We all dream of going on a magical holiday and capturing the perfect moment in the perfect picture.
But, for one disappointed traveller, this was far from the case.
Expecting an Insta-worthy vista, she was instead met with a total let-down which people are dubbing a 'travel fail'.
Posted by the TikTok travel page Yup! She Travels, one adventurer clearly didn't get the memorable moment she was after.
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Royal Williams made her way to a beach near Cartagena, Colombia which has become well-known on social media as the 'pink beach'.
However, upon arrival, she came to the quick realisation that this Instagram-famous beach was not quite how she remembered it.
In her TikTok video, Royal shares a picture of herself at the beach in 2019, with the water pink as advertised.
However, when she returned in 2021, Royal was welcomed by just a regular-coloured beach.
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The solo traveller shared her disappointment with her thousands of followers, captioning the 13-second clip: "That one time in Colombia".
Local travel website, Cartagena Explorer, explains exactly why the beach has such a vivid colour.
Boiling it down to 'a combination of two factors,' the website briefly details the science behind the pink beach.
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"The first [factor] is the high salt content of the water, which is why this area is also a sea salt mine," it reads.
The travel page adds: "The second is the presence of a micro-algae that thrives in the salty environment."
It is the mix of these two naturally occurring elements, alongside 'a brightly shining sun' that gives the Cartagena sea its distinctive rosy colour.
With 19.7k views and hundreds of likes, it's clear that the internet were eager to weigh in on Royal's findings.
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One TikTok user couldn't even believe the two videos were of the same beach, commenting: "Is that even the same place?"
Others theorised as to why the sea water was no longer its Insta-famous bright pink.
"Could also be global warming?" suggested one person.
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Another chimed in with: "Global warming at its finest."
Sharing the travel vlogger's frustration, a fourth wrote: "LOL I was there in March 2019 and this video is exactly our experience."
Several others also attempted to make sense of the stark contrast in water colour, wondering if it had anything to do with the 'time of year'.
However, Royal explained that while the videos shown in the TikTok video were two years apart, they were recorded at the same time of year.
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Regardless, this will definitely make holiday-goers think twice before booking a flight just because of an Instagram post.
Rhiannon Ingle