Instagram users intrude on private property to take photos at infinity pools: ‘Def worth a trespass’

A woman posing at an infinity pool

A New Zealand family has had enough of eager Instagram users trespassing on their property to take photos on the edge of an infinity pool located on the edge of a 50-meter-high cliff at Anawhata Beach, the Guardian reports.

For the past five years, Buzz Kronfield, whose family has owned three plots of land at the beach since 1926, has seen an influx of visitors. Initially, the family was unsure why they were coming to the property, he told the publication.

“We couldn’t work out why so many people were coming,” he said. “Then someone said, ‘It’s because the pools are all over the internet.'”

Located more than 50 miles away from Auckland, a city on New Zealand’s North Island, Anawhata Beach is known for its vibrant blue waters. It also has “secret pools” with stunning views of the coastline — some of which are on Kronfield’s land. As a result, young wannabe social media stars have ignored the “private property” signs Kronfield’s family has put up and climbed over barbed wire to take snapshots.

“We’ve absolutely had enough,” Kronfield said.

During the summer, Kronfield has seen between 30 and 40 visitors a day, many of whom often show up with alcohol or nude, he said. The infinity pool situated on his property has, in fact, become so popular that some social media users have brazenly admitted to trespassing, the Guardian notes.

“Def worth a trespass,” one woman reportedly wrote in a caption on Instagram.

“One of the nicer places I have urinated,” another man wrote alongside a picture of himself in one of the pools.

Kronfield said that, on one occasion, he kicked out 23 people from a pool. In other instances, his family has allegedly gotten into heated confrontations with visitors who have refused to leave the pool.

“A lot of these people aren’t even going to the beach,” he said. “They just come up here to take a photo.”

Footage from Newsroom, a New Zealand media outlet, appears to confirm Kronfield’s complaint. The outlet recently set up a hidden motion-sensor cameras near the pools to catch those who were trespassing on the property. Some visitors were caught posing in the pools topless and bottomless, all while ignoring signs bolted to posts that are installed in concrete. Others were caught having sex.

“They don’t care about what they have to do to get the shot, and they’ll see someone who’s taken a shot,” he told Newsroom. “They see it on Instagram, and they’ll see all their comments and they’re even mocking [the signs.]”

Kronfield added that visitors frequently leave garbage at the infinity pools, which serve as source of drinking water for his family. Though the family has tried other ways to keep out intruders (including reinforcing barriers along the property), he acknowledged that he’s not quite sure what to do at this point.

“I wonder how those people would feel if we arrived in their backyard or onto their deck or swimming pool with cameras and believed it was okay to be there because there’s a great view?” he asked.