Center in Singapore

75. Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union Sea Swim, 3.2 km in, Colombo, Sri Lanka

76. Strait of Bonifacio, 11 km between Corsica (France) and Sardinia (Italy) in the western Mediterranean Sea

77. Strait of Messina, 3.1 km between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Ca