Ibiza has two islands. One is the postcard island, which everybody wants to see at the same hour. The other is exactly the same island, two hours earlier.
Over the last few summers, the postcard views have filled up with rules: car controls, shuttle buses, car parks that open and close depending on that month’s agreement. We go through them one by one, with what works in 2026, and with the quiet alternative sitting next to each one.
The essentials
- Cala Comte: before 10am, or from mid-September onwards.
- Cala Salada: car control from 1 May to 15 October, 9.30am to 5pm. Better by boat from Sant Antoni.
- Benirràs: the Sunday drums have fallen silent; on weekdays, first thing, the cove is a different place.
- Ses Salines: the beach, early; the salt flats, at sunset.
- Dalt Vila: the walls at dawn; the skyline, from Cap Martinet.
- Las Dalias: at opening time, 10am, or a Saturday in winter.
- Es Vedrà: the clifftop viewpoint has been closed since 2025. We cover it in Es Vedrà is no longer viewed from the cliff.
Cala Comte: sunset, spoken for
The Platges de Comte are the west coast’s sunset: the sun sets behind s’Illa des Bosc, sa Conillera and s’Espartar, and the water runs through every shade of blue. That is why they fill up before ten, especially at weekends.
Since 2017 there has been no parking on the clifftop: there is a designated car park and the P4 bus from Sant Antoni. The quiet hour is first thing in the morning; sunset, with a table booked facing the islets, is the moment worth paying for.
The alternative is on the same stretch of coast: Punta de sa Galera, smooth rock platforms over very clear water that the Balearic tourist board describes as little-visited. It is reached along a rough track, with the last hundred metres on foot. There are rockfall warning signs: respect them, and do not stand under the cliff face.
Cala Salada: the 9.30am control
Cala Salada and Cala Saladeta have something almost no other beach has: a car access control. In 2026 the Ajuntament de Sant Antoni runs it from 1 May to 15 October, 9.30am to 5pm. Motorbikes, bicycles, taxis, vehicles for people with reduced mobility and residents pass through without control. For everyone else, the P7 bus leaves from the Can Coix car park.
There is a better way, and it is the old one: by boat from Sant Antoni harbour, about forty minutes hugging the coast. You arrive the way people arrived before there was a road, without a single thought for parking.
Benirràs: when the drums fell silent
For years, Benirràs was the cove of the Sunday sunset drums, and was once called Ibiza’s most overcrowded beach. That has changed: since 2025 the police have enforced, with no exceptions, article 51 of Sant Joan’s beach bylaw, which bans music without authorisation, and in 2026 the local press has declared the ritual over.
What remains is the cove itself: one of the loveliest in the north, with the islet at the mouth of the bay. On weekdays, first thing, it is quiet. Failing that, Cala Xarraca, further east, in the morning.
Ses Salines: the beach early, the salt flats at sunset
Ses Salines beach fills up before midday and its car park charges a fee in season; the A7 bus comes from Eivissa. It lies within the Parc Natural de ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera, which spans both islands and the channel between them.
Calm here has two hours. First thing in the morning, for the beach. And sunset over the salt flats, away from the sand: pink reflections, often flamingos, and the walk to the Torre de ses Portes. A fact almost nobody knows: the salt harvested here, around 50,000 tonnes in 2025 according to the local press, is mostly exported, and boats from the Faroe Islands come to ses Salines to load it for salting their cod.
Dalt Vila: the skyline from across the bay
Dalt Vila has been a World Heritage Site since 1999 —we cover it in what UNESCO protects in Ibiza—. The walls are best walked at dawn, before the heat builds. And to see the whole old town at sunset, the place is Cap Martinet, across the bay, which the local press names as one of the island’s least crowded sunset spots.
Las Dalias: at ten
The Las Dalias market, in Sant Carles de Peralta, can draw around 20,000 people on an August Saturday. It opens on Saturdays all year round except January, and in July and August also at night, on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. The key is to arrive at opening time, 10am, or go on a winter Saturday.
The alternative is where it all began: Punta Arabí, in es Canar, the island’s oldest market (1973), which in 2026 opens on Wednesdays from April to October.
Aigües Blanques: what changed this summer
S’Aigua Blanca is still open, but since June 2026 it has been a beach with no lifeguard cover, no municipal services and no car access down to the sand, because of the risk of rockfalls. The Ajuntament de Santa Eulària asks visitors not to stand on the cliff slopes. Some guides still mention beach bars and lifeguards: that is no longer the case.
When calm is something you buy
All these keys come down to one thing: being nearby at the right hour. And that is decided when you choose where to sleep.
- The north (Sant Joan, Sant Miquel, Portinatx) is calm Ibiza: Benirràs, Xarraca and the coastal paths are all close at hand.
- The west (Sant Josep) is sunset Ibiza: Comte, Cala d’Hort and es Vedrà.
- The interior, around Santa Gertrudis, sits at equal distance from everything.
The houses we recommend are in our guide to quiet luxury hotels in Ibiza. From 1 June to 30 September, the island also limits car entry: we explain how the vehicle limit works in getting around Ibiza, and the options for arriving without a car are in from Ibiza airport to your hotel. And if the idea is the sea, Ibiza from the water is the other way to avoid the queue.
Our view
None of these postcard views has stopped being true. What has changed is the way you get to them: Ibiza has started setting itself limits, and that, for anyone seeking calm, is good news.
The 2026 rules are not there to complicate your visit. They are there so that Cala Salada goes back to looking like Cala Salada. Arrive by boat, arrive early, or arrive in September.
Access details checked on 22 September 2026 with the ayuntamientos of Sant Josep, Sant Antoni and Santa Eulària, the Las Dalias website and the local press. Controls, opening hours and car parks change every season: check them before you go.
