Sports Illustrated's swimsuit covers on location

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Sports Illustrated's swimsuit covers on location

Travel to the beaches where some of your favorite Sports Illustrated swimsuit covers were taken.

2013: For the second year in a row, model Kate Upton graces the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

OK, so the icy shores of Antarctica might not be everyone's idea of a dream vacation, but the scenery made for a unique photo shoot.

The 2012 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition features 19-year-old model Kate Upton wearing a very tiny red-and-brown, sparkle-covered string bikini.

Last year's cover shoot was in Far North Queensland, Australia, outside of Cairns. The region is one of Australia's most popular travel destinations with a tropical climate and close proximity to both the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest.

Irina Shayk was selected to appear on the cover of the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. The 25-year-old Russian model learned at a taping of David Letterman's show that she won the coveted spot from a photo shoot months ago in Hawaii. She had been in the wildly popular issue five times before.

Shayk's photo shoot was on the warm sands of Maui, Hawaii.

Brooklyn Decker is the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model. The North Carolina born model, 22, is married to tennis star Andy Roddick.

Decker was photographed at the Anatara resorts in the Maldives, an exotic island nation located in the Indian Ocean. Numerous resorts and access to beautiful beaches has made the Maldives a popular tourist destination.

The 2009 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition with Bar Refaeli flew off the shelves. This model, a.k.a. Leonardo DiCaprio's sometimes girlfriend, was photographed on Canouan Island. So want to frolic where the Israeli cover girl did?

Travel to the Raffles Canouan resort. It has a "Canouan Island Un-Covered" package in honor of the magazine cover. Guests will enjoy a five-night stay and receive round-trip flight concierge air transfer from Barbados to Canouan Island, one round of golf or spa treatment, two dinners for two, full buffet breakfast and more. If you really want to see what the models did, a property tour highlights shoot locations. If Bar isn't your type, here are where other SI's swimsuit beauties have shot.

Everyone has a favorite cover, and the 2008 edition that features Marisa Miller is sure to get more than a few votes. The magazine went all-American, photographing the California-born supermodel on a beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

If you go, why not live like the supermodels do? The Ritz-Carlton is located on 30 acres at the east end of St. Thomas.

In 2007, SI broke away from its tradition of using supermodels on the cover and instead went with a "Dreamgirl": Beyonce.

The music-themed edition featured photos shot in Florida; Memphis, Tenn.; Jamaica; Brazil; Maui; Grambling, La.; Los Angeles; Arizona and Cleveland, Ohio. If you ask the models about the shoot, they probably would tell you they enjoyed the locations with beaches. It's hard to rock a swimsuit in Cleveland.

If one beach beauty leaves you wanting more, SI obliged in 2006. Eight models -- Carolyn Murphy, Daniela Pestova, Elle Macpherson, Elsa Benitez, Rachel Hunter, Rebecca Romijn, Veronica Varekova and Yamila Diaz-Rahi -- were used on the cover. And if you happened to be visiting Harbour Island, Bahamas, around that time, you probably thought eight wasn't enough.

The danger of visiting the Bahamas when SI isn't shooting there is that you probably will see folks who look like this. The solution? Remember to pack your magazine.

The 2005 cover belonged to Carolyn Murphy. And SI came up with a new concept for the issue: model trading cards. Of course, why would you want to trade them away?

This view might not be as good as the cover but it's a close second: lunch for hungry snorklers on a Tiami Catamaran Cruise. Who knows? Murphy herself might have had this on her menu. On second thought, probably not.

In 2004, Veronica Varekova's topless cover shot proved the swimsuit issue wasn't over the hill on its 40th anniversary. The Czech model was shot in Montauk, N.Y., just up the road from New York City.

The issue deviated from the tropical island theme, with models traveling to Mississippi, Wyoming, Arizona and Iowa in addition to Long Island. But a sunrise over Long Island's north shore is just as beautiful as one in Jamaica, right? Well, maybe during the summer.

Petra Namcova graced the 2003 edition. The issue promised the hottest models and coolest places around the world, and choosing the Czech model for the cover turned up the temperature.

Hot sun, cool water. Barbados not only made the list but also the cover, for the second time. We think we know why.

SI stepped it up a notch in 2002, picking a "Red Hot" theme. Yamila Diaz-Rahi. In Mexico. In a red bikini. Caliente.

When you think of Mexico, most people think of the beautiful beaches in Cancun. And, really, who among us doesn't dream of lying on the beach with a frozen margarita in our hand?

In 2001, the magazine traveled to the Mediterranean with model Elsa Benitez. Anyone can see how they would choose her to be the "Goddess."

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2013: For the second year in a row, model Kate Upton graces the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

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