July 20, 2012 Island of Ibiza

We waited for favorable east winds to sail the 50 miles from Mallorca to Ibiza. After a few hours of motoring, the wind picked up as predicted, directly astern at 15-20 knots. The waves began to build up quickly, but with wind and waves behind us, we were sailing comfortably under poled out jib and staysail. These days, with the luxury of simply waiting until the wind is right, we hardly need to run the engine anymore. It feels great!

 2 meter waves behind us...but the picture doesn't do it justice

Ibiza sunset, at San Antonio

Ibiza covers 575 Km2 and has a population of over 100,000. There is only one river, the Santa Eularia, on the whole island. The northern part of the island, known as Els Amunts, is made up of fertile land, small forests and almond and olive groves. The coast is spectacular with pretty coves and dramatic cliffs. The excellent sandy beaches are well equipped for tourists. The main touristic beaches are Portinatx, Port de Sant Miquel and Sant Vicenç

After nine hours, we saw land.  The trouble with sailing with winds behind us is that, by definition the approaching shore is a lee shore, and there were large breaking waves all over the shoreline. For better protection, we went into Cala Portinatx, against a backdrop of wooded mountains.  It was an attractive bay with three arms, each with a sandy beach, although crowded with sun bathers, pedalos and such. Since it’s a Saturday, it’s not unusual for the area hotel/restaurant to have some night music started at 9:30pm.  We did not think too much of it when the music went on into the night.  However, it went on till the wee hours of next morning …. 5AM should be considered morning …. it must be wonderful to be young and energetic, to be able to appreciate this ear-piercing ‘thump..thump...thump’ noise called music!

typical clubbers (not counting the one in sunglasses...) 

A nice day at the beach

another beautiful sunset at San Antonio

Where did we go next?  An even better known party town, San Antonio Abad de Portmany.  It used be a fishing village but has developed into mostly a touristic, partying town. The deep bay is well-protected by a breakwater and therefore, a good base for us to stay to do some regular boat maintenance and explore the island.  Not surprisingly, by day it’s a quiet city (the clubbers must be in bed still), but at night there are a lot of people out on the streets looking for nightlife. Just outside the city in the surrounding areas, they have some of the “best” clubs on the island.

The citadel at Ibiza city

San Antonio may not have the culture or the tranquility, but it does have one thing – priceless sunset view.  There are ‘sunset strips’, crowded with premium priced restaurants for those who wish to catch the Kodak moment.  We enjoyed the view every evening on 3Rivers, priceless indeed.

Ibiza actually has some merits for older matured visitors.