Ibiza's best beach restaurants
As the summer season reaches its peak, we round up the best beachfront restaurants for lazy Ibizan days...
Best for views: Amante
Of all the knockout views in Ibiza, the shimmering aquamarine vista that greets you as you descend the steps to Amante has to be one of the most knee-weakening on the island. Luckily staff are on hand to rouse you from your stupor with a glass of the palest-pink rose.
While the beach isn’t the island’s best (it’s shingly to the point of painful - bring waterproof flip-flops to venture into the water), Amante’s draw is its secluded clifftop location, and you’ll need to be quick to secure one of the loungers that line its lowest tier.
If you don’t, settle in at the elegant bar and restaurant; a masterclass in "refined rustic" decor, serving a varied menu of perfectly executed crowd-pleasers (prawn carpaccio, burrata, passionfruit cheesecake), alongside more experimental dishes (Spanish fisherman’s stew with saffron, avocado mousse dessert). Cala Sol Den Serra (Cala Llonga), 07849 Santa Eulalia des Riu; amanteibiza.com
Best for something new: Aiyanna
A sister restaurant to the ever-popular Amante, Aiyanna, which opened on the pretty Cala Nova bay at Sant Carlos this summer, has consistently drawn a crowd. Set back from the crescent of golden sand, its large decked terrace offers a more laid-back vibe than Amante's peaceful polish: wooden deckchairs and rattan furniture are shaded by huge tie-die umbrellas that call to mind the hippy market up the road.
A row of sunloungers line Aiyanna's section of palm tree-lined beach, but there's no full service on the sand: rather, a waiter will take your drinks order and a vibrating buzzer signals when it's ready to collect from the bar or juice van.
The menu mirrors Amante's balance between healthy sharing plates and more substantial mains, and while the fresh ingredients and photogenic presentation live up to comparisons, Aiyanna's staff haven't inherited the warmth or finesse of those at the original: a plate of organic tomatoes and burrata arrived without the crucial cheese, while service was delivered with what can only be described as a huff.
But the cocktails are tasty, the interiors eminently Instagrammable and a second venue at which to enjoy that passionfruit cheesecake can only be a good thing. Avinguda Cala Nova, s/n, 07850 Cala Nova; aiyannaibiza.com
Best for foodies: Sa Punta
One part spectacular location (at the furthest tip of Talamanca bay overlooking the Old Town in one direction, with an expanse of Med in the other); three parts distinctive, consistently delicious food (the site is home to three restaurants) and a hefty dose of mood-enhancing music: French restaurateur Rodolphe Sachs' formula for the ever-popular Sa Punta never fails to attract those in high spirits and higher heels.
The original fine dining restaurant dishes up exquisite fresh seafood - the Nobu-style black cod is a standout - while upstairs, colourful Lebanese restaurant Patchwork offers sharing dishes (hummus, baba ghanoush and sambousek), and further up the clifftop is kitsch Asian eatery Ginger.
Between the latter two lies a homeware boutique, so that after a night of dancing under the stars you can buy a Balinese-style printed cushion - or even an Indonesian mosaic elephant if you wish - to take some of the magic home with you. Es Pouet de Talamanca, 07819 Santa Eulalia des Riu; sapuntaibiza.com
Best for lunching like a local: Cala Bonita
You can't get much further from San Antonio's trance-and-teenagers version of Ibiza than at Cala Bonita, tucked away down a winding rocky path on its own private beach at S’Estanyol. The resolutely low-key restaurant opened in 2016 and remains a local's secret: it's populated by well-to-do families by day and couples by night, who are drawn by its secluded setting and world-class cuisine.
In the kitchen, Argentinian-born chef Brian Olocco and Spanish executive chef Pau Barba merge the best of their respective cuisines, with fresh meat and seafood cooked over a charcoal and wood grill. Ingredients are sourced as locally as possible, and cocktails are designed to complement the seasonal flavours. A whole sea bass, with a drizzle of lemon and oil, plus a selection of salads are what lazy holiday lunches are made for.
Interiors are a sophisticated take on rustic chic: wooden chairs and tables are handmade in Morocco, geometric-print cushion covers were created in Zaire, and the combination of wood, stone and wicker provides a neutral backdrop that complements the craggy rock faces dropping into the sea. A ban on commercial chart music makes it one of the island's most sophisticated spots for sundowners: one you'll want to tell everybody, and nobody, about. Camí de s’Estanyol, s/n, 07840 Santa Eulalia del Río; calabonitaibiza.com
Best for all-day lounging: Cotton Beach Club
With its crystal-clear, shallow waters and white sand, Cala Tarida has always been popular with families; the opening of Norwegian duo Christian and Merete Marstrander’s Cotton Beach Club in 2014 put the secluded cove on the five-star Ibiza map. Arrive early to secure a beach bed before ascending the stairs to the all-white restaurant and terrace, where the views over the bay will leave you breathless as much as the climb.
Radiating a sense of Ibizan cool, you’re welcome to roll in off the beach, while there are private showers on the roof for pre-sunset sprucing. The grand terrace dishes up substantial Mediterranean fare alongside excellent sushi; its weekend 'champagne lunches' are raucous, dancing-on-the-table affairs.
The duo's ever-growing empire also includes Alma Sushi in Ibiza Town, alongside an outdoor fitness club with pool and restaurant in San Antonio. Carrer Posta de Sol, 21, 07829 Cala Tarida; cottonbeachclub.com
Best for sundowners: Experimental Beach
Set on the southern tip of the island, past the beautifully bleak salt lakes, Experimental Beach Ibiza is a return to the rustic, boho Ibiza of old - only with killer cocktails and a designer-bikini-clad crowd, as befits a holiday outpost of London’s acclaimed Experimental Cocktail Club.
Overlooking beach beds and onto the Mediterranean beyond, the open-air restaurant has an informal, feet-in-the-sand vibe: shabby-chic rattan and wood furnishings and a reggae soundtrack add to the blissed-out atmosphere.
Cocktails are the selling point; the boat-bar is lined with homemade syrups and tinctures which make for drinks far superior to your average Mojito. A Spanish-influenced menu offers tapas and beach bites (on an island full of quinoa salads, theirs is the best), to heartier dishes such as lobster fettucini and salt-baked seabass.
Relaxed by day, Experimental Beach picks up as the sun dips lower and the sky gets pinker, with DJs catering to the barefoot and beautiful until 1am. Playa des Codolar, Las Salinas, 07817 Ibiza; eccbeach.com
Best for families: Gecko Beach Club, Formentera
The jetset flock to Formentera for a respite from Ibiza’s frenetic party pace and, surveying the 10km stretch of white sand from the restaurant at Gecko Beach Club, it’s easy to see why. Named after the creatures that scuttle across the decking, the hotel and beach club was refurbished last year at the hands of Mallorcan designer Antonio Obrador.
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Clean, contemporary furnishings are dusted with turquoise accents and patterned tiles to create a bright and breezy space inspired by classic riviera resorts.
Find a spot in the shade to tuck into the restaurant’s signature seafood paella, before retiring with a glass of sangria to a lounger in the adjacent garden, where there’s a decent-sized pool to keep kids occupied (the hotel also offers a creche). With nothing to disturb you but the sound of the waves, the surroundings will lull you into a state of zen-like tranquility before you can say "siesta’" Ca Mari, Playa Migjorn, 07860 Formentera; geckobeachclub.com
