Some cenotes in northern Mexico have natural floating islands. In the Brazilian Amazon, floating islands form in lakes on the floodplains of white-water rivers and are known as Matupá and range in size from a few square meters to a few hectares.

Yes, real floating islands exist in both natural and man-made forms across the globe. Natural floating islands, often called "tussocks" or "floatons," are buoyant mats of vegetation, peat, and mud that can drift across lakes, such as those found in Prashar Lake in India or Lake Victoria in Africa. A famous man-made example is the Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca in Peru, which are constructed entirely from bundled totora reeds by the Uru people; these islands must be constantly replenished with new reeds as the bottom layers rot. In 2026, artificial floating islands are also used for environmental purposes, such as the "Aqua Biofilter" islands in China’s Lake Tai, which use hydroponic plants to pull pollutants from the water. There is even a modern "Maldives Floating City" currently under development, which uses modular floating platforms to create a permanent urban habitat as a response to rising sea levels.