'Devastating': Rubbish covering beach leaves holiday hotspot unrecognisable
Pictures have emerged of a popular holiday spot that is becoming unrecognisable due to the amount of rubbish strewn across the beach.
A woman named Tanya, from New South Wales, shared numerous images online after she went to Jimbaran, on Bali’s southwestern coast, for sunset, but despite it not being the best weather, the condition of the beach was what shocked her the most.
“Jimbaran for sunset tonight. Not the best day for it but it’s our last night here,” Tanya said.
“No sunset to be seen and dinner at the cafe/restaurant was disappointing but nothing was as disappointing as the state of this beach….”
In the pictures there appears to just as much rubbish as there is sand visible.
And the woman, who said she had spent five weeks overseas, added that it was not just the area she had photographed.
“I know it’s rainy season and some is to be expected but this has to be seen to be believed. It is like this the entire way up the beach!” Tanya said.
Numerous Facebook users are also surprised by the condition of the area, labelling the mess “devastating”, “horrible”, “nasty” and “heartbreaking.”
“Omg that is so sad, it was so beautiful when we went!!” one woman wrote online.
Many people have suggested the tides and weather have contributed to the mess.
“I’ve been told it is always like this at this time of year due to the rainy season and the crazy Tides that bring it onto shore,” one person wrote.
“Most of the time it’s nice and clean. It was this bad about 6 or 7 years ago,” said a second.
“We holiday in a Nusa Lembongan every year and last year we observed a whole plastic graveyard up near ship wrecks, also around the island where they dump rubbish in the mangroves and during the rainy season it has nowhere to go but out to the ocean,” a third commented.
Others have said the locals do “an amazing job of cleaning their beaches on a daily basis” but that “Bali has so many waterways, too many consumers and not enough room for landfill.”
Some people have said the government and tourists need to do more to keep the beaches tidy.
“It looks astounding. More astounding though is the source, us all, and our addiction to single-use plastics…” one person commented.
“What’s sad is it’s probably not even the Balinese that have done this instead the visitors who have completely disrespected their time in another country,” wrote another.
