Best Arizona Lakes for Sailing & big water

6 Arizona lakes meet our sailing & big water bar — each has a cited public-access or conditions signal behind it. Top of the list: Lake Havasu in Mohave County. Ranked by public boat ramps and marinas on open water (≥2,000 acres); surface acreage and live readings are shown where published.

Public boat ramps come from AZGFD open data; marinas from OpenStreetMap; surface acres from USGS NHD or cited research.

  1. 1

    Lake Havasu

    Mohave County, AZ18,617 acres

    18,617 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  2. 2

    Lake Pleasant

    Maricopa County, AZ9,186 acres

    9,186 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  3. 3

    Bartlett Reservoir

    Maricopa County, AZ2,202 acres

    2,202 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  4. 4

    Lake Mohave

    Mohave County, AZ27,571 acres

    27,571 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  5. 5

    Alamo Lake

    La Paz County, AZ3,058 acres

    3,058 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do
  6. 6

    Apache Lake

    Maricopa County, AZ2,077 acres

    2,077 acres of open water

    See full conditions & things to do

More best-of lists for Arizona lakes

Arizona sailing & big water — frequently asked

What is the best lake for sailing & big water in Arizona?

Lake Havasu in Mohave County tops the list — 18,617 acres of open water. 6 Arizona lakes qualify for this list overall.

How is this Arizona sailing & big water list ranked?

Every lake on the list has a cited public-access or conditions signal — never an opinion. Sailing-eligible lakes have ≥2,000 acres of open water and at least one ramp or marina; we rank by access count, then by acreage. LakeVibe doesn't invent rankings: a lake only appears here when the data already supports it.

Which Arizona lakes are best for sailing & big water?

Our top picks are Lake Havasu, Lake Pleasant, Bartlett Reservoir, Lake Mohave. Tap any lake for its full conditions, things to do, and where to stay.