Despite the UK's reputation for attractive coastal escapes, one of its famous beaches has landed on the global list for all the wrong reasons. Ranked among the world's most overrated beaches, this popular sandy spot has attracted criticism from British and international visitors.
Cloudwards experts have analyzed TripAdvisor reviews of the 200 most popular beaches in the world. Describing their research, they filtered reviews using complaints-related keywords such as “dirty”, “overcrowded”, “long cue”, “noise”, and “confusion”, and looked at how often they applied to each beach to calculate “complaint scores.” Bournemouth Beach is the top five in this undesirable ranking.
Bournemouth Beach is surrounded by Dorset, with seven miles of sandy beaches with clear blue waters below strike cliffs. The beach is the warmest waters in the UK and boasts its own microclimate.
Whether you're relaxing on the sand, exploring the pier, enjoying local food, or trying water sports, there's something for everyone all year round. However, the new study argues that beaches are “overrated.” Bournemouth Beach received a total complaint score of 65.1/100 (100 is really bad).
According to the survey, Beach received 31.7% reviews claiming it was dirty, with 52.5% saying it was crowded, 10.2% complaining about the queue and 5.6% commenting on the noise level.
However, Bournemouth Beach ranks more favorably than US beaches, with Waikiki Beach in Hawaii receiving a 100/100 complaint score, calling it “the most frustrated beach in the world.”
Experts say about Waikiki Beach: “The main issue is overcrowded (67.3% of complaints), but it has also received criticism for its cleanliness (15.9%) and its long lines and noise.”
Bournemouth Beach has a bubble with an average score of 4.5 from over 9,000 reviewers, according to TripAdvisor. However, when heading towards the comments, the latest review (June 2025) was very negative.
The reviewer complained: “It is dirty and devastated, I don't take pride in the area, and I was fined £100 for placing cigarettes in a planter full of bottles.
Another comment: “It's a great beach, but some tourists leave trash everywhere in the animals. I was helping out the beach for my daughter's ocean protection. As soon as the beach was finished it was covered in beer cans, plastic debris, steam, and numerous wet wipes, broken glass and cigarettes.”
A third emphasized how overcrowded the beach is. They said: “We have been to Bournemouth many times and generally loved the area, but on our last visit we were really disappointed with the main beach area. We spent the day late in the afternoon on one of the small beaches (it was lovely).
