One of the world’s most famous and iconic beaches has topped the list of worst breaches in the world, despite its gorgeous clear water and white sands. According to an analysis of TripAdvisor reviews from 200 of the world’s most popular beaches by Cloudwards, Waikiki Beach in Hawaii consistently fails to live up to its glossy reputation.
To complete their analysis, experts at Cloudwards used complaint-related keywords like “dirty”, “overcrowded”, “long queues”, “noise” and “disruption” to filter the reviews, then looked at how frequently they were applied to each beach to calculate an overall “complaint score. Waikiki received the highest score of all 200 beaches across the world.
The most common complaint for this gorgeous beach was its popularity – visitors say the beach is incredibly overcrowded with one person even referring to it as “a human sardine can”.
The beach earned a perfect 100/100 on the complaint index, with over two-thirds of negative reviews mentioning extreme overcrowding
Because the beach is so popular, access can be a problem too. One visitor wrote about their experience on Tripadvisor saying: “Plan to spend an hour in bumper to bumper just to get to the parking lot. And then another half hour waiting for a space
“Terrible beaches. Loud, intoxicated tourists. Just an awful place. Poor water quality from excessive use of sunscreen and boats.”
Cloudwards CEO Mauricio Preuss said the findings shows how important it is to do your own research before heading out on a beach holiday.
He said: “For travelers, this research underscores the importance of looking beyond the highlight reel.
“The most rewarding beach experiences might be found at lesser-known destinations that haven’t yet been overwhelmed by mass tourism. Sometimes the best paradise is the one that isn’t trending on TikTok.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
