San Antonio - Ibiza - Resorts Guide

Click images to enlarge

Overview: Situated on the west coast, ten miles (16km) from the airport and the capital Ibiza, San Antonio is the largest and liveliest tourist resort on the island. Known as 'San An' to the thousands of British clubbers who descend here each summer, the resort's proper name is Sant Antoni de Portmany. Its long, wide bay is lined with bars, restaurants and apartment blocks catering mainly for young British tourists. There are a few small sandy beaches in the resort, and the spectacular beaches of Cala Conta, Cala Bassa and Cala Tarida are a short ferry ride away. July and August are the best months to visit for those looking for buzzing nightlife, while the months of May and June, and September and October are most popular with families, couples and older visitors.

Shopping: There is a selection of shops in and around San Antonio catering for tourists, from the inevitable bucket and spade stores to designer boutiques. Good buys include the local porcelain and leather goods. The local supermarkets are good and stock all the well-known brands; alcohol and cigarettes are particularly cheap. Ibiza Town is the best place to find the latest fashion accessories; the shops don't close until well after midnight during the high season and in the evenings the port area takes on the ambience of a hippy market with street vendors and stalls selling everything from jewellery to cheap CDs.

Restaurants: San Antonio has two areas: 'The West End', which is packed with lots of small bars, fast food restaurants and pavement cafes, and the more upmarket 'Sunset Strip', in San Antonio Bay, where the better restaurants are found. Some restaurants offer good local Spanish fare and excellent locally-caught seafood but the majority cater for more British tastes - Chinese, Indian and Italian food, hamburgers and chips and the staple full English breakfasts and Sunday roasts.