Bali woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve to discover yet more tides of plastic waste washed up on Jimbaran Beach.
The traditional coastal fishing village and tourism resort is often the worst impacted by tides of plastic waste, along with famous vacation hotspots like Kuta, Legian, and Seminyak.
As documented by the founder of environmental NGO Sungai Watch, on the evening of 23rd December 2024, a tide of plastic waste was deposited along Jimbaran Beach. Gary Bencheghib, shared a video on his Instagram page of plastic debris deposited all along the expansive beachfront at Jimbaran Bay.
Jimbaran Beach and Kedonganan Beach often receive the worst of the plastic tide deposits due to the flow of ocean currents though, over the weekend Dreamland Beach, further south along the Bukit Peninsula, saw a shocking tide of plastic waste and ocean debris land on the usually picture-perfect holiday resort.
On Saturday and Sunday, teams from Sungai Watch, accompanied by local volunteers and even tourists who wanted to lend a hand, came together to clear the trash from the beach. It is not only plastic waste, but ocean debris like driftwood.
In light of recent flooding across Bali due to a usually heavy monsoon season means that trash, plastic waste, and debris gathered by flood waters have come from the inland regions out into the ocean and then carried back into the shoreline on the high tide.
The central south of Bali’s coastline is being barraged by waste from all angles.
Local social media citizen journalism sites shared footage of tourist children even helping out trash disposal teams over the weekend, helping drag bags of trash together, and rummaging through the debris to help separate organic from inorganic waste.
On the 22nd of December, a tide of mostly organic debris washed up on the beachfront at Kuta Beach. Hundreds of tree branches and tree trunks were deposited high up on the beach and onto the beach walk, followed by meters of plastic waste right behind.
Many local residents have been questioning why there has not been a bigger response from the Bali Provincial Government or any official statements from top officials regarding the tides of trash, especially as the Christmas and New Year public holidays get underway.
Speaking on the 10th of December, when the first sizeable plastic tide arrived along Kuta, Legian, and Seminyak Beach, known as Samigita Beach, the Coordinator of Marine Debris Evacuation Detection of the Badung LHK Service, Made Gede Dwipayan, spoke to reporters about the system in place to tackle is an annual and worsening phenomenon.
He confirmed that over 75 trucks are available to support staff from the Badung Regency Environment and Sanitation Agency (LHK) to clear up the Samigita Beaches quickly and efficiently.
While plastic tides are an unavoidable reality for Kuta Beach, Legian Beach, Seminyak Beach, Jimbaran Beach, Pantai German and Dreamland Beach at this time of year, there are many beaches across Bali that generally remain unaffected due to their proximity to the ocean currents that tend to carry the debris.
Amed Beach, Tulamben Beach, and the beaches along the southeasterly and east coasts of Bali remain trash-free throughout the year.
It should be noted that as plastic waste continues to be a growing problem for the world’s oceans, it is an unfortunate truth that every beach in the world has been affected by plastic pollution to some degree.
Nevertheless, for tourists seeking expanses of pristine beaches this December and January, destinations like Sanur Beach, Candidasa Beach, Medewi Beach, Lovina Beach and the Nusa Islands can be reliably added to the bucket list.
The black sand beaches of Gianyar, including Keramas Beach are also crowd-free at this time of year too…a rare treat in Bali!
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