1 week ago
3
Christine Retschlag
September 6, 2025 — 5:00am
Canggu beach club Finns has launched a futuristic beach-cleaning robot in a bid to address Bali’s burgeoning pollution problems.
The upmarket beach club, better known for attracting the influencer set to its pumping parties, pools and pina coladas, has announced its Future Nation initiative under the banner “Party like there is a tomorrow”.
And in what it is claiming to be a Balinese first, Finns has also unveiled the island’s first dual-engine search and rescue helicopter, under the same program.
Owned by Tony Smith, a former Sydney Swans footballer, Finns Bali hopes the remote-controlled BeBot robot will collect microplastics and sand debris without disrupting the natural environment along its 170-metre oceanfront property, which it touts as “the world’s best beach club”.
BeBot, launched in the early 2020s, costs about $120,000. The Hyatt Regency Bali and Andaz Bali began using the buggy-like technology in October 2023 and BeBot is also deployed in the US, Canada and Poland.
Since its launch, The Hyatt Regency Bali says BeBot has collected 9512.74 kilograms of waste, of which 470 kilograms is plastic and 3178 kilograms is organic.
Finns is the first beach club to attempt to tackle the omnipresent pollution problem on the island with the solar-powered robot, which can collect 8.5 kilograms of waste in 10 minutes.
The Bali-based eco group Ocean Gardener recently released an update on Bali’s “disheartening scene of plastic debris”, citing 3436 tonnes of waste daily generated on the island, or 1.2 million tonnes annually.
According to Ocean Gardener, plastic remains a significant problem with only 17 per cent of it considered recyclable and an alarming 30 per cent increase in overall waste generation between 2000 and 2024. Earlier this year, Balinese authorities announced a ban on all plastic water bottles under one litre.
Finns Bali says it has diverted 488,000 kilograms of waste from landfill and recycled 82.3 million litres of water as part of its existing sustainability and waste reduction program.
The club has also partnered with SGi Air Bali to launch a new dual-engine helicopter. While Bali has an existing search and rescue helicopter, it is only a single engine, which limits its abilities in extreme conditions.
The development comes after recent boating tragedies off the Bali coast involving tourists. In March, Melbourne woman Anna Blight, 39, was killed when the snorkelling boat she was on capsized. Blight was among 10 Australians on the boat.
In early August, five Australians were thrown into the water when another boat capsized. That incident claimed the lives of at least two people. The boast was carrying 80 passengers.
The writer travelled as a guest of Finns Beach Club Bali. See finnsbeachclub.com
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