Hannah McDonald; Feb 2009
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San Antonio Bay is part of San An but is away from the West End. It's brilliant for bars and restaurants; Rodeo Bar and Huddle Bar are the best.
It's not as fast paced as San An but it's still lively. You must experience the disco buses - what a
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Playa d'en Bossa, Ibiza © Spanish National Tourist Board |
Overview: Situated on the west coast, ten miles (16km) from the airport
and the capital Ibiza, San Antonio is the largest and liveliest
holiday resort on the island. Known as 'San An' to the thousands of
British clubbers who descend here each summer, the resort's proper
name is Sant Antoni de Portmany. San Antonio's wide bay is lined
with bars, restaurants and apartment blocks catering mainly for
young British holidaymakers. There are a few small sandy beaches in
the resort, and the spectacular beaches of Cala Conta, Cala Bassa
and Cala Tarida are a short ferry ride away. July and August are
the best months to visit for those looking for buzzing nightlife,
while the months of May and June, and September and October are
most popular with families, couples and older visitors.
Shopping: There is a selection of shops in and around San Antonio catering
for holidaymakers, from the inevitable bucket and spade stores to
designer boutiques. Good buys include the local porcelain and
leather goods. The local supermarkets are good and stock all the
well-known brands; alcohol and cigarettes are particularly cheap.
Ibiza Town is the best place to find the latest fashion
accessories; the shops don't close until well after midnight during
the high season and in the evenings the port area takes on the
ambience of a hippy market with street vendors and stalls selling
everything from jewellery to cheap CDs.
Restaurants: Holidaymakers looking for a good culinary experience in San
Antonio should try Jamel's Bistro, Sa Capella, S'embarcador or
Villa Mercedes. San Antonio has two areas: 'The West End', which is
packed with lots of small bars, fast food restaurants and pavement
cafés, and the more upmarket 'Sunset Strip' in San Antonio
Bay, where the better restaurants are found. Some restaurants offer
good local Spanish fare and excellent locally-caught seafood but
the majority cater for more British tastes; Chinese, Indian and
Italian food, hamburgers and chips, full English breakfasts and
Sunday roasts.
Nightlife: Cafe Del Mar is San Antonio's prided social venue and a must for
all visitors and holidaymakers looking for a good night out. Ibiza
is synonymous with clubbing and the nightclubs in and around San
Antonio attract the best DJs from around the world. A great place
to start off the evening is in one of the bars along the Sunset
Strip. Privilege is the world's largest club, located on the long
straight road to the Ibiza Town.
Activities: The safe, shallow waters of San Antonia bay are great for
swimming and holidaymakers can find the best beaches are 20 minutes
away by public transport or ferry. Water sports and scuba diving
can be organised at the seafront and on land everything from golf
and tennis to quad biking, karting and horse riding can be arranged
making Ibiza a great destination for sports enthusiasts. The
interior of the island and much of the coastline is surprisingly
unspoilt and can be easily explored, and Ibiza's historic Old Town
is well worth a visit for a bit of culture.
Negatives: San Antonio's beaches aren't great, but the spectacular beaches
of Cala Conta, Cala Bassa and Cala Tarida are easy to get to. The
West End is very noisy and at night is packed with sales reps and
'looky-looky' men trying to sell watches, jewellery, sun glasses
and drugs. Those looking for a less hectic evening should stick to
the San Antonio Bay end of town. The big clubs are expensive -
around €45 to get in and €8 per drink, but elsewhere it
is possible to get a pint for €1.50.
Nearby Attractions
Cova de Can Marca
A few miles north of the village of Sant Miquel, which has an
attractive hill-top church and some good tapas bars, is the tourist
attraction cave complex of cova de Can Marca. The caves have been
commercialised and fitted with some spectacular sound... see full details | |
D’Alt Vila (Ibiza Old Town)
The old medieval district of Ciudad de Ibiza (Ibiza Town), the
capital of the island, sports narrow cobblestone streets,
picturesque whitewashed houses and Gothic buildings around
courtyards bright with blooming geraniums and bougainvillea. The
old town, enclosed by historic walls and entered through the... see full details | |
Formentera
The tiny island of Formentera covers 35 square miles (90 sq km)
and is home to just over 5,000 people. It can only be reached by
ferry from Ibiza town, with a regular service running every two
hours. The island is a popular... see full details | |
La Salinas
One of Ibiza’s famous landmarks are the salt flats, La
Salinas, close to the airport on the southern-most tip of the
island. The saltpans have been in use for more than 2,000 years,
since the earliest colonists, the Carthaginians, traded in the
‘white gold’... see full details | |
Santa Eulalia del Rio
Santa Eulalia is a pretty, atmospheric little town about nine
miles (14km) north of the island's capital, much favoured by
tourists because of its proximity to some of the best beaches and
for its scenic setting. The town is situated on the estuary... see full details | |