Which Has More Islands To Visit — The East Or West Coast?

There are quite a few islands to get through in the U.S. World Population Review put the total number at over 18,600, which would give the U.S. the fifth-highest number of islands on the planet! Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) lists over 17,000 entries for islands on its official database of geographical features in the country. The upshot? Short of picking Norway, Sweden, Canada, Finland, or possibly Indonesia for your next offshore adventure, the stars and stripes has the greatest variety of islands to visit on the whole darn globe.

But which coast has the most? There's actually one clear winner, because the East Coast has far more islands than the West Coast. Here are the workings: Using the aforementioned USGS geological features database, it's possible to get the total number of islands for individual states. Adding up those totals for each of the 14 oceanfront territories of the Eastern Seaboard gives an overall island count of over 8,000. Compare that to the mere 1,234 islands that the USGS lists for Washington, Oregon, and California combined — or even the 4,107 islands that exist in those three states plus Alaska and Hawaii — and it's easy to see that the Atlantic-facing side of the U.S. wins out.

In fact, of America's five states with the most islands, four are located on the East Coast, with Maine coming up trumps among those with a whopping 1,906 islands all of its own. The Pine Tree State is fast followed by Florida, home of the sun-splashed Keys, and then New York, which counts 885 islands in total. So, to put it simply: The East Coast is the place to go if the sheer number of islands is what stokes your wanderlust!

Going by the raw numbers, there are plenty more islands to visit on the East Coast of the United States. However, some isles are much more popular with travelers than others. Just compare Matinicus Isle, some of the furthest inhabited land off America's East Coast, with, say, Mount Desert Island, which sees up to 4 million visitors each year — it's home to the much-loved Acadia National Park, a stunning shock of mountains, and color-changing forests that roll straight into the ocean!

That said, the isles of the East Coast are generally more popular with visitors than their compadres to the west. On Travel + Leisure's 2025 list of favorite islands in the continental U.S., as voted by over 180,000 readers, a whopping nine of the top 10 are located out east. The top spot went to the aforementioned Mount Desert. This was closely followed by the white sands of Florida's Amelia Island, where you can wander Civil War forts by morning and hike through salt marshes and dune landscapes by afternoon.

There are also plenty of undiscovered gems amid the 8,000-plus isles that the Eastern Seaboard lays claim to. In a guide to 10 hidden islands in the region, Expeditions by Nat Geo points the way to the barrier isle of Cumberland in Georgia, for example. It's actually the largest barrier isle in the Peach State, but comes with great tracts of live oak forest, and a series of abandoned mansions dating back over a century!

Even though the West Coast has fewer islands to visit than the East Coast overall, island-loving travelers with their sights set on the Pacific-washed corner of the United States shouldn't be deterred. The region is still home to thousands of islands when you include Alaska and Hawaii. It should come as no surprise that Alaska alone boasts the most islands of any state, considering the fact that it's a territory bigger than California, Texas, and Montana combined!

Perhaps more to the point, the West Coast has some truly enticing isles up its sleeve. Rough Guides lists Cali's Channel Islands National Park as one of the most underrated in the Golden State, pointing out how the reserve sees just a fraction of the visitors seen at the likes of Yosemite National Park, but still offers epic whale watching and sea kayaking. There, you could hit up Santa Cruz Island to hike Diablo Peak and spot rare fox species. Or visit Santa Rosa Island, the second-largest, which brims with pristine white sand and ancient trees.

Washington state contributes 410 islands to the West Coast's total, which includes the 170-plus rocks that make up the San Juan chain. Travelers on Reddit pick out the most populous island of San Juan itself as the best for first-timers, since there's orca spotting, charming harbors, and oyster dining rolled into one.