Touring The North-east Of Ibiza

By Author: Bonny Kominek
Total Articles: 46
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If your starting point is in Portinatx, the northernmost resort, you need first to drive south to pick up the best roads east or west. You''ll head through the mountains that divide the coast from the centre of the island. Watch out for some breathtaking viewpoints along the way.

Taking the road to the east, you''ll come to the pretty village of San Juan in a valley in the midst of these mountains. You could stop here to wander and drink in the refreshing views of mountain peaks, wooded slopes and fields of poppies and other wild flowers. If you are in need of refreshment, you''ll find a few convenient tapas bars.

Driving on through the mountains, your road bypasses the village of San Vicente and rolls on to the beach resort of the same name. Are you ready for the first swim of the day?

This beach is nearly a quarter of a mile long and quite wide. Nowadays it is quite commercialised, but tastefully so with palm trees dotted along the no-traffic promenade zone. It is still an attractive cove and, when you are on the winding road southwards after your swim, you should try to find a safe place to stop, so you ...
... can look back at the photogenic views.

For lunch you could try one of the beach restaurants at Agua Blancas or Es Figueral, the next beaches along this road. Or you could head on to the village of San Carlos where you''ll find the famous Anita''s Bar, a favourite hippy hang-out, which also serves as the local post office.

From here you can reach several other small beaches. If you want to eat at El Bigote''s, a not-very-well-kept secret restaurant at Cala Mastella, you have to make it a two day affair. This place has no telephone. On the first day you turn up in person and make your booking for another day. Rumour has it that even the king of Spain was turned away when he turned up unannounced while sailing in the area.

However, Cala Mastella is a quiet, sheltered little cove and a pleasant enough place for your afternoon siesta. It is more so perhaps than the nearby beaches at Cala Boix, Cala Llenga and Cala Nova, which are all in much more open positions attracting sporty types and more noisy groups.

But if you are aiming to get back to Portinatx for the evening, you might prefer a longer drive first to get you well on your way. Driving there from San Carlos, you can almost complete a circular route back to San Juan, until you arrive at the T-junction where you turned left for that village on your way out in the morning. Instead continue ahead until you reach the coast at Cala Xarraca.

Here, at the shore of one of the coves of placid blue waters that dot the undulating coastline at the foot of the cliffs, you are just minutes from Portinatx, your morning starting point. Bonny Kominek is very fond of the Balearic islands and has been going to Ibiza for years. Getting car hire Ibiza is essntial, you can get cheap car hire Ibiza from Ritmocars.co.uk