A series of photos have revealed a gross sight at popular beaches in Bali.
Posted in the Bali Bogans Facebook page, a user named Kirsty Grist shared pictures of rubbish, including syringes, washed up on Legian and Kuta beaches.
“Hey everyone, if you are in this area, especially with little ones, please be careful. There is a heap of medical waste washed up on the beach. We have picked up 2 bags worth of syringes … some with needle ends, some without,” she said.
The post was immediately swamped with comments, with some claiming the syringes were simply for shots at local bars, while others didn’t believe it had happened at all.
One person posted: “Yuck. That’s disgusting.”
Another anonymous user commented: “We stayed at Nusa Dua last month, nice resort, but they need to clean up beach …”
Another traveller named Liana Haylen commented: “Yeah it was here on beach in Seminyak last night too. Some are alcohol shots (usually larger ones) but some are the real deal. Be careful folks.”
Jade Sullivan replied: “We picked a big one up off the beach the other week at Bloo Lagoon, the needle was huge.”
However, one commenter argued it was “bulls**t” and that they were simply shots.
One wrote: “Never seen it, been going to Kuta and Legian for 40 years. Absolute bulls**t.
“Don’t put a picture up show me live footage of you finding it. Bet you can’t and won’t.”
Another user named Cassie Hardy responded: “This is true, we picked up 2 bags worth. Some with exposed needles.”
The original poster also responded saying: “That’s nice. I’ve been coming here for 9+ years and also haven’t seen anything like it. God forbid I try to give holiday goers a heads up. I’ll meet you down Legian beach tomorrow and show you exactly where I found them.”
An anonymous user responded claiming they had visited the same spot and it was clean.
While there are differing accounts of the latest issue, it further exposes one of the ugly realities of the Aussie tourism hotspot.
Plastic waste washing up is not an irregular issue, but it usually happens during the wet season of October to March.
Bali.com reports that Indonesia is second in the world only to China in terms of its contribution to marine plastic pollution due to poor plastic waste management.
Kuta and Legian beaches get up to 60 tonnes of plastic trash each year.
In December 2024, a horrific video from environmental activist Gary Bencheghib, showed the devastating reality of plastic pollution on Kendonganan beach.
It required days of clean up as a relentless tidal wave of plastic waste in the oceans washed up on the beaches.
But during the wet season, the rubbish will be relentless across the likes of Kuta, Seminyak, Legian and Jimbaran beaches.
It’s an annual phenomenon that sees plastic, garbage, and waste from shipping vessels often carried into land by strong winds, high tides, and driving rains.
The island’s open landfills are also a huge problem.
As they become fuller, they put pressure on local waste management operations.
Rubbish is then spilt into waterways and dumped in unofficial landfill sites, often on the edges of some of Bali’s most beautiful natural landscapes.
Officials have implemented solutions, and while some have had an impact, more needs to be done.
Before the pandemic, Bali welcomed 6.2 million international tourists a year and an estimated 10 million domestic tourists.
It has long placed a significant burden on Bali’s waste management systems, producing an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of waste.
