A couple booked an Airbnb for their honeymoon, and what was watching them from the pool stopped them cold

A couple’s Florida honeymoon took an unexpected turn when they spotted what appeared to be a predator lurking in their private Airbnb pool. The encounter was shared by TikTok user Khiya, who posts under the handle @khiyamarta, in a video that has since drawn millions of views. As detailed by BroBible, the discovery began with a simple message sent to their host asking what exactly was in the water.

The video opens with a screenshot of the Airbnb conversation, where the guest sent a photo of the pool along with the message, “Hi… what is in this pool?” The footage then shows a rectangular gap on the side of the pool revealing what looked like the underside of a crocodile or alligator. The woman taps the object with her foot to get a reaction, and her partner follows up by bopping it with a can. When the object shifts, she remarks, “It moved,” to which he replies, “‘Cause I moved.”

The man can be heard asking the TikToker if she is “going in,” and she confirms she is staying in her chair. He says he wants “confirmation” of what the object actually is, and the Airbnb hosts had not responded by the time the video was posted. The comments section quickly filled with reactions, ranging from genuine unease to jokes about the situation, with several users guessing early on that the object was some kind of decoy.

It turns out the explanation was far less dangerous than it appeared.

Multiple commenters correctly guessed that the object was a fake alligator placed in the pool to ward off wildlife, and Khiya confirmed they had figured it out on their own without help from the host. Her partner posted his own video about the incident, which has reached millions of views, explaining that it was “a lil plastic alligator head that I think the hosts attached to a swivel.” He noted that whenever the water splashed, the decoy moved, which only added to the scare.

Using fake alligator heads as pool and pond decoys is a fairly common practice among property owners, with similar products sold by retailers including Amazon, eBay, and Outdoor Water Solutions. As listed on the Outdoor Water Solutions product page, the decoys feature hand painted detail, reflective red eyes, and a floating motion designed to look lifelike.

They are typically made from durable urethane foam built to hold up in different weather conditions. Some trend pieces on social platforms have picked up on similarly unexpected discoveries, including a recent story about a foreclosure auction house find that drew wide attention online.

The decoys are intended to mimic a natural predator, scaring off birds such as ducks, geese, herons, egrets, and cormorants without disrupting the appearance of a pool or water feature. Some versions include an eyelet so they can be anchored in place, while others are designed to float freely. The products are popular with owners of koi ponds and golf course water features looking to keep wildlife away, even if the result can be startling for anyone who isn’t expecting to see one.

In this case, the swivel attachment was enough to convince two honeymooners that they were dealing with a real animal rather than a decoration. Florida is home to a substantial wild alligator population, which made the initial assumption far from unreasonable. Unrelated viral mix ups have circulated elsewhere too, including a separate story about a bad tippers debate that picked up traction on social media around the same time.

The couple eventually confirmed the object was the plastic decoy attached to a swivel mechanism, and no further explanation from the Airbnb host was reported in the videos.