Stylish modern villa on Ibiza’s west coast with striking sea views

Cala Bassa is a beautiful west coast bay with perfect swimming water and lovely sand. The beach club is a very good place to head with young kids. It can get busy in mid July and August when the glass bottom boats come in from San Antonio, but otherwise it’s a lovely spot to enjoy a day. There are three different restaurants, all run by CbbC, from the high end (middle) to a very simple snack bar (far end). Our favourite is the first one as you arrive from the beach entrance. 

Cala Conta. Another great option on this beautiful slice of coast. Serving up good local seafood dishes and enjoying lovely views over one side of Cala Conta and its pristine waters. Immediately from the restaurant there are steps leading down to a lovely little bay to swim, although the glass bottom ferry boats do stop here so it can go from calm to chaos in a second. The restaurant often hosts private events so is sometimes not open.

Cala Carbo. The two restaurants in the pretty little bay of Cala Carbo are carbon copies in terms of the menu. Both offer typical Spanish seafood and family friendly, in fact the owners are cousins. A great place for a relaxed low key meal. Restaurante Cala Carbo just gets the vote as it is closer to the water.  

A beach for all, this busy beach brags some of the cleanest and clearest swimming water on the island and is a perfect place to enjoy a long beach day. Surrounded by Ibiza’s native Sabina trees and sporting two large rock formations on either end of the beach this golden stretch of sand is extremely popular with families and locals alike. Cala Bassa has good shade and facilities galore making it an ideal family experience.

If you are in a more energetic mood try your legs at jet skiing or jumping off the rocks on either ends of the beach. Feeling slower, go to the right and sit on the rocks with the locals fishing.

Tip: Eat or drink at the stylish Cala Bassa Beach Club (+34 971 34 26 61, www.cbbcgroup.com) which has 3 different restaurants to choose from which are each targeting slightly different pockets.

The best sunset beach on the island. Watching the sun melt into the sea here is guaranteed to deliver a truly melancholic moment. As you pull into your most photographically perfect parking spot, you know that you have arrived in paradise. Your first glimpse from the large cliff side parking area will be of the large beached-whale-like and uninhabited island of Sa Conillera. The water in Cala Conta is Formentera-esque as the abundant sand creates an aquamarine bliss.

The beach is divided into three differing sections, two are supported by more rocky background and the last has pristinely white sand dunes. Take your pick whether you veer right or left. To the West you will find families enjoying the ideally shallow, pool-like cove safe for younger kids. To the East, known as Cala Escondita, you are more likely to spend time with the nudists (who have informally claimed this section as their own).

You will find small coves of varying depths creating for an ideal snorkelling environment. It’s a stunning spot but if you swim out far into the open sea, bear in mind that the currents can pick up a bit especially towards the late afternoon and this can be deceptively dangerous.

A fairy-tale cove enchanting visitors with its raw natural beauty and postcard like views of Es Vedra, a 413m high limestone rock island renown the world over for its magnetic energetic pull. The sandy and pebbly bay of Cala d’hort is very pretty but it is impossible not to be regularly lured into staring at Es Vedra in all its might. Whilst the magnetism of Es Vedra is perhaps island myth, there is no doubting it’s importance in Greek mythology. The island is said to be home to sirens and sea-nymphs, who tried to lure Odysseus from his ship in Homer’s Odyssey.

Declared a National park in the 1990’s to preserve it from construction this fine white-sanded, shallow clear watered beach is popular with families and young couples, local and international. Cala d’hort is famous for its sunsets that can best be viewed from the left-hand section of the beach or from the restaurants. Be sure to arrive early at this as there is limited parking near the beach and it’s a long walk up the hill to the higher cliff top parking at the end of the day.