Meaning & use
island hopping
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
the activity of traveling from one island to another, usually for vacation.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural: 'We went island hopping.' Not 'an island hopping'.
Patterns
- go island hopping
- a week of island hopping
We spent our honeymoon island hopping around the Greek islands.
Island hopping is the best way to see the different beaches in the area.
The tour company offers a ten-day island hopping package for small groups.
adjectivebefore a noun
involving travel between several islands.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: an island-hopping trip. Don't use it after 'be'.
Patterns
- island-hopping trip
- island-hopping vacation
They booked an island-hopping cruise through the Caribbean.
Our island-hopping adventure included stops at five different ports.
Common combinations
- go island hopping
- Last summer we went island hopping in Thailand.
- island-hopping trip
- She planned an island-hopping trip for her birthday.
- island-hopping vacation
- An island-hopping vacation can be expensive but memorable.
- a week of island hopping
- A week of island hopping left us exhausted but happy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- island tour
- A more general phrase for visiting islands, often on a guided schedule, not necessarily hopping between them.
- cruising
- Traveling by ship; it may include islands but focuses on the ship itself.
Word family
- island-hop verb
- Rare; to travel between islands. Most people use the noun or adjective instead.
Commonly confused: island hopping or island hoping?
island hopping vs island hoping
A spelling mistake: 'hoping' means wishing, while 'hopping' means jumping from place to place.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'island hopping' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is used with 'go': 'go island hopping'. The other options use it as a verb or with the wrong preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “island hopping”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.