Sailing Ibiza: A 7-Day Pitiusas Yacht Charter with Formentera

The week starts at Ibiza Town. Fifteen minutes by road from IBZ airport, the harbor splits into two marinas across the bay from each other — Marina Ibiza on the south side (425 berths, yachts up to 110 meters, the city-side superyacht hub with the historic-quarter view) and Marina Botafoch on the north side (428 berths, yachts up to 30 meters, the boutique-tier and F&B-adjacent berth). Your captain has booked one of them based on your yacht's size; if your yacht is anchored offshore for the day, both marinas offer tender access.

Crew meet at the slip with cold drinks and the chart briefing. The galley is stocked, the steward settles luggage into cabins, and the chef walks the welcome plate while the old walled town sits across the harbor.

Dinner is ashore. The captain books one of the restaurants on Marina Botafoch or up in the hills — Mediterranean kitchens that run late into the evening. The first night is the captain's call based on the group's appetite; the rhythm of the week starts here.

A morning's twelve-nautical-mile run west and south around Es Cubells to Cala Jondal — the south-coast premier beach-club anchorage. The cove holds 8 to 15 meters of water over sand and the captain anchors offshore; tender straight to the beach where Blue Marlin Ibiza's daybeds run from sand-level cabanas to elevated VIP terraces. The kitchen runs Mediterranean — fresh fish, fresh truffle pasta in season, the seafood plateaus that match what's coming out of the Ibiza market that morning.

Daybeds carry the minimum spends typical of high-end beach clubs. The DJ sets build through the afternoon and crest at the sundowner. Guests tender back to the yacht for the swim platform's last hour of light. Dinner is on board at anchor; the cove holds the sundowner mood as the day thins out.

An alternative — or a second-night anchorage — is Cala Bassa Beach Club on Ibiza's west coast: a quieter cove with sand-bottom anchorage and a less DJ-driven daytime. Captains book either based on the week's wind and the group's preference.

A short ten-nautical-mile hop west and south from Cala Jondal around Cap Llentrisca to Cala d'Hort. The afternoon is slow — a swim off the swim platform in the deep blue water between Cala d'Hort and Es Vedrà, the 413-meter limestone cliff-stack that's been the iconic Ibiza shot since the 1970s. The islet is uninhabited and part of the Cala d'Hort nature reserve; local folklore attributes magnetic anomalies and Phoenician-goddess myths to it, none of which is provable but all of which is local color.

By late afternoon the captain has positioned the yacht for the sunset — the sun drops behind Es Vedrà around 21:00 in July and August, around 20:00 in September, lighting the cliff-stack against the southwest sky for the half-hour before. Dinner on board at anchor, the silhouette of Es Vedrà off the bow holding the sky until full dark.

An alternative dinner-ashore option is Elixir Shore Club on neighboring Cala Codolar — sand-bottom anchorage, tender from yacht, the only beach club with direct Es Vedrà sightlines from its tables. The captain books based on whether the group wants the cliff-stack from the yacht or from a beach table with feet in the sand.

A morning's run east and south across the Freus strait between Ibiza and Formentera — three nautical miles of shallow turquoise water over protected seagrass meadows (protected as a marine reserve). The captain anchors in the regulated zone off Espalmador or Ses Illetes — Formentera's marine reserve requires permit-buoy reservations in season, booked by the captain in advance, similar to but less strict than Cabrera.

Lunch is on Formentera's long sand spit, at the paella restaurant the captain books in advance. There's no dock at the beach — the restaurant's tender picks guests up from the yacht's anchor and runs them ashore for the long Mediterranean lunch into late afternoon.

The afternoon swims off the swim platform — Ses Illetes water is the warmest swimming water in the western Mediterranean in July and August, and the sand bottom holds the water clear well into the evening. Beso Beach Formentera at Playa de Cavall d'en Borràs on the Illetes side is the alternative or dinner option (season opened April 30, 2026, runs May–October; lunch only until 18:00, snacks 19:00–close). Overnight at anchor in Espalmador or repositioned to the lee side of Ses Illetes depending on the evening wind.

An hour's slow run west along Formentera to Cala Saona — the sheltered sandy bay on Formentera's west coast, the late-afternoon sunset anchorage that complements the Espalmador morning. Cala Saona holds 8 to 12 meters of water over sand, easy anchoring in any wind that isn't a strong westerly. The hotel of the same name above the cove runs a beach bar that the captain can book the table at for a swim-out, tender-in lunch or sundowner.

By midafternoon the captain repositions twenty nautical miles north and east across the Freus and around Ibiza's southwest corner to Cala Salada — the north-coast cove that's the standard arrival anchorage for the Ibiza-side end of the week. Cala Salada has a small wooden-pier restaurant on the cove (rustic, family-run, the captain's go-to for an honest north-Ibiza dinner) and sand-bottom anchorage in 8 to 15 meters. The remaining days run the east and north coast — Cala Benirràs on Sunday for the drum-circle tradition tendered from yacht, Santa Eulària for a calmer overnight.

A short run east along Ibiza's north coast to a small privately-owned villa-island just offshore. The yacht anchors in the deep water between the island and Ibiza's mainland; the afternoon swims off the swim platform.

By midafternoon the captain repositions back along the north coast. Santa Eulària is the calmer overnight — a small marina town with an old church above the river and quay-side restaurants along the riverside walk. Cala Benirràs is the Sunday option — a long-running drum-circle sunset tradition runs every Sunday from June through September, tendered in from anchor.

Dinner is ashore. Santa Eulària runs a boutique-Mediterranean evening — the captain books one of the small-family restaurants along the riverside walk. Cala Benirràs is more relaxed — a sundowner at the cove's pier-end bar with the drum circle as the soundtrack.

An early start. The captain pulls anchor and runs the last ten nautical miles south down the east coast back to Ibiza Town. The afternoon is the long, slow re-entry into the harbor — Dalt Vila's walls growing along the south side, Marina Ibiza or Marina Botafoch taking the boat back at the slip by midafternoon. The chef's last plate runs over lunch at anchor or on the slow run home; an aft-deck final sundowner runs as the yacht works back to the marina.

Disembarkation is typically 09:00 Saturday morning, but guests who want one more night on board can extend at anchor in Ibiza Town's harbor or back at Cala Salada, with the captain returning the boat to the marina the morning of departure. From Ibiza Town it's fifteen minutes to IBZ airport, where direct connections to Madrid, Barcelona, London, Amsterdam, and major European hubs run through Saturday afternoon and evening. US guests connect through MAD or BCN; the captain books the marina-to-airport transfer.