The Platges de Comte hold nudist coves, delicious restaurants and... the best sunset on the island
When someone travels to Ibiza for the first time, they want to find Ibiza. Surprises, fair ones. However, the island, like the great movie stars, keeps cards up its sleeve, gestures with which it then makes a splash on the day of the shoot or the premiere.
Ibiza is a supernova, one of those destinations that, like Saint-Tropez, Marbella, Capri or Bali exude summer, sexy and enjoyment. That's why, everyone who comes to it expects how much those five letters promise and hide.
We love Ibiza white and island. Topics exist for a reason. Long live the topic. That is, we need it Mediterranean and with the sea always less than 20 minutes away. The opposite is disappointment and here it does not come to that.
In Ibiza we want the cove, we look for it from the peninsula and they look for it from Birmingham or Munich. Said cove has rocks, some towels, some difficulty to enter the sea, oh, these stones, and an almost offensive turquoise water. Smart people carry their snorkel and crab goggles even on the plane and the least are satisfied with floating looking at the sky.
Cala Conta (Ibiza)
This is not an encyclopedic text, more would be missing; Therefore, we are not going to detail the coves of Ibiza, although many are so mythical that they are known even by those who have not been. We do stop at one that is small and perfect. It is called Cala Codolar and it is the platonic idea of cove; Only those who know it exists and want to go down and up stairs go to it.
In it there is a beach bar and as Mery says, who runs it gracefully, “This is not a beach club, it is a beach bar from before”. And he continues while he serves you the cold beer: “It is for those who want to know what Ibiza was like in the 70s”. The beach bar has no pretense. It is an anomaly and, at the same time, it is pure Ibiza.
Another cove that is like an excerpt from Ibiza is Cala Xuclar: it is secluded, has the right tone and connects us, like the previous one, directly with the Mediterranean. That's why we've come and if we can't find it, please, give us our money back.
Cala Xuclar
The first time you travel to Ibiza, you have a mental list to check off points on. We have already checked the cove and the beach bar. Lets go to the hotel. There are two hotel formats in Ibiza: the extrovert and the introvert.
This year asks us for the first type: we have already lived inward for too long. We are looking for a hotel that faces the sea, which is not just a sea, we seek to relate to nature, that it has a good swimming pool (or more than one) and that called atmosphere; We neophytes on the island also look for that, without apologizing.
There are good examples that meet these conditions around the perimeter of Ibiza and one of them is 7Pines, which is, as its name indicates, surrounded by pine trees. This hotel has just reopened and announced that it is part of Destination by Hyatt.
Its main amenity is that it is located in front of Es Vedrá. Ibizans venerate this islet, which has the responsibility of being a source of energy, a quasi-sacred, magnetic rock. For this reason, being in front of it is a powerful claim for the traveler, but much more so for the local.
The 'infinity pool' of the 7Pines Resort Ibiza with views of Es Vedrà
This hotel is white on the outside, with blue details and earth on the inside, and is perched on a cliff. Check, check and check. The 7Pines is a resort and that means you could spend many days without leaving it. It has rooms and villas that make you feel that you have your own house in Ibiza.
Its pool is the protagonist: being inside it with the sea in front of you is a good charge of endorphins. It is infinite in size and format, but it is not the only one: there is another one in the family area and another one in front of the spa that is quite powerful.
At 7Pines you can cross off several more lines from that list that we have brought to Ibiza. The sunset is expected every day in Cone Club and in The View as it is only done here and, if you are lucky enough to see yourself eating in this last restaurant and with the appropriate music, the experience rises very high. Another check.
The views from Cone Club
In Ibiza we want the sunset with staging. We demand it and we will not return without seeing it. If we are lucky that our hotel offers it, it will not be necessary for us to move. If not, we can always go to any of the coves from which it can be seen.
In Cala Compte or Cala Conta is Sunset Ashram which gives, exactly, what someone who sets foot in Ibiza for the first time expects. This beach bar concentrates everything we think of as Ibizanism: a boho scene, people who spend days barefoot and have their hair full of salt, conversations in different languages and views of the turquoise water that make even the most mate happy.
You can go during the day after taking a bath or wait for the night, which is when the sunset celebration begins. All decisions are correct and going during the week makes them even more correct.
Sunset Ashram
In Ibiza we also want the inland town, with its church and its self-sufficient store; we want the photo on their whitewashed walls with bougainvillea, in front of their houses decorated with flowerpots. One of them is San Agustín, which belongs to San José.
“There are four houses, a church and a restaurant”, the locals tell you as if to dismiss it as unimportant. Don't be so humble, Ibizans: you are four well-kept and respectful houses, a resounding 19th-century church and Can Berri Vell. This, one of the most recommended restaurants in Ibiza, is in a traditional house that dates back to the 17th century.
It is the epicenter of the town, with forgiveness of the sacred. It is integrated with the architecture in such a way that you don't know where he ends and where the village begins, because San Agustín is more a village than a town. Can Berri, as he is called by those who know him, has turned thirty, It has tables under the tree, creative Mediterranean food and the personality of one of those places that you know you love.
Thirty years old too Es Xarcu, another restaurant located in the south, next to Cala Jondal, where we can eat that fish that we should eat on every trip to Ibiza. Check.
In Ibiza we will also look for something new. He has just opened El Silencio, the "brother" of Silencio de Paris and both founded by David Lynch. He has done it in Cala Molí, in collaboration with ToShare –a restaurant concept owned by chef Jean Imbert and musician Pharrell Williams–, the artist Miranda Makaroff, the Moredesign studio and the environment director Arman Naféei.
All this succession of names has its reason: it serves to tell that promises to be one of the most sought after places in Ibiza this summer; and Ibiza is full of sought after sites. El Silencio is not a club, it is a restaurant with a cultural program full of intention.
It brings together a main restaurant, a tapas restaurant and cocktail bar by the pool, a private lounge and a chill out area. This expression had to be written at some point in this text in an irremediable way: well, it has already appeared.
Who goes to Ibiza also expects to find celebrities in sarongs. This will be one of those places. It hadn't opened and Jean Paul Gaultier had already chosen it for a party. If it's good for him, it can be good for us.
The Silence, in Cala Molí
In Ibiza we also expect some other wellness therapy. Yoga retreats are already part of the landscape, like aloe vera, mantra-music at the end of the day or cocktails next to the deckchair. The new wellness programs are getting more sophisticated: they now pursue strengthen immunity, help sleep or connect with our emotions.
The most ambitious Immersion Retreats which take place once a year, seek a deep transformation. All this is proposed by Six Senses Ibiza, which opens in July in Cala Xarraca.
This great hotel arrives with an intense focus on well-being and with a series of retreats and programs that fit both with the philosophy of the brand and with the island. your architect, Jonathan Leitersdorf, highlights "our vision is to capture the authentic experience of community, spirituality and celebration of Ibiza".
The hotel also opens with sustainability and the connection with the local as a concern and occupation. This is something that the island should not neglect if it wants to remain relevant among those who increasingly seek to have a positive impact wherever they travel.
Six Senses Ibiza: an inner journey with views of Cala Xarraca
In Ibiza we also expect something fashionable; in Ibiza, in reality, we expect everything. Some big brands open a pop up on the island every summer. Loewe has opened a store in the Marina and its entire Paula's Ibiza collection will be there; this alliance with the island seems natural.
Gucci also has its summer space there. The Gucci Ibiza store is inspired by Ken Scott's pink floral prints and presents the latest collections by Alessandro Michele in a space awash with flowers.
A first trip to Ibiza, if you have the slightest interest in fashion and unique shops, is not complete without a visit to Vicente Ganesha's shop. This Ibizan institution has been on the island since 1973 and if you think you have pretty long summer dresses, it's because you haven't seen the ones he sells in his store. Kate Moss always passes by her. Be like Kate Moss.
In a first time in Ibiza many lines have to be crossed off the list and we have done it. We have crossed out the cove, the sunset, the enjoyable hotel, the beach bar, the town restaurant and the one on the beach, the eternal pool, the white town, the bathroom with snorkel goggles and even a sacred island. Check, check and check. In addition, it offers fashion and culture. It gives you what you expect and more. So are the stars.
Gucci also has its summer space in the Marina of Ibiza