You leave the sprawling Santa Eulària resorts in the rearview mirror and push north up the PM-810 until the lanes pinch together. Es Figueral is on the east coast. The sand holds a strange copper-red tint you do not really find on other Ibiza beaches. By midday the heat radiating off it is absolute. But the water stays knee-deep forever. Just flat blinding sun and hot sand.
A Beach of Many Coves
Rather than one unbroken strip this place breaks up into connected sections separated by low rocks. Keep walking north past the primary wooden walkway to find a quieter patch. And the Mediterranean here is completely flat on most August mornings. A weak current occasionally drags small piles of dried posidonia weed into the center channel but it rarely sticks around long enough to matter. You just step right over the dry stuff.
Sunbeds and Shallow Water
Shade does not exist down by the waterline. Drag your own umbrella from the trunk or hand over cash to the kiosk guys. Two beds and a shade umbrella cost exactly 22 euros this season. Hit the Euronet ATM back in Sant Carles before driving down because they definitely don’t take cards. Kids love this bay since the sandy bottom shelves off at an agonizingly slow rate. Locals usually claim the permanent volleyball net near the southern edge by 10 AM.
Where to Eat
You can literally step off the sand into Restaurante Es Figueral. The dining room hits peak chaos around 2:30 PM on a Tuesday with waiters sprinting past tables carrying heavy steel pans of seafood paella. Get the grilled prawns. They arrive swimming in boiling garlic oil. Grab extra bread for the bottom of the dish. If a massive two-hour lunch feels heavy just buy a cold can of Estrella and a plastic-wrapped cheese sandwich from one of the small wooden beach shacks.
Sant Carles and Bar Anita
Sant Carles de Peralta sits a few minutes inland. Everyone migrating away from the beach eventually ends up at Bar Anita for a drink on the terrace. Locals still pull their actual mail from the grid of old wooden postal boxes lining the interior wall. Las Dalias operates just down the street. Expect brutal traffic jams on the two-lane approach road whenever that market opens up because the tourist buses simply block both directions while trying to turn around.
Getting There
Rent a car or take a scooter. The public bus crawling up from Ibiza Town stops at every single coastal hotel and the air conditioning is notoriously weak. Look for the massive dirt parking lot directly behind the beach. August mornings see this space completely full by 11 AM. The guy managing the lot likes to cram rental cars practically bumper to bumper against the chainlink fence. Park closer to the exit track so you don’t spend twenty minutes backing out.
Recommended experiences
A few bookable experiences related to this topic:
Photo: Loco2014, via Wikimedia Commons