Venice Beach has landed near the top of a list nobody wants to top: a new global study of TripAdvisor reviews ranks it the second most complained-about beach on Earth, with cleanliness concerns accounting for nearly 61% of its negative reviews. Researchers scored 200 popular beaches worldwide on dirtiness, overcrowding, long lines, and noise, and Venice came out on top of the dirtiness category specifically.
A Global Study Zeroes In On Cleanliness, Not Crowds
The rankings come from a study by software and security publication Cloudwards, which examined TripAdvisor reviews across 200 popular beaches and built a complaint score out of 100 based on how often negative keywords showed up in reviews, according to Time Out. As the Santa Monica Mirror also reported, Venice ranked second among all 200 beaches analyzed. Mental Floss reported that Venice was considered the dirtiest beach, with nearly 61% of its negative reviews mentioning dirtiness.
The only beach that scored worse than Venice was Waikiki Beach in Oahu, which topped the entire global list with a perfect complaint score of 100 out of 100 — but for a completely different reason. Time Out's coverage of the study found Waikiki's poor showing was driven primarily by extreme overcrowding, cited in 67.3% of its negative reviews, with only smaller shares of complaints touching on noise or litter there. In other words, Venice's problem isn't people packing the sand — it's what they leave behind.
American Beaches Dominate the Complaint Rankings
Venice wasn't alone in representing the U.S. among the world's most-griped-about coastlines. Four American beaches placed in the global top 10 for total complaints — Waikiki at number one, Venice at number two, Clearwater Beach in Florida at number four, and La Jolla Cove in San Diego at number six, according to Argophilia Travel News. That outlet's analysis noted American beaches also accounted for half of the study's top 10 dirtiest spots worldwide, suggesting the sanitation issue isn't unique to Venice but is a recurring theme at heavily trafficked U.S. coastal destinations.
The contrast with Europe is notable. Researchers found La Pelosa Beach in Sardinia, Italy, recorded the highest share of overcrowding complaints in the world, with nearly 87% of its negative reviews citing extreme crowds, as reported by GreekReporter. Several European beaches appeared among the locations with high overcrowding complaints. The findings show cleanliness concerns for some U.S. beaches and crowd concerns at several European beaches.
Keeping Venice Clean
The Venice Beach Boardwalk and nearby commercial activity are part of the area.
Los Angeles officials haven't ignored the problem. In May 2024, City Councilwoman Traci Park launched Coastal Care+, a coastal initiative. The effort included work to remove hazards and solid waste from encampments.
Homelessness Trends Complicate Cleanup Efforts
Street conditions remain a factor shaping how the boardwalk looks and smells to visitors. A May 2026 report from the RAND Corporation found that while overall unsheltered homelessness across Venice, Hollywood, and Skid Row stayed flat in 2025, rough sleeping — people living without tents or vehicles — rose 20% to a four-year high. RAND's survey also found that nearly half of rough sleepers reported losing a dwelling, and 46% of those people said the dwelling had been confiscated or towed by authorities, a dynamic Hoodline has previously examined in its coverage of the city's erased no-camping zones.
Not every metric is going in the wrong direction for Venice's coastline. Beach water quality is one measure of coastal conditions. Heavy winter rainfall can increase bacterial runoff, since storm water can flush urban pollutants directly into ocean waters.
The Legal Backstop Against Litter
California law and local codes address public littering and illegal dumping.
Whether these efforts can move the needle on Venice's global reputation remains to be seen, but the boardwalk continues to draw crowds in the meantime.
