San Antonio Bay Beach Resort Guide

San Antonio Bay (San Antonio Abad), together with San Antonio Town, makes up Ibiza's second-largest resort. It was recently renamed in the Catalan style as Sant Antoni de Portmany. Densely developed high rise San Antonio Town lies at the northern end of the bay of Portmany. It is famous for its nightlife but is also infamous for its binge-drinking culture. Stretching south around the bay, the rest of the resort is much quieter.

While the centre of the town is the preserve of youngsters seeking a home-from-home sunshine holiday with a ‘banging' nightlife, the rest of the resort is family-package territory. The whole resort is heavily influenced by British holidaymakers.

The resort of San Antonio Bay lies on the west coast of the Spanish Balearic island of Ibiza, on the 6km (4-mile) bay of San Antonio/Portmany. It is 16km (10 miles) northwest of the capital, Ibiza Town, and 23km (14 miles) northwest of the airport.

Between May and October the daily average temperatures never falls below 20ºC (68°F) and rises above 30ºC (86°F) in July-August. The ideal time to visit is May-June and September-October, when the daily average temperature is 24°C (75°F). The crowds are also less overbearing at this time of the year. There is very little rain and almost guaranteed sunshine year-round. The winters are mild and mostly dry.

There are four town beaches. Caló D'es Moro and Cova Blanca are two small beaches of rocky coves and sand, Es Pueto is a larger beach, with fine white sand. Farther south is the main beach, S'Arenal/Sant Antoni (also known as Es Regueró), with some 800m of golden sands. In summer all are very crowded. To the northwest of the town centre are the sandy beaches of Cala Gració, Gracioneta, Cala Salada and Cala Saldeta. The best local beaches, Cala Bassa and Cala Conta, unmarred by hotel developments, are 8-10km (5-6 miles) west of town. Cala Bassa is particularly popular and offers most watersports.

Watersports and glass-bottom boat tours operate from the harbour. The Bungee Rocket, a type of reverse bungee catapult, is the resort's ultimate white-knuckle ride (Avenida Dr Sant Antoni). A tourist land-train makes the journey 12.5km (8 miles) to the pretty hillside village of Santa Ines/Santa Agnès to see the ‘real Ibiza.' There are a number of horse-riding stables on the island. The closest is Can Cirer (Carretera San Antonio-Santa Ines), some 4km (2.5 miles) north.

Soft play areas, small amusement parks and mini-golf courses are dotted around the resort. Karting San Antonio (Carretera Ibiza, San Antionio km 14) has karts for adults and children. At Cala Gració (Carretera de Cala Gració, 2km/1.25 miles northwest of the town centre) is the natural aquarium Aquarium Cap Blanc/Cova de ses Llagostes, set inside a cave with a large floodlit lake. The island's main water park is Aguamar at Platja d'en Bossa, 20km (12 miles) southeast.

Shops around the bay are geared solely for the tourist trade. The shops in San Antonio Town, devoted mostly to fashion and music, are more comprehensive. There is a daily summer evening market on the Passeig Maritimo. The Hippy Market at Punta Arabí in Es Cana, near Santa Eulalia, is held every Wednesday during summer and attracts visitors from all over the island for its huge choice of exotic clothing, jewellery and other items. Serious shoppers should head to Ibiza Town.

This traditionally begins at the Sunset Strip, on the seafront west of San Antonio Town centre. The ritual of watching the sun go down, accompanied by chilled-out Ibizan sounds, began here in the original Café del Mar. This now faces competition from sophisticated neighbouring bars such as Savannah (www.savannahibiza.com) and Café Mambo (www.cafemamboibiza.com), and more very popular ‘sunset' bars have recently emerged immediately north at Caló des Moro. Close by, in the streets clustering around Calle Santa Agnès, the town's infamous ‘West End' is a dense concentration of British-influenced bars and discos. By far the biggest and best nightclubs here are Es Paradis, one of the most beautiful clubs in the Med (www.esparadis.com), and Eden (www.edenibiza.com). Both are on Calle Salvador Espiritu. Ibiza's two biggest clubs, Amnesia (www.amnesia.es) and Privilege (www.privilegeibiza.com) are 8km (5 miles) east of town on Carretera Sant Antoni-Ibiza Town. The latter is the world's largest nightclub holding up to 10,000 ravers. A ‘Disco Bus' service runs between San Antonio and the two clubs, hourly throughout the night.

There is a huge selection of restaurants, from Spanish and international haute cuisine to American-style fast food, British pub grub and the old favourites such as pizzas, Tex-Mex, Chinese and Indian. The best restaurants are typically to be found on the outskirts of town.

Local buses run around the bay, connecting the north and south of the resort. The centre of San Antonio Town is small enough to cover on foot. In high season a shuttle boat service runs from the harbour to the hotels on the far side of the bay and also to the outlying beaches. There is a frequent regular bus service to Ibiza Town and from here buses connect to the rest of the island.

A visit to beautiful Ibiza Town (15km/9.5 miles southeast), both by day and by night is a must, and the town is easily reached by public transport from San Antonio. The Dalt Vila (High Town/Old Town) is a striking atmospheric walled ensemble including a couple of museums and the cathedral. Below, the port offers some of the best and certainly the most cosmopolitan shopping, nightlife, bars and restaurants in the Balearics.

The island is small so anywhere is within easy reach by car.  Highlights include the Salines (saltpans) to the southeast and the Es Vedrà lookout to the southwest, as well as the resort of Santa Eulalia (Santa Eulària des Riu). A boat trip to peaceful Formentera is highly recommended.

Ibiza's only golf club is 25km (15 miles) southeast of San Antonio at Roca Llisa, between Santa Eulalia and Ibiza Town.

Although some parts of the town are strictly for budget holidaymakers, there is no shortage of trendily expensive places to wine and dine. Sa Capella (Cala Grassió, Carretera Santa Inés/Carretera Sant Antoni-Santa Agnés, Km 0.6) (www.ibiza-restaurants.com/sacapella) is a very atmospheric romantic restaurant in a 600-year-old chapel serving superb Mediterranean cuisine. Or go scruffy-chic at Can Pujol (Calle des Caló) one of the island's most renowned fish and seafood restaurants.

Ibiza Airport (IBZ)