Board Game Arena

I purchased a 30 year anniversary but have yet to play it. I’ve watched several videos so I understand fully how to play the game. My question is in regards to the set up of the island. I believe the rules state it should be set up pretty much like an island would be with all the beach tiles along the water forest and then the mountains in the middle. However almost every YouTube video I’ve watched on how to play this, the tiles are put randomly which is OK but my question is doesn’t that create landlocked situations if swimmers fall in if a beach tile was placed close to the middle of the game. Do people find it a much more interesting game like this or do people prefer to set up so you’re never going to create these situations where one of your swimmers is pretty much dead in the water until another tile is removed?

Hello Thriftiowa1,
the rulebook state to set up the island randomly, but i think that to set up the island like you thought could be an intersting game too.
It's not forbidden and it could be fun, creating some intersting dynamics on the beach tiles.
After 3 games with this realistic setup, probably some more variability would be needed, then you can play with total random tiles setup.