A woman on vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands is going viral for all the wrong reasons after a video showed her trying to force locals off what she claimed was a “private” beach.
The clip, posted to TikTok by @virginislandspridee, shows the vacationer — wearing a Texas-patterned swimsuit — telling another woman to leave. When the local pushed back, saying beaches in the Virgin Islands are public, the tourist doubled down: “They’re not.” She then pulled out her phone to call the police.
The exchange struck a nerve online. “They’re having the same issues in Hawaii. All beaches in Hawaii are public,” one user commented. Another noted the same is true in California. “‘This is privare property,’ she says from outside her Airbnb,” one observed. Another put it simply: “The absolute nerve.”
According to the Virgin Islands Department of Planning & Natural Resources, beaches cannot be fenced off, and the public has the right to access them for recreation. The agency advises anyone denied access to report it to the Division of Coastal Zone Management.
The incident reportedly happened near The Beach House, a property in St. Thomas. The owner told The Saint Thomas Source that she wasn’t sure why advertisements once described the beach as private and said the vacationer likely assumed incorrectly.
Still, the viral moment has sparked a wider conversation about tourists overstepping boundaries in island communities.