Viral TikTok Made Travelers Think Twice About Visiting This Popular Vacation Destination
For many travelers, Bali is a must-visit bucket-list destination. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian island welcomed over 6 million foreign tourists per year, according to Statista, with people flocking from all over the world to experience its picturesque rice fields, beaches, and famously relaxed culture.
However, a viral TikTok video, posted by user @graces__adventures, showed a different side to the tourist hotspot — and some people are swearing off visiting as a result. "If you've been looking for a reason to not come to Bali, this is it," Grace says in the clip before pointing to hundreds of spiders hanging from power lines and shrubbery in front of what appears to be an abandoned building.
The video, which racked up over 42 million views within a week, is enough to make even mild arachnophobes squeamish. To make matters worse, the spiders appear to be about the size of a small human's hand (the content creator compares one spider to the size of her watch for proof). Viewers expressed their repulsion in the comments, with one writing, "Bali was #1 on my bucket list and now it is #99283774748272763647474." Another quipped, "Put it this way — one [spider] is enough to stop me going into my own bathroom ... So yeah, Bali is cancelled."
Are the spiders really that bad in Bali?
The nightmarish scene depicted in the TikTok might make some believe that Bali is an island infested with eight-legged beasts, but the good news is that spiders aren't as common as the clip makes them seem. Many users on the platform commented that they had visited the destination multiple times and never saw such a large web in real life. Another, who lives in the province, pointed out that the spiders in the video are only found in the northern region of Bali, away from the touristy areas in the south.
Grace Kelly, the creator of the video, also confirmed that the massive spider nest was a rare sight during her Bali vacation. "I'm reassuring others not to be put off by visiting Bali as they're so unlikely to come across this due to its location," she told News.com.au. Kelly explained that she only stumbled upon the spiders while driving down a remote road on the border of Kintamani.
Still, that doesn't mean you won't find arachnids crawling around here and there when visiting Bali. There are dozens of spider species native to the area, including creepy huntsman and jumping varieties. Thankfully, most are harmless to humans and tend to keep to themselves.