Santa Eularia 38:59.04N 01:32.38E
Red Skies
David Alexander
Mon 16 May 2011 18:23
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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
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