Aussies are ditching classic holidays to Bali as traffic has made Canggu a ‘hell hole’

A TikTok video has highlighted the sad reality of what a holiday to Bali now looks like, and its not pretty.

Bali has long been a popular international destination for Aussies, offering pristine beaches and bustling night life, but the amount of tourists on the island may be the very thing that’s destroying it.

Aussies are becoming fed up with the overcrowding and two-hour traffic jams in the tourist hotspots on the island.

In the video, hundreds of bikes and cars can be seen crowding a road in Canggu at 5.30pm in standstill traffic in what one viewer described as a “hell hole.”

“I’m in Bali now, it’s my fourth and last time here. I used to love it, this time I can’t wait to get out,” one person commented.

“This has me rethinking staying in Canggu in a few weeks,” wrote another.

“Was going to Bali but made a good decision and save $$ to go to Thailand instead,” said a third.

Local leaders in Canggu came together earlier this year to discuss how the community could deal with the monumental amount of traffic in the region.

The meeting was attended by the Badung Regency Government, Canggu Traditional Village Leaders, local police and the Head of the Traffic Unit of Badung Police.

“Solutions discussed included conducting traffic engineering at several key points around the resort area, implementing a one-way system, and increasing road capacity,” according to the Bali Sun.

“Currently, what we can do is deploy a traffic jam relief team that goes around to the congestion points. We hope for support from the community so that all efforts made, run well.”

The amount of tourists jetting off to Bali isn’t just affecting the roads, the island has a serious waste-management problem too, with the beaches often being swamped by huge piles of plastic waste that wash ashore.

“A massive 66,000kg of trash was collected by volunteers between over the Christmas holiday period in 2024,” said charity organisation Sungai Watch.

With many Aussies becoming fed up with the congestion and waste issues facing Bali, perhaps the golden era of Bintags and perfect beaches has come to an end.