The search for the motu’s favourite beaches of 2025 has come to an end, with five brand-new champions rising through the ranks to claim the coveted titles. Video / Carson Bluck
The world’s most complained-about beaches have been named, according to new research, and Australia features prominently on the list.
What makes a bad beach? Turns out we do. Humans and human activity, that is. The huge crowds, the litter and noise from said crowds. New Zealand does not currently facethis problem, but the world’s most popular beaches, including ones in Australia, are, apparently, the least immune.
An analysis by software company Cloudwards has delivered a bracing dose of reality. Its researchers examined 200 TripAdvisor reviews of the most popular beaches worldwide – identified through multiple travel publications, tourism rankings and social media popularity rankings – to find the most complained-about beaches.
Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach is ranked top of the list. It had the highest complaint score of 100, with 67.3% of complaints about extreme overcrowding. Others complained about the level of homelessness, dirt and the lack of an actual beach.
Complaints about Waikiki beach included overcrowding, homelessness, dirt and a lack of sand. Photo / 123rf
“I had heard Waikiki beach is overrun with tourists but I discovered there is no beach to be overrun. There is only around 20 feet of soggy sand between the beautiful blue water and overdeveloped resorts. If you want to go to the beach, don’t go to Waikiki,” read one TripAdvisor review.
While no New Zealand beaches featured on the bad beach list, five Australian ones did. The worst-ranking Australian beach was Sydney’s Bondi Beach, coming ninth with a complaint score of 57.1. One reviewer called it a “poo beach”.
“No reason for coming other [than] claiming going to Bondi. Dirty and run down. Sand was full of rubbish. Don’t waste your time go to the other beaches down the coast,” they wrote.
Australia's Bondi Beach ranked ninth on the list of most complained-about beaches. Photo / Jay Wennington, Unsplash
Australian beaches Cable Beach, Surfers Paradise Beach, Four Mile Beach and Manly Beach were also mentioned in the top 100.
Cloudwards’ data methodology focused on negative feedback, filtering with keywords such as “dirty”, “overcrowded”, “long queues”, “noise” and “disruption”, and then provided each beach a complaint score of 0-100 based on the quantity of negative reviews.
