Santa Eularia 38:59.04N 01:32.38E

Red Skies
David Alexander
Mon 16 May 2011 18:23
Friday 13th May.   A check of the weather forecast indicates the weather deteriorating for the weeekend so D phoned the Santa Eularia Marina and ascertained that they would have space for us on Saturday. We left our delightful anchorage and sailed down towards La Salina, Formentera's only port, just to have a look. We discovered a design fault in the towed dinghy, in that water comes up through the covered daggerboard slot and has nowhere to go. We anchored close to a long sandy beach and brought the tender on board, before retracing our steps and had a gentle sail of 9 miles to another anchorage on the mainland of Ibiza, Cala de Port Roig. Port Roig is described as tranquil and peaceful in the pilot book, and once the local workman had stopped using his angle grinder, so it was. Despite the fact that it is near the airport, we are not bothered by the 'planes.
 
Port Roig - fishermen's huts at end of bay
 
Port Roig - peaceful anchorage
 
Saturday 14th May.   We left Port Roig with reluctance, having spent a very peaceful night with only 2 other occupied boats for company. We motored North for a lunchtime stop in a delightful cove - Cala LLonga - more commercialised with hotels and beach bars - but crystal clear water, and again, not crowded.
 
Cala LLonga
 
 We ended the day at the town of Santa Eularia - in the fairly modern marina there. It is expensive - 60 euros a night at this time of year - but the forecast is not good for Sunday and we can sightsee using the local buses from here. A pleasant walk along the 'prom' and an ice-cream completed the day.
 
Sunday dawned wet and windy but by 10.30 am we had packed rainwear and we were on the bus to Ibiza town - a 15 minute ride away. The town has a reputation for a hippy and hedonistic life-style but was only beginning to wake up when we arrived. We climbed the hill to the old town and the fortifications - more extensive and interesting than we had assumed when we had viewed them in passing from the sea; wandered miles to the Marina Botofach in the harbour entrance. Huge ferries and cruise liners come into Ibiza, creating swell. The marina didn't look very secure and the pilot book mentioned thefts from boats; the marina shop charged 3.60 euros for a loaf of bread which we considered another form of theft. We reckoned that Santa Eularia was the better choice.
 
Ibiza Town Port from Fort
 
Ibiza old town
 
 We returned to the back streets for a late tapas lunch by which time the shops were opening and the place livened up.We noticed with horror signs advertising nightclubs and discos opening at midnight and continuing to 6.00 am. The town was worth the 1.85 euros pp each way on the bus to visit though, which was not so much the case with Monday's trip to San Antonio, again by bus. The town seemed to us somewhat seedy and tacky and the marina seemed to be undergoing some form of reconstruction. The visit was useful, though, in that the wide and sheltered harbour looked a safe bolt hole for an anchorage in bad weather. We caught the next available bus back to Santa Eularia and ate an excellent Menu del Dia lunch at a Marina restaurant.
 
San Antoni Promenade
 
Santa Eularia marina
 
Santa Eularia beach