When scrolling on Instagram, you will probably come across cooking videos, cute dogs, and DIY crafts. Beautiful vacation spots may also catch your eye! However, touristy destinations can be misleading online, especially with artificial intelligence and photo editing. Picture-perfect views like these may seem amazing, but what is real and what is fake? Stay tuned for our take on fun destinations and whether they are worth traveling to!
Glass Beach
Fort Bragg, California
Glass Beach in California gets its name from the large amounts of sea glass that have washed up on the beach. The glass came from years of dumping trash onto the beach because the city of Fort Bragg was once a dumpsite from 1906 to 1967. The Glass Beach did once look picturesque, but due to the theft of these pretty rocks, over the years, the beach has started to become more sand than colorful glass. Some reviewers say that the treacherous walk to the beach isn’t worth it, with only slopes and no steps. The drive to the beach is long and has twisty roads, which doesn´t make up for the cold and rough waters. Travelers also felt deceived by the highly edited images that made them want to come. The photos online of the beach don’t exactly match up with reality: they have bright colors, perfect shapes, and beautiful sunsets. But those photos may have had a few ¨touch-ups¨ in comparison to the reality photo below. Although on social media, there appear to be some downsides, many felt that the beach is a great vacation spot for the family! Reviewers even said that they thought the beach was beautiful and an amazing place to go despite what others say. One review by Rebecca776 even states, “We had fun exploring here. I see so many complaints that there’s not as much sea glass as there was in the past. That may be true, but it was still absolutely beautiful, and I have never seen so much in one spot.” Overall, Instagram deceived many into visiting this “not so perfect” beach, but some did have a great time!
Photos from Glass Beach
Reality
Uyuni Salt Flat
Salt Pan In Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni, also known as the Uyuni Salt Flat, located in southwest Bolivia, is the world’s largest Salt Flat. More than 90,000 people visit this destination each year! But not all tourists left with a positive experience. Several travelers complained about upcharges and extra money for a premium fee if visitors wanted the tour guide to speak English. Dawn from Singapore said, “…he asked us to pay an additional USD100/pax for services that were complimentary to everyone in the tour…¨. Some tourists even had complaints about the tour guides themselves, and Instagram posts never mentioned these troubles. Milly molly k, from the UK, said their tour guide was always late, and one time showed up 45 minutes after their scheduled time to meet up. They also said, ¨our guide was routinely hungover…he didn´t speak English. We paid a premium for an English-speaking guide and this was a service we just didn´t receive.¨ Some sightseers loved the Salt Flats, however. Artneversleeps made an Instagram post with the caption, ¨A surreal phenomenon of nature, this expansive salt flat transforms into a massive mirror after rainfall, blending the sky with the earth. The seamless reflection creates the illusion of walking on the sky.¨ The Uyuni Salt Flats are a breathtaking sight, but some travelers were just not prepared for the reality that was not listed on social media posts.
Photos from Uyuni Salt Flat
Reality
Instagram 
Pig Beach
Island in the Caribbean
The Pig Beach in the Bahamas is known for being populated by a variety of pigs. Not only are there cute piglets skipping on the sand, but there are also pigs swimming in the clear waters of the Caribbean. Tourists can swim with pigs in the ocean! The beach may seem like a fun thing to try if you´re feeling adventurous, however, it isn’t exactly paradise for the pigs. Many bloggers had a blast at the pig beach, saying that the pigs were very playful and the water was beautiful. However, other travelers said otherwise. Michelle Cehn, a vegan traveler, noted in her review of Pig Beach that, ¨…these pigs were suffering from severe burns from being exposed to the strong Caribbean sunshine day after day.¨ She also revealed a heart-breaking truth, ¨´…they have to kill the pigs or there would be too many…they can be a danger to tourists…they roast them on a skewer and eat them, and nothing goes to waste.´¨Social media isn´t always as it seems and the reality is far different from the pictures we see online. However, if you are looking for a fun spot to see some cute piggies, then the Greyrock Farm Sanctuary is the place for you! A good alternative for traveling to the Caribbean is this sanctuary in Clinton, NJ, where they have some adorable pot-bellied pigs as well as other animals! For more information, visit https://www.grayrockfarmsanctuary.com/
Photos from Pig Beach
Reality 
Instagram 
Social media has become its own five-star reviewer for popular vacation destinations, but it is often discovered that some of these reviews are not 100% truthful, and the reality isn´t always the same as the pretty images. So the next time you’re planning your vacation, dig a little deeper than the pictures on Instagram!
Works Cited
TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/discover/sea-glass-beach-ig-vs-reality.
Cehn, Michelle. “Sadly, Pig Beach Isn’t Paradise for the Swimming Pigs in the Bahamas.” world of vegan, 2023, https://www.worldofvegan.com/swimming-pigs/. Accessed 25 March 2025.
Glass Beach. Glass Beach, https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32400-d103760-r468378377-Glass_Beach-Fort_Bragg_Mendocino_County_California.html.
Grayrock Farm Sanctuary. https://www.grayrockfarmsanctuary.com.
Kadane, Lisa. “Should You Swim With the Pigs in the Bahamas?” Fodor’s Travel, 2023, https://www.fodors.com/world/caribbean/bahamas/experiences/news/should-you-swim-with-the-pigs-in-the-bahamas. Accessed 25 March 2025.
Morris, Hugh. “14 photographs that prove everything you’ve seen on Instagram is a lie.” The Telegraph, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/Instagram-vs-reality-how-travel-photos-are-a-lie/. Accessed 25 March 2025.
“Salar de Uyuni – sunset & sunrise that will take your breath away.” Czick On The Road, 2018, https://www.czickontheroad.com/salar-de-uyuni-sunset-sunrise-that-will-take-your-breath-away. Accessed 25 March 2025.
Tripadvisor. “2025 3-Days Tour to the Uyuni Salt Flat and Colored Lagoons +Sunset+Mirror Effect – With Reviews.” Tripadvisor, 21 Mar. 2025, www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g317033-d23506947-or20-3_Days_Tour_to_the_Uyuni_Salt_Flat_and_Colored_Lagoons_Sunset_Mirror_Effect-U.html.
“Uyuni Salt Flat, Lagoons and Flamingos – 3-day tour in Bolivia.” Red Hair Travel Vlog, 2023, https://www.redhairtravel.com/en/bolivia/uyuni-tour/. Accessed 25 March 2025.
Zakharov, Karina. Instagram, 2024, https://www.instagram.com/karinazakharov/p/C7nGLMAPe1c/?img_index=1. Accessed 25 March 2025.
