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Overview: Situated on the west coast, ten miles (16km) from the airport and the capital Ibiza, San Antonio is the largest and liveliest tourist 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. Its long, wide bay is lined with bars, restaurants and apartment blocks catering mainly for young British tourists. 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 tourists, 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: San Antonio has two areas: ‘The West End’, which is packed with lots of small bars, fast food restaurants and pavement cafes, 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 and the staple full English breakfasts and Sunday roasts.

 

Nightlife: Ibiza is synonymous with clubbing and the nightclubs in and around San Antonio attract the best DJs from around the world such as Tim Westwood, Fat Boy Slim and Paul Van Dyke. A great place to start off the evening is in one of the bars along the Sunset Strip such as Mambo, Savannah and the exceptionally smooth (but expensive) Café del Mar where crowds gather every night to watch to sun go down. The clubs in San An include Eden and Es Paradis, famous for its water party. Amnesia and Privilege (the world's largest club) are both located on the long straight road to the Ibiza Town, where Space, Pacha and El Divino are all located.

 

Activities: The safe, shallow waters of San Antonia bay are great for swimming but 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.

 

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 day... 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