Marina Botafoch, Ibiza's lighthouse and yacht quays

The breakwater and the lighthouse

Far de Botafoc stands on a low rocky islet at the end of a long concrete causeway: a 30m whitewashed stone tower with a two-storey keeper's house at its foot. The walk out is open-air and public, free, with no door policy, and a group of any size can do it. The path narrows near the tower, so you will go single file in places.

Set out 30 minutes before sunset. On the way back, Dalt Vila's walled hill fills the view across the water.

Passeig Joan Carles I and the two basins

Marina Ibiza & Marina Botafoch are two adjoining yacht basins under one tree-lined waterfront promenade, and that promenade is what holds the neighbourhood together. Marina Botafoch has run 428 berths for boats from 6 to 30m since 1987. Marina Ibiza takes yachts up to 60m. Berth enquiries for the eastern basin go through marinabotafoch.com.

Walking the promenade costs nothing. The shops run from €€ to €€€€, with Dior, Bvlgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer and Dolce & Gabbana set between the restaurant terraces, and new pop-ups each summer. After dark the floodlit ramparts of the old town stand directly across the harbour, so the stretch is worth doing twice, once in daylight and once late.

Las Boas from the pavement

Boas de Ibiza (Las Boas) is Jean Nouvel's feather-boa building, a run of sinuous low-rise apartment blocks in bands of saturated pink, orange and green, with planted vertical walls. A still water mirror and a waterfall face the promenade.

It is a gated private residence, with no entry and no tours. You look at it from the pavement, free, and the colours and the waterfall are what there is to see.

Talamanca beach and the boat across

Talamanca Beach is a 900m curve of pale golden sand in a sheltered bay, a few minutes' walk from the quays. A long wooden boardwalk runs the full length behind the sand and is step-free, which helps with a pushchair. The water is shallow and flat, lifeguards are on duty, and there are showers and toilets. The beach is free and a sunbed is €€. Masts and Dalt Vila sit across the bay in front of you.

City Boat Ibiza crosses the harbour to the old town in a small open-topped wooden launch, blue trim and a striped canopy, running low to the water with the walls rising ahead. One way is €2.60, paid at the quayside booth or onboard, and there is no booking. Departures run every 15 to 30 minutes from 09:15, and a late marina run holds until 01:30, which is the ride back after dinner. The boats are small, so a very large group splits across departures. Locally the line is also listed as the Barcas de Talamanca.

Dinner on the quays

La Gaia by Óscar Molina is inside the Ibiza Gran Hotel and kept its Michelin star in the 2026 guide, one of three starred kitchens on the island. There are two tasting menus, Illa and Horitzó, plated Nikkei style with raw fish, citrus and chilli oils on handmade ceramics, served at tightly spaced tables under low pendant lights. Booking is tasting-menu only and the tables are small; a group of six or more has to call ahead and will usually be put on a set menu. Book weeks out in high season, and expect a seasonal winter closure. €€€€.

Cipriani Ibiza holds the east wing of the same hotel and serves the Venetian Harry's Bar classics: carpaccio, the Bellini, the vanilla meringue cake. Pale yellow walls, white linen and dark bentwood chairs give on to a terrace of white parasols directly above the harbour water. Dinner only, 20:00 to 02:00, smart dress, and reservations are effectively mandatory. The season is short: it served its last 2026 cover on 6 September and reopens for 2027, normally May to September. €€€€.

Il Giardinetto has been in the same family since the 1980s, on a small walled terrace hemmed in by potted plants and flowering shrubs a few metres from the berths. Wood-oven pizzas and seafood pasta arrive family-style on paper-covered tables. It opens all year, so it is the dinner to keep in reserve when the seasonal kitchens are shuttered. Phone to book in summer. €€.

Late tables and the clubs

IT Ibiza lines candlelit tables along the quay edge, with polished dark interiors, a DJ booth, moored yachts behind and the lit old town across the bay. The menu is signed by two-Michelin-star chef Nino Di Costanzo. The bar opens at 19:00 and dinner runs 20:00 to 03:00, March to October. The volume climbs after midnight, and the dress is smart. €€€€.

Lío Ibiza has been on the Marina Ibiza waterfront since 2011, a tiered waterside dining terrace wrapped around a stage, with aerial rigging overhead, feathered and sequinned performers mid-acrobatics and yacht masts behind them. The 2026 production is 'Halftime Show', and the room turns from dinner cabaret into a DJ club afterwards. Tables are built around minimum spends. The dress code is strict smart-glam and entry is by advance booking only. It closes for winter; the 2026 grand closing was 4 October. €€€€.

Pacha Ibiza (Avenida 8 d'Agost) is five minutes' walk from the marina, a whitewashed Ibicenco farmhouse-style club with the twin-cherry logo above the door, a warren of arched rooms around a sunken main dancefloor, confetti cannons and a roof terrace. Hours are 23:00 to 06:00 and the season runs late May to mid-October; the 2026 season ended on 11 October. Queues are long at peak, so pre-book or expect door selection after 01:00. €€€ to €€€€.

Breakfast, coffee and the casino

Cappuccino Grand Café Marina Ibiza (Passeig Joan Carles I 20) opens at 08:30 and runs to 02:00 in summer and 23:00 in winter, one of the few terraces here that works all year. Rattan chairs, marble tables and ceiling fans sit under black-and-white photographs, and the front terrace faces the water and the ramparts opposite. Walk-ins are fine and the terrace is large. Start the day on it, then take the boat. €€.

Casino de Ibiza is in the Ibiza Gran Hotel and opens daily 17:00 to 05:00, hours that hold out of season. Entry is free. The gaming rooms are over-18s only and photo ID is checked at the door. Patricia Urquiola designed the floor, with low lighting and brass detail around the American roulette and blackjack tables, more than 100 slot screens on one wall and a terrace bar looking over the marina. Drinks are €€, and what you stake is your own business.

Where to stay

Ibiza Gran Hotel is the main address on the harbour, a tall all-suite block with 187 suites, a spa, the casino and La Gaia under one roof. Water cascades and palms mark the entrance, the terraces are wide, and the infinity pool deck looks straight at the walled old town. Thirteen fifth-floor Deluxe Suites of 95m² are new for 2026. It shuts for refurbishment each winter and reopened on 22 April 2026. €€€€.

Ocean Drive Ibiza (C/ Iboshim) has a pastel Miami art-deco façade with curved balconies and neon signage, in the middle of Marina Botafoch and 200m from Talamanca beach. It has 40 rooms and fills fast. The rooftop Sky Bar is a small terrace of low seating with a DJ and sightlines over the harbour to Dalt Vila and out to Formentera, and it is the best-value sunset drink in the neighbourhood. The same roof is hired out for parties and corporate groups, so check before you plan a quiet evening on it. €€€. For a beachfront stay instead, Nobu Hotel Ibiza Bay is 10 minutes further along Talamanca bay.

Opening days and booking

Cipriani, IT Ibiza, Lío and Pacha all close for the winter, and the Ibiza Gran Hotel shuts for refurbishment, which leaves Il Giardinetto, Cappuccino and the casino open out of season. Book La Gaia weeks ahead in high season, reserve Cipriani, and remember that Lío sells in advance only.

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