Kuta Beach at peak season

So this is what Bali has become. The world famous Kuta Beach is a cesspit of rubbish and over-exploitation with no businesses or indeed local government involvement involved in maintaining this natural resource. This is not the hidden Bali, this is the premier beach on Indonesia's island of Bali; Kuta Beach is a shell of its former self.

This gross misrepresentation and over-commercialisation is an absolute disgrace. The Bali of Julia Roberts' Eat, Pray, Love is unfortunately just a fallacy. It is not only the rubbish in the water at Kuta Beach; the waters, rivers and beaches are all badly polluted. The plastic in the water is incredible, Indonesia is one of the largest polluters of the oceans and nobody in the government is willing to undertake substantive change to rectify this. So where to from now? I have heard stories of the army being involved in clean-ups but I am yet to see any evidence of this. If Indonesia and more specifically the Island of Bali wants to attract foreign tourists, then they really need to clean up their beaches.