A Perfect Day from Ibiza to Formentera by Boat

Some Mediterranean boat days are about the miles. This one is about a single, glorious idea: cross a short stretch of channel and spend the day floating in the clearest water in Europe.

Formentera sits just south of Ibiza — around ten nautical miles from Ibiza town — and the crossing takes most day boats well under an hour. Waiting on the far side is Ses Illetes, a beach compared to the Caribbean so often the line has become a cliché, and the honest truth is it undersells the place. This is the classic Balearics day charter, and done properly it needs nothing more than a good boat, a mid-morning start and one early decision about lunch.

The Morning Crossing

Leave Ibiza between 10 and 10:30am.

The channel between the islands is at its calmest before the afternoon sea breeze fills in, and an earlier crossing means first pick of the anchoring space off Ses Illetes — which matters far more in July and August than anyone likes to admit.

The run itself is a highlight rather than a transfer. Heading south out of Ibiza you pass the shimmering flats of Ses Salines and the beach at Es Cavallet, then thread the scattered islets of Es Freus — lighthouse-topped rocks in water that shifts from deep blue to swimming-pool turquoise as the seabed rises toward Formentera. By the time the long sand spit of Es Trucadors appears ahead, the day has already announced itself.

Ses Illetes

The famous one, and it earns it.

Ses Illetes runs up the narrow Trucadors peninsula at Formentera's northern tip — a ribbon of white sand with calm, impossibly clear water on both sides, inside the protected Ses Salines natural park that spans the southern tip of Ibiza and the north of Formentera. The clarity is no accident: the seabed here is white sand and meadows of posidonia seagrass, UNESCO-listed and fiercely protected, which filter the water to that luminous pale blue.

Arriving by boat is simply the best way to do it. Road access into the park is limited and queues in summer, while a boat anchors a short swim off the sand with the whole scene laid out in front of you. One note your captain will already know: anchoring on the seagrass is prohibited, so boats drop onto the clear sand patches — part of why the water stays the colour it is.

Espalmador, Just North

A little north of the Trucadors spit sits Espalmador, a private, uninhabited islet separated from Formentera by a shallow, glowing channel.

The sheltered bay of s'Alga on its southern side — a managed mooring field in high season — is one of the gentlest spots in the Balearics, and usually that little bit calmer than Illetes at midday. The beach is open to wander, the swimming is superb, and lying at anchor with nothing on the horizon but sand, water and the odd passing sail is exactly the postcard people carry home. Many crews split the day between the two: Illetes for the morning, Espalmador for the quiet of the afternoon.

Lunch, Two Ways

Formentera's beach restaurants are genuinely famous — and genuinely booked out.

Juan y Andrea on the sand at Illetes has been feeding boat guests paella and grilled fish for decades, Es Molí de Sal serves seafood from a converted salt mill above the beach, and Beso Beach hides in the dunes nearby. All three take arrivals from the water, and all three disappear weeks ahead in July and August — so reserve the table when you confirm the boat, not after you step aboard.

The equally good alternative is a long lunch at anchor. An unhurried spread on deck in the bay at Espalmador, swimming between courses, nobody watching the clock — plenty of regulars swear this is the better version of the day. Either way, commit to one plan; the day is too good to spend in the tender.

The Afternoon Swim

If the group has energy for one more stop, Cala Saona on Formentera's west coast is the pick — a compact cove backed by rust-red cliffs, facing west across open water and gin-clear even by local standards. Otherwise, stay north and drift: the channel between Illetes and Espalmador is one of the great lazy afternoons of the Mediterranean.

Resist the urge to do everything. Two anchorages done slowly beat four done at a jog.

Golden Hour and Es Vedra

Leave Formentera late in the afternoon and the run home becomes the closing scene.

If the sea state and your route suit it, ask your captain about swinging past Ibiza's southwest corner, where Es Vedra rises nearly 400 metres sheer out of the sea off Cala d'Hort. Wrapped in local legend and lit gold at the end of the day, it is the island's great sunset icon and a spectacular way to finish. If the day has run long and the route home is direct, the straight crossing has its own reward — the walls of Dalt Vila, Ibiza's UNESCO-listed old town, catching the last of the light above the harbour as you come in.

When to Go

The season runs May to September. June and early September are the sweet spots — warm water, open restaurants and noticeably more space off Illetes — while July and August bring the full spectacle and demand planning: boats, lunch tables and anchoring room all tighten up. On days when the wind makes Formentera's north coast roll, captains simply flip the plan toward Cala Saona and the sheltered side — one more argument for keeping the itinerary flexible rather than fixed.

Booking the Day

Ahoy Days has instant-book day boats in Ibiza, alongside the rest of our Spanish fleet in Mallorca and Palma. Every listing shows a live from-rate, its licensed capacity and its inclusions, and books instantly online — so the boat is locked in within minutes and the only real homework left is the lunch table. Browse the fleet on our Spain destination page, book the table early, and let Formentera do the rest.