Did a viral travel video show overwater villas and a lagoon in Split, Croatia? No, that's not true: analysis by Lead Stories proves that two of the locations in the video are thousands of kilometers away on a different continent.
The claim originated from a video (archived here) where it was published by TikTok on June 11, 2023, with captions reading:
It's just a beach in Croatia, what's so special about it
Save for your next trip #croatia #hrvatska #splitcroatia #europetravel
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jul 21 05:58:15 2023 UTC)
However, the three accompanying video clips shown are NOT from Bačvice Beach in Croatia.
The first clip actually shows overwater bungalows at the Kudaa Huraa Four Seasons hotel in the Maldives.
The left-hand side of the photo below is from the TikTok video which wrongly claims to show Bačvice beach in Croatia, the image on the right is from the travel agency The Luxury Traveller and shows that the hotel is actually located more than 7,000 kilometers away in the Maldives.
(Sources: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jul 21 05:58:15 2023 UTC & theluxurytraveller.com screenshot taken on Fri Jul 21 21:20:15 2023 UTC)
Lead Stories has not yet been able to ascertain the location of the second clip but a comparison of that video and the real Bačvice beach shows key differences.
A screengrab of the second video (left) shows a wide stretch of azure waters, with metal poles in the water and a mountain in the background. A screengrab of Google Street Maps (right) shows that the real Bačvice Beach is much smaller, located in a bay with no metal poles in the water, with residential buildings in the background and the water is not as bright blue.
(Sources: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jul 21 21:32:34 2023 UTC & maps.google.com screenshot taken on Fri Jul 21 21:33:49 2023 UTC)
Finally, Lead Stories has located the Adobe Stock video that was deceptively used for the third clip but actually shows the Pileh Lagoon in Thailand, 8,800 kilometres away from Croatia.
A screengrab of the third video (left) shows the boats in exactly the same location and shot from exactly the same angle as the video which was uploaded to Adobe Stock (right) by contributor blackboxguild.
(Sources: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jul 21 22:10:03 2023 UTC & Adobe Stock screenshot taken on Fri Jul 21 22:15:33 2023 UTC)
