Formentera is the only Balearic island without an airport, and for that reason it is the only one truly understood from a boat. You arrive by sea, you explore it best by sea, and its two postcards, s’Espalmador and ses Illetes, are made to be seen from the water: a tongue of sand between two seas, a private island with free access and a posidonia meadow that is a World Heritage site.
This guide explains how to do it well: where to hire the boat, what you can take without a licence, where you may anchor and where you may not, and which restaurants collect you by launch.
The essentials
- Everything departs from La Savina, the smallest of the ports run by the Autoritat Portuària de Balears and the island’s only one: as of 2026, two marinas and several hire companies five minutes’ walk away.
- Without a licence you may only take a motorboat of up to 5 metres and 15 hp, or a sailing boat of up to 6 metres, in daylight and within two nautical miles. For anything else, a licence or a skipper.
- S’Espalmador is about five kilometres away, three nautical miles, within the Parc Natural de ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera.
- Anchoring over posidonia is prohibited. You moor to the Ports IB buoys or anchor only over sand.
- Two restaurants at ses Illetes collect guests who arrive by boat.
- Es Freus, the channel between the two islands, has irregular currents: in strong wind, the plan changes.
Setting out from La Savina
The port of La Savina receives more than a million people a year and, as of 2026, has two marinas: Marina La Savina, in the western basin, with more than 93 berths from 6 to 35 metres, and Port Formentera Marina, in the eastern one, with 90 berths from 9 to 24 metres. In July 2026 the Port Authority awarded the unified management of both for sixteen years, so the port is set to change in the coming years. If you have a boat here, always ask for the marina and pontoon; the advantage over Palma or Ibiza is that the whole port can be crossed on foot in five minutes.
For hire there are two companies based in the port itself, each with an official website. Náutica Pins works with RIBs and launches of between 6 and 9 metres, with a skipper or with your own licence. CharterAlia has two sailing boats of 11 and 12 metres, a catamaran and two launches, always with a skipper, and its office is open from eight in the morning to eight in the evening. Neither publishes seasonal prices, so ask when you book.
The licence rule is national and simple: without a licence you may only helm a vessel under power of up to 5 metres and 15 hp, or under sail of up to 6 metres, in daylight, at 18 or over and no more than two nautical miles from the port or beach of departure. It is set by article 10 of Royal Decree 875/2014. To reach s’Espalmador properly, the sensible course is to go with a skipper: he knows the channel, the buoys and the wind.
S’Espalmador and ses Illetes from the sea
S’Espalmador is a private island with free access along its shore: almost three kilometres long, eight hundred metres wide and with one beach, s’Alga, which faces Formentera. It forms part of the Parc Natural de ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera, declared under Law 17/2001, whose sea covers more than 13,000 hectares and whose posidonia meadow has been a World Heritage site since 1999. You may land on the shore and spend the day; swimming in its lagoon, using its mud and staying overnight are prohibited.
The es Trucadors crossing, the tongue of sand joining ses Illetes to s’Espalmador, is the island’s most repeated photograph and also its most dangerous spot: it has strong, irregular currents and the area records rescues and deaths every summer. In July 2026 a swimmer died after jumping into the water from a boat anchored under a red flag. Do not cross on foot or by swimming. You go to s’Espalmador by boat.
And by boat, there is one rule: you never anchor over posidonia. Decree 25/2018 has prohibited it in the Balearics since 2018 and, since 2 April 2026, Royal Decree 191/2026 does so across the whole Spanish Mediterranean, also prohibiting anchoring on sand if the chain or the swinging reaches the meadow. The alternative is the buoy fields of Ports de les Illes Balears: in the Badia de s’Alga there are about 68 buoys for boats of 8 to 25 metres, and at Caló de s’Oli, around twenty. They are booked online only, on the same day until 21:00, for a maximum of three consecutive nights; the field’s harbour master listens on VHF channel 77. They are not a shelter: when bad weather is forecast, Ports IB cancels the bookings and refunds the amount.
The tables you reach by sea
Only two restaurants at ses Illetes state on their official website that they collect by boat. Juan y Andrea has its own launch for its guests and answers on VHF channel 74. Es Molí de Sal puts it this way: anchor in front of the restaurant and let them know, and they will come and collect you. 10.7, on Migjorn beach, says on its website that it has no tender service. Beso Beach and Chezz Gerdi are at Illetes and in Es Pujols, but they do not offer collection by sea. Neither publishes its 2026 dates: the season runs from spring to autumn and is confirmed when you book.
The day trip from Ibiza
Between Ibiza port and La Savina there are about ten nautical miles and half an hour by fast ferry. Four operators serve the route, Baleària, Trasmapi, Formentera Lines and Aquabus, and in summer the first two advertise nearly thirty daily sailings in each direction. The boats leave from the maritime terminal in the centre of Ibiza, not from Botafoc.
If you would rather not helm the boat yourself, there are excursions from Marina Botafoch, in Ibiza, with stops at s’Espalmador and ses Illetes, and catamarans leaving from La Savina with two hours at s’Espalmador. Always choose companies authorised by the park: in 2025 the Govern fined operators for landing without permission at ses Illetes, s’Espalmador and es Pas.
When to go, and the wind
June is the perfect month: water already warm, almost no rain and highs of 27 degrees at the Ibiza airport station. September keeps the warmth of the sea, but is the summer month with the most days of rain. May is bright and dry, with the water still cold.
The wind matters more than the calendar. Es Freus, the channel between Ibiza and Formentera, has currents of irregular direction and strength and is open to the prevailing winds; in a storm, the sea breaks across the whole channel, and the Govern warns that the channel north of the Punta des Trucadors is dangerous for navigation. With strong wind from the west or north-east, the buoys are cancelled and the day is swapped for Cala Saona or the leeward coast.
Which to choose
- You want the s’Espalmador day with nothing to worry about → a launch or sailing boat with a skipper from La Savina, a booked buoy and a table at Illetes.
- You want to helm the boat yourself → a boating licence, or a small vessel within the 15 hp rule, without leaving the bay.
- You are coming from Ibiza for the day → the half-hour ferry or an excursion with a stop at s’Espalmador.
- You want to sleep with the sea in front of you → the houses of quiet luxury in Formentera.
- You want the famous beaches to yourself → Formentera before eleven.
- You are coming from Ibiza and want to compare → why Ibiza’s luxury is also on the water.
Getting to the port
The journey comes in stages: a flight to Ibiza, a transfer to the port in the town, a ferry to La Savina and, from there, the boat. Our guide getting to Formentera and getting around sets out each step, including the driving authorisation the Consell Insular requires of vehicles from 1 June to 30 September.
Our view
Luxury in Formentera is not the boat: it is the hour and the buoy. To be in the Badia de s’Alga at nine in the morning, with the water flat and the island empty, moored to a buoy that does not touch the meadow, is what the island truly offers and what almost nobody does well. You can pay for a large boat and do it badly; you can hire a launch with a skipper and do it perfectly.
If you are going, go in June or September, book the buoy on the same day and check the wind before the menu. Formentera lets itself be seen from the water, but only by those who treat it with care.
Data on marinas, hire, buoys, restaurants and operators checked on their official websites, at Ports IB, at the Autoritat Portuària de Balears, at the Consell de Formentera and in the BOE on 30 September 2026. The port of La Savina is being reorganised and companies change their fleets and seasons: confirm everything before booking. This guide names companies by their official website, recommends none in particular and does not charge for appearing.
