CALA PADA

CALA PADA

Located few kilometers from Santa Eulalia, between Santa Eulalia and the Es Canar tourist resort, we can find this beautiful cove of white sand and surrounded by pine trees. Surrounded by few bars and some hotels which are outside from the beach and make it a familiar and quiet beach.

Perhaps the pier (that sometimes serves as a makeshift trampoline to jump directly into the sea) is one of the most remarkable things about this quiet beach.

This beach is ideal for families since the water is not very deep and it is usually protected from the winds. It is not a very large cove as it has a length of 200 meters.

Now in spring,  but also in autumn and on winter, it is great  for a sunbathe, because during summer is much more busy, but the rest of the year usually is very quiet.

Some of the pines surrounding the beach have the shape the wind is sculped on them, adding the green color into the landscape that contrasts with the blue of the crystal clear waters of this beach, in addition to the native pine trees also this beach has some palm trees giving you a tropical touch.

CALA BOIX

CALA BOIX

the sand of this beach is black, although is not volcanic but anyway is unusual to find in Ibiza beaches with sand as dark as this one. Although currently I dont visit often this beach as I did when child and always  this beach is in my memory because it is one of the beaches where I most enjoyed thanks to its (sometimes) huge waves.

Clayey materials from their small cliffs that surround it must have some guilt sand color, far from removing beauty, can even say it adds.

The beach is ideal for its waves, because usually its waters are quite moved, maybe that's why my memories with this beach are great because almost every time I went there when small, I enjoyed on the water with air mattress or pulling myself directly towards into the strong waves which broked on the shore of the beach.

Anyhow the beach is not very big, and although it is located in the east side of the island, I must say that there are enough hours of sun, and the beach itself faces the South and this gives more hours of sunlight than others of that area, which are very limited.

Surrounded by cliffs, with a bright water and almost always with waves and dark sand, that is certainly a unique beach of this kind. It has a small beach bar. It is accessed by a concrete staircase because you have to leave the car at some point at the top of a cliff, at that parking atop and next to where the vehicles are left there are also two larger restaurants. This is a beach for everyone though perhaps limited by the large rungs of the steps and is not recommended for people with mobility problems.

ES FIGUERAL BEACH

PLAYA DE ES FIGUERAL

After a period of "rest", I resume the activity of this blog of Ibiza with one of the most popular beaches on the East side of the island. This is the beach of Es Figueral, and I suppose that the name must reference perhaps, to a large number of fig trees that would be here in this area in the old days.

So the ancient fig trees may have been replaced by the big number of hotels that nowadays have been builded in this area, some huge ones, that are in the vicinity of the beach. It can guess from the pictures, that the beach is of fine sand, ideal for families and for the general public. Here also you can enjoy all amenities like restaurants, bars, sunbeds, lifeguards, showers, pedal boats, windsurfing etc. .....

In the background we can see the island of Tagomago, always present in the northeastern part of the island. These images were taken on this spring season, where still the small population of tourism allows us to enjoy the beaches without the huge number of tourists who will bask in them, within the next weeks.
 
Although this beach has massive attendance during the summer due to the numerous hotels congregated here, also has a wild side, in fact before construction was a isolated and nudist beach, and there are still wild sides that remind us those old days. In one side of the cove there is a kind of natural monolith that some have called as the "finger of God" in likeness of the one in Gran Canaria island (destroyed some years ago by a tropical storm), this one here, is still standing.

In the wild side of the beach, there is a pebble beach, much quieter than the sand side, but limited by a vertical wall that makes shadows on this beach quite early just after midday, so time to enjoy the sun here is quite limited.

It also has some small islets in this area, which reminds us of the nearby beach of aigues blanques.

In short, it's a beach to enjoy, that yes, like all those in the east of the island ideal to enjoy at first thing in the morning as it is when is better to swim and sunbathing. In the afternoon can be partially affected by shadows.
From this beach we can also discern in the distance the beach of "Sa Cala" Sant Vicent, and right next door of it, we can even make out the remains of an old lighthouse, which was replaced by a new one built on the islet of Tagomago.
We must not forget that even in this area will not enjoy sunsets (we are in the East side of the island), it can enjoy some beautiful sunrises, some as wonderful as the famous sunsets on the West side of the island.

ES NIU BLAU BEACH

PLAYA ES NIU BLAU

A little gem hidden between Santa Eulalia and Es Canar, a beach of the few ones where one can lie in the shade of the pines, swim in the crystal clear water and has a really clean sand. A beach that once I frequented small and this area left a mark on my memory, when I was playing down these pines (which were somewhat smaller than they are today).

Right next door is the only estuary that exists on the island (although very small indeed), and it seems to be the nature in this area has focused on waters, so not far away there is the mouth of the only river in the insular Spain. 

Of course nothing to do with the famous Galician tions (rías) which are obviously larger but this one leaves a picturesque corner next to the beach with their small boats moored in the lee of the wind, with the forest surrounding.

The best time to enjoy this beach is in the morning as it is located at the eastern side of the island. In that first hour sunlight, the sun plays with the sea, and reflects off the sea offering a silver white flashes, contrasting with the green of the many pines of the area.

The translation of "niu blau" would be "blue nest", although the predominant color of this beach is the green of the pine trees growing in the sand, but the green also contrasts with the blue sky and sea. A place to enjoy the sun and the shadow of the pines and of course without sunshades.

CALA MASTELLA

CALA MASTELLA AND THE POSIDONEA

A tiny beach in size but big on beauty. Lost, so it is a bit confusing the way to get to it. But definitely it´s worth it.

The tiny beach is surrounded by rocks and pine trees, which makes it very attractive. Also in the vicinity is a small harbor with small fishing boats, where we can arrive in a short but lovely walk.

The small beach is sandy, but mostly covered with posidonea. The posidonea due to ignorance is often synonymous with dirt, when in fact the opposite is true. For starters it's not an algae but a marine plant that is found only in the Mediterranean (also called Neptune grass). Ibiza and Formentera have on their seabed, the posidonea great prairies which contributes to the good color of sea water, since this plant oxygenates the seawater. Also on the beach (as we see in the picture above) the posidonea make barriers that prevents water drag the sand, therefore protects beaches and prevents run out of sand. In addition also have advantages, we can walk, jump or lie over it without any danger.

As we move to the small port, very close to the beach we see a landscape of sea, rocks and pine trees with a striking contrast of colors. It´s amazing how some pines arise directly from the rock. We can see here as the cove, almost looks like a estuary, due the incoming water that is surrounded of narrow sea shores. In the background we see an area of ​​reeds and rushes in the main beach, because that area is also the mouth of a small stream during the rainy season.

A small picturesque harbor is situated near the beach, with some local fishing boats. Small docks also harbor small boats waiting to be released out to sea by the owner, who often live nearby.

Fishing gear and proper maintenance of vessels, indicate that are used as fishing boats frequently. From this small port, we can enjoy the best views of the small cove that is opposite. Here the sea has a green or turquoise color that contrasts with the pines at the background. What is not lacking in this place is the incredible quietness all year round.

SNORKEL IN CALA CONTA

SNORKELING IN COMPTE BEACH

There are not many places with the waters so clear as the ones we see in this area. It´s a pleasure to enjoy the islets from inside the water. these islets gives an unusual landscape to this beach. In the image above we see the islet of S'illa des Bosc, which is located directly across from these shores and that if the currents allow us it can be reached by swimming.

Their sandy areas are quite breathtaking, and sometimes get the feeling that never end, and as we can see in the images the visibility inside water is realy clear in this area, much larger than in other areas of the island, this is due the plant "posidonea" which exists in big amount into this area. The posidonea area combines with other great sandy areas into the sea.

Once we are inside the sea, the water provides to our eyes a blue and white setting. These colors of waters and sands are really beautiful and seem the Caribbean at the Mediterranean. All the frequent readers, who often visit my blog (which I appreciate) know my passion for these beaches, the only thing that I can complain is the large number of people who visit in high season this place, something absolutely normal, because this place is so nice that many people want to enjoy of it.

As they get used to us, the fishes will be coming to us ....

As we see in these images the beauty of the beaches of compte is not only in its landscape outside the sea, but also inside.

BEACHES OF CALA CONTA

BEACHES OF CONTA, COMPTE OR COMTE

No way I can hide my great appreciation for this place. I´m aware that I repeat with this (albeit with new images) about this place. There are several islets that surround this beach, and in some cases (just few of them) they are reach by swimming, though not the case of the far islet Espartar.

The white sand of the beach contrasts with the green and turquoise blue sea. Any time is good to visit this beach, although in July and August they are a bit crowded. So if you are not too fond of the masses of people, you should avoid going at that time but in winter is simply a joy to go to this place, especially if the day is sunny.

From this beach we can enjoy beautiful sunsets, due it´s located at the west side of the Island. From here also we can see the distant and small archipelago of islands called "Bledes" (chard). So, this beach is surrounded by many of the most popular islets of Ibiza.

For those who don´t enjoy much the fine sand, there are also some rocky areas. When there are waves into this beach when the western wind blows is also a nice place to visit, so the waves gives an extra amount of beauty to the landscape. In summer also is a great place to practice snorkeling or for swimming.

very near there is also a small cove called Raco d'en Xic, is naturist place and there are beautiful views towards the islet of s´Espartar.

Another of the "large" islets that can be seen from the beach is the "illa des bosc" (forest island) and this one it´s accessible by swimming. I never get tired to visit this site and to walk the surroundings in winter, it´s really a privilege enjoy these spectacular sceneries.