
The old walled portion of Ibiza town
Ibiza
Not Our Favorite Cruise Port
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that Ibiza, Spain is a bad place. Nor am I recommending that you should not visit Ibiza. It simply did not enthrall us.
Maybe part of the reason is where it fell on our Disney TransAtlantic Cruise. The day before, we had visited Mijas and Malaga. The following day, we would dock in Barcelona. Those amazing destinations are hard to match.

A view from the Disney Magic
Still, as I flip through my photos of Ibiza, I am reminded of how picturesque much of the island is. My ambivalence surprises me.
Ibiza Tourists
Ibiza is known for three types of travelers. First, since the 1970s, hippies have communed here. They sell handmade and imported wares each week at an open air market. Second, young party goers flock to Ibiza in the summer. Clubs charge up to 100 euros to dance the night away with world famous DJs. Lastly, wealthy Northern Europeans and Middle Easterners fill vacation property. Our tour guide reported that a Saudi family had rented an entire floor of a 5-star hotel partially owned by Robert de Niro for the summer.

Passing the Hippie Market on our bus
None of these demographics fit us, nor many of our fellow cruisers. The clubbing scene may have interested me while in my early 20s, but probably not. Even it if had though, the Disney Magic left dock at 7 p.m., long before the clubs open their doors.
Tour Options

Cala de San Vicent
Cruise passengers had four main tour options. Some explored Ibiza Pueblo on foot with groups or on their own. Others headed straight to a beach. A tour of the southern part of the island passed beaches and salt flats. We chose to take a tour of the more rural northern island. Many passengers actually remained aboard the ship to enjoy the last full day of the cruise.

Cats are the same everywhere.
People who toured the town or laid on the beaches got what they wanted. We spoke with several couples who took the southern tour. They were all very disappointed. Although most of the group was older, the energetic, young tour guide spent most of her time talking about the infamous Ibiza clubbing scene.
Our Tour of Northern Ibiza

An Ibizan hill town
We boarded a bus at the port and departed northbound to hills. The landscape was arid and rocky. We passed through several, small towns; each with a small chapel, a handful of shops and restaurants, and few houses, all clad in white.

A typical, small town chapel
Our first of three stops was in one of these towns, our guide’s hometown. We walked up a white-washed street of small shops to the town chapel. We were told that the layout for this church was similar to those in most of the small villages. The church was simple, charming, and peaceful.
A Sad Modern History

Terraced hills
As we drove to our second stop, Cala de Sant Vicent, we noticed a strange landscape. Empty, weed-covered terraces lined the rocky hills. Our guide explained how this came to be.
For centuries, poor farmers tried to eek out an existence from the rocky soil. Over the years, they constructed terraces from rocks to make more arable land and prevent erosion. In the mid 1900s, northern Europeans discovered the scenic beaches and cheap land. Then, the hippies came. Many locals abandoned their farms for jobs in construction and tourism.

Scrubby landscape where forests stood until the 2011 fire
The terraced farms were transformed into a vast forrest. Then, in 2011, a great wildfire devastated the region. The fires left the land barren and scrub covered as we see today.

A view from the hills to the coast
Over the decades, Ibiza has become an increasingly popular tourist destination. At least 3.2 million people visited in 2017. Northern Europeans buy condos, farm houses, and apartments for summer homes. Our guide told us that a small farm house now sells for over a million euros and a 1 bedroom apartment 1/4 million. Many locals struggle due to the high cost of living.
Cala de Sant Vicent

Cala de San Vicent
Our second stop allowed us to explore Cala de Sant Vicent, a beautiful , small beach in a protected cove, lined with modern hotels.

Cala de San Vicent
The setting was stunning. I can certainly understand why someone would want to have a beach holiday here and why we stopped. I took a nice walk along the promenade while enjoying the scenery.
Hippie Market

Large field which host the Hippie Market each Wednesday
The Hippie Market lies about half way between Cala de Sant Vicent and our next stop, Santa Eularia. The market opens only on Wednesdays. We were passing through on a Thursday, I believe (the days run together!). I have seen it on TV, but would have liked to have seen it in person.
Santa Eularia

The beach at Santa Eularia
We were given about an hour to roam Santa Eularia.

Santa Eularia beachside promenade
A paved beach front promenade provided a nice stroll and views. The promenade was lined with shops, restaurants, and hotels. The setting was again quite beautiful. Santa Eularia is clean, nicely landscaped, and quite touristy. There are several streets with shops and restaurants to explore. The shops ranged from high end to exceedingly tacky.
Impressions
The Good

Ibiza beaches
Ibiza boasts multiple beautiful beaches and vistas. Friendly people, Spanish food and culture await.

Umm, ham.
Young party goers can find the world’s top DJs here. Tourism helps bring jobs and money to the island
The Not as Good

Santa Eularia
If you are not a beach lover or you prefer to sleep during the night, then Ibiza is not geared for you. This is especially true for cruise passengers.

A hotel with a reported famous club
Almost everything looks and feels touristy. I know. That is quite ironic coming from a cruise traveler. Allow me to explain. Touristy is fine if I am going to Walt Disney World or to Destin for a beach vacation. My favorite cruise stops, though, take me to places with rich history like Rome or Florence, with amazing architecture like Barcelona or Lisbon, or with spectacular natural beauty like Martinique or Alaska. While these places may be touristy, they have so much more to offer.

Sculptures of Ibizan Hounds in Santa Eularia
As described above, the negative impacts of tourism are felt heavily on Ibiza, too. This perspective does dampen the joy of travel, but needs to be discussed.
Conclusion
For the right person, Ibiza can be a dream destination. We are not among those people. Ibiza, Spain is not one of our favorite cruise ports. While I am glad that I had a chance to visit, I have no desire to return.
Give me Ibiza any day of the week. If you traveled all over the island and did the other beaches, towns, villages, salt plains and check out the sunset in San Antonio on the west coast, I think you be writing this blog very differently. Even Ibiza town has an amazing fort for children to run around in and great restaurants. 🙂 🙂
You may be right! I just do not think it was an optimal cruise port. There was no way to see the sunset or to visit the other beaches. Everyone who spoke with who took tours were disappointed. I wish that we had stayed in town. It looked interesting. I am sure it much better when staying for a few days.
I don’t think I would enjoy Ibiza either as I’m into the late-night party atmosphere. Too bad you didn’t get to visit another of the Canary Islands — Tenerife. I got to go there about five years ago and loved it!
I would like to visit Tenerife. Maybe next time!
Looks like we were on the same cruise 🙂 May 12-26 on the Magic? We had a fabulous time, hope you did too!
That was it! It was our 6th Disney cruise and is our favorite so far. We love the Magic. I am glad you had a fabulous time, too! Maybe we will see you on another Disney cruise.
We haven’t counted, but probably around our 6th Disney Cruise too. It was my husband’s first but my third Transatlantic! They’re the absolute best! We got so spoiled with the food on the Magic and the itinerary was fabulous! Hubby wanted to sail the Magic back to the US in a couple of months 😀 But we might do a Caribbean next! We might see you there!
This was our first Transatlantic and we can’t wait to do it again. We are back on the Magic in about 2 months to Bermuda. I will keep up with your travels on you blog.