21-year-old man warned a family about a nearby jellyfish while snorkeling in Spain, parents got angry when their kids became scared and denied it, then claimed he ruined their beach day: ' They would not stop whispering and glaring at me'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Sep 7, 2025 6:00 PM EDT

Any kind person would warn someone about to step in front of potential danger. Whether it's a dodgy street, a Justin Timberlake concert, or even just a jellyfish that's swam too close to shore. It's just common courtesy to give a heads up, as you would appreciate the same! So when this couple is spending the perfect, sunny day on the seaside, and comes across a few jellyfish in the water, they decide to tell the other family nearby. Not to spark fear, but to express caution, especially with their young kids around. So that's exactly what this man did.

However, instead of genuine appreciation and a chin lift, his warning was met with a strong tide of dirty looks and sighs. A comment was even made about how he has scared their children, who are now refusing to swim…a beach day officially ruined. He was just trying to be helpful and avoid seeing anyone get hurt, but would it have been better for him to not say anything at all and risk the potential of allowing either the parent or children to get stung? Seems like he was just trying to be a good guy, who clearly did not reap the rewards of his honesty.

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  • What made the situation even more awkward was the father's constant attempt at trying to reverse the situation. Claiming that there were no jellyfish, despite them clearly floating right in front of them…Maybe he thinks gaslighting his kids will help them overcome their fears. However, we just think he is knowingly putting them at risk to protect his ego.

  • 01
    Kids snorkelling
    via blueorangestudio

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for warning a family?

    My partner (35M) and I (21M) are on holiday in Spain at the moment, and very much enjoy snorkeling in the crystal clear waters.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 03
    We went to a remote beach which has no lifeguard and is not very touristy, as the beaches where we were staying were packed and too hard to see the water.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 04
    We were swimming along the rocky coast, and the water gets quite deep quite fast, but there's very little current and it's in a bit of an alcove so it's safe for majority of swimmers.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 05
    However when we were swimming we spotted, a few metres out, a giant jellyfish. We swam away from it, but then I passed a family who were English and were swimming that way with two young kids (maybe about 5 or 6?).
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 06
    I stopped and said to the dad that there was a jellyfish a few metres out that way, but if they stay by the rocks they would be okay.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 07
    I said just be wary as it was fairly large and also because there is no lifeguard (so no medical supplies). The kids were also still using floaties so naturally not the best swimmers.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 08
    They thanked me and I swam past. It's noted that the parents didn't have any goggles.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 09
    Then, about five minutes later the girls were screaming about jellyfish, and I heard the parents exasperatedly say there was no jellyfish and to keep swimming.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 10
    This is where the issue started. The parents would not stop whispering and glaring at me, and one of them commented I intentionally scared their children.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 11
    My partner says I should've kept myself to myself and not said anything.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 12
    Father sitting on the beach with his daughter
    via gettysignature

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 13
    The girls wouldn't stop saying about jellyfish and they had to get out eventually, but before they did they were saying they saw jellyfish and the parents were telling them there was none, and the father was trying to coax the daughter to him.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 14
    But about two foot away from him were two jellyfish. The daughters refused, and I saw them get out, and the parents are still giving me death glares from across the beach, supposedly for ruining their beach day.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 15
    I don't have kids so I can see how that was frustrating, but I didn't want them to get hurt...AITA?
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 16
    Tldr: I warned a family with young kids about the jellyfish in the water, and scared the children until they had to get out.
    via KingFroggie2004
  • 17
    Someone's feet close to a jellyfish
    via gettyimages

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 18
    coastalkid92 NTA. Warning people about a potentially harmful creature is just common courteousy.
    via coastalkid92
  • 19
    Sekhen NTA. Why is the father trying to gaslight his kids when there CLEARLY is a jellyfish there?
    via Sekhen
  • 20
    Poinsettia917 Imagine if you said nothing and something bad happened. And you were right. There were jellyfish.
    via Poinsettia917
  • 21
    Traditional-Swan-130 NTA. Better a couple scared kids than a 6-year-old in floaties taking a jellyfish sting with no lifeguard around. You did the right thing
    via Traditional-Swan-130
  • 22
    Individual_Ad_9213 NTA. If there's a choice to be made between having people stare at me and watching kids squirming in pain over jelly fish stings, I know my choice.
    via Individual_Ad_9213
  • 23
    Fair4U2 NTA. If you hadn't warned them and one of the kids were seriously injured from the jellyfish, not only would the kid be in the hospital, but your conscious would have you feeling guilty because you could have tried to warn them to prevent that. Their beach day was what they made of it because they could have swam somewhere else.
    via Fair4U2 NTA
  • 24
    No_Carob1414 Those guys are just thick headed, not sure what they'd think you'd gain from lying about a harmful creature in the water. If they got stung I'm sure they would've wished they'd taken your warning
    via No_Carob1414

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Tags

annoyed warning summer currents gaslighting ocean beach swimming beach day ruined parenting friendly jellyfish sting dangerous sea creatures parents vacation
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