Any advice for cruising Ibiza in a 10.5m boat?

[petem]

We'd like to spend a week cruising Ibiza next summer so I'd be interested to know if anyone has got any experience of cruising Ibiza in a 10.5m boat? We'll be arriving from the west / mainland.

People have told me that it's impossible to get a berth for a day or two in a marina but I suspect the dynamics of this are quite different for a smaller boat. Due to a lack of a Genset, we'd would only do a maximum of one night at anchor at a time (even that would require some decent shelter).

What would be a good time to go (early summer / late summer I imagine). What would be a good itinerary?

 

[Whitelighter]

PortsIB pete - you can book online a long way out and it’s very cheap.
I would book berths with them as a back stop and if you get into a bigger/more desirable marina just burn that night.
I guess for your boat the rates will be €30 a night.

Maximum number of nights you can do in any one place is 6, and aftervyour last night of any length stay you can’t comeback for another 6 nights

 

[BruceK]

Due to a lack of a Genset, we'd would only do a maximum of one night at anchor at a time (even that would require some decent shelter).

Why Pete? We dont have a genset and even with a family of 2 adults and 2 pre teen kids can manage 5 days comfortably and 15 days conservatively (which we do once a year for the kids school holidays) on our set up of 360Ah battery bank. A half hour jaunt each day keeps us in hot water and is enough to stave off complete battery depletion. A boat that can only last 1 night has some serious deficiencies and I am sure yours doesn't.

 

[petem]

Why Pete? We dont have a genset and even with a family of 2 adults and 2 pre teen kids can manage 5 days comfortably and 15 days conservatively (which we do once a year for the kids school holidays) on our set up of 360Ah battery bank. A half hour jaunt each day keeps us in hot water and is enough to stave off complete battery depletion. A boat that can only last 1 night has some serious deficiencies and I am sure yours doesn't.

Yeah but Bruce, I've seen the expression on your lads face .

 

[Hurricane]

I'm not sure you will get anywhere in Ibiza during August.
But, I was surprised that Jez managed to do as well as he did this year with PortsIB in Mallorca.

I couldn't pre-book anything in Ibiza for the summer months.
We even had to "sit out" a storm on Roig because there was no room in any of the marinas.
And, as I say, I don't think they take bookings.
But maybe someone will be able to (hopefully) prove me wrong.

That all said, there are good bays on Ibiza that are protected from the weather.
As I said above Roig was good refuge from an easterly storm.
A few weeks ago, it was becoming uncomfortable in Tarida (westerly wind) so Cala Bassa proved comfortable for a couple of nights - we were then worried about that nasty stuff that hit Mallorca so we ran for cover to Denia.

 

[petem]

I'm actually thinking May or September Mike. Definitely not peak season.

As for availability of berths, I suspect length is crucial. For example, in Mallorca I couldn't get a winter berth for love nor money however Jrudge seems to have no problems. And when I enquired about a short stay berth in Denia the other week they said no problem for a 10m boat, but a problem for anything larger.

 

[BruceK]

Yeah but Bruce, I've seen the expression on your lads face .

That was probably due to the lack of broadband for him to get his Fortnite, or whatever its called, fix. He's rationed to 10Gb a day

He looks far more cheerful when he's online. The malady of todays youth

 

[Whitelighter]

@Hurricane the portsIB places have a maximum bookable length of 15m
In some ports this drops to 12m

Pete, also don’t forget the poseidon bouys - not a marina I know but more secure than anchoring.

 

[Hurricane]

@Hurricane the portsIB places have a maximum bookable length of 15m
In some ports this drops to 12m

Pete, also don’t forget the poseidon bouys - not a marina I know but more secure than anchoring.

Yes buoys in Espalmador and (more importantly for Pete) in San Antonio.
It doesn't help with his electric problem - maybe run your engine more often to charge the batteries and warm the water.

 

[julians]

We took our old sealine s34 to Ibiza from Mallorca for a few days in either July or August about 12/13 years ago, there was no chance of getting a mooring in a marina, so we just anchored in various bays, the island is small so you can always find some shelter. We didn't have a generator,so we just ran the engines to charge the batteries, we didn't run out of battery power.

 

[Illetas]

May will be quiet but bear in mind that the sea will still be chilly as it doesn’t really warm up until mid to late June so you might prefer that. This year the first two weeks of September were much busier than normal but that may have been due to people delaying holidays because the weather was so good throughout Europe so there was no need to be in the Med in August
I believe that Santa Eulalia required a minimum of five or six nights this year so you’d need to check. Botafoch situation is unsure as the concession ends in 2019 and no one seems to know what’s going to happen there, especially with the smaller berths.

 

[Mikofer78]

Depending on traffic and the size of your cruise ship, you dock in the eastern part of the harbor near Carrer de Botafoch about 1.5 km from the city center or closer to the old city and its sights at Avinguda de les Andanes. From the harbor you have a beautiful view of the old upper town, called Dalt Vila. I wanted to go to a cruise but had lots a problems with my boat. Here you can read my story https://princess55fly.blogspot.com/p/home.html Have a good time!

 

[petem]

I wanted to go to a cruise but had lots a problems with my boat. Here you can read my story https://princess55fly.blogspot.com/p/home.html Have a good time!

I came across your website a few weeks ago. It's unusual to read about issues like yours on a Princess but I hope everything is now sorted.

 

[petem]

Thanks all for the comments. There's no particular issue with the boat that would restrict us to a single night at anchor but SWMBO would go stir crazy for more than a night.

I do however think that a combination of IB Ports and a night or so on pre-booked morning buoys might give us the basis of a decent cruise. Plus we can try our luck in Botafoch at the start or end of the cruise.

We're not big sea swimmers so aren't bothered if the sea is still cold.

 

[Truro Ex Pat]

Hi Pete
You can book San Antonio as i did 2 years ago in June.
I think they do it online as well.
You do have to pre pay so just be careful you can get there if weather turns out to be an issue.

 

[itspaul]

I'm actually thinking May or September Mike. Definitely not peak season.

As for availability of berths, I suspect length is crucial. For example, in Mallorca I couldn't get a winter berth for love nor money however Jrudge seems to have no problems.

Perhaps he reads his private messages ?

 

[petem]

I'm actually thinking May or September Mike. Definitely not peak season.

As for availability of berths, I suspect length is crucial. For example, in Mallorca I couldn't get a winter berth for love nor money however Jrudge seems to have no problems.

Perhaps he reads his private messages ?

Sorry Paul, I did get your message and meant to reply when I got back from our cruise but forgot all about it. I'm not normally that rude, honestly!

You are quite right, Alcudia does have space but they wanted the best part of €10k for the privelege. That's dearer than Club De Mar, Portals and Adriano.

What's daft is that they don't vary their prices between Summer and Winter so they end up being particularly poor value if you just want to stay there for the Winter period. Perhaps that's why they have space and nobody else does.

 

[petem]

Hi Pete
You can book San Antonio as i did 2 years ago in June.
I think they do it online as well.
You do have to pre pay so just be careful you can get there if weather turns out to be an issue.

N, that's good to know. A week based in San Antonio would be ideal for us.

 

[TonyR123]

Reading this thread with interest. I also hope to go over to Ibiza next year. I expect it would be in September.

Petem - please update the thread with whatever you do!

 

[Illetas]

Although San Antonio has access to the beaches of the West coast of Ibiza it wouldn’t be my choice of marina. San Antonio itself is pretty much the worst aspect of Ibiza and it’s not somewhere I’d want to be based for a week’s visit to this wonderful island.
My advice would be to book now a stay for five or six nights in Santa Eulalia and spent one or two nights at anchor at the beginning or end of your trip over on Formentera.
Santa Eulalia Marina is a five minute walk to the town where you have a vast variety of restaurants and shops and it’s a really pleasant place so there’s more than enough to do during the non-boating hours.
You also have a short trip to some of the beautiful calas in the North of Ibiza ( Cala Xarracca, Portinaxt, Benirras) as well as an easy run over to Formentera. If you try now you might even get a berth in the marina on Formentera if it’s just for a night or two, although it isn’t cheap.