Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Island swims are solo, stage, competitive, relay or charity open water swims or swim vacations to, from, on, in, near or around islands in any open body of water.
There are tens of thousands of island swims around the world. The World’s Top 100 Island Swims for 2019 include the following, listed alphabetically:
World’s Top 100 Island Swims:
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 Calabria in southern Italy
78. Strel Swimming Adventures Croatian Island Hopping, 7-day swim vacation in the Adriatic Sea along Croatia´s Dalmatian Coast based on the small island of Krapanj
79. Swim Around Charleston, 19.3 km circumnavigation swim around Charleston, South Carolina
80. Swim Around Key West, 20.1 k