Luxurious tranquility on the shores of Formentera

What a great time. I was there for one week in mid May. A 30 min boat trip from Ibiza Port, the retreat was idyllic in its own unique way. I roomed with a local (to me) guy with common interests.The weather was excellent – blue skies apart from one day. Food was plentiful – (I went for the full board option) excellent and well presented – I was never hungry – one of my main pre trip concerns! 3 hours yoga each morning flew by with a great teacher. Afternoons were spent on the beach a few footsteps across the dunes which are now part of a conservation project. Formentera certainly is a beautiful and tranquil place - a place to chill but with a sprinkling of small towns and villages, beachfront cafes and bars. Plajta de ses Illetes in the North of the Island (20 mins drive by hire car or cab) is the best beach I have seen in Europe – white sand, crystal clear water, no watersports. To cap it all my fellow yogis for the week were the friendliest bunch whose company I enjoyed immensely.

This is a very special island. As the rest of the Mediterranean has rushed headlong into turning every secluded cove and beach into a carbon copy of every other white-painted-concrete over-developed resort, Formentera has thankfully held out. This is a very different Mediterranean. One where the pace of life is slow, the beaches uncrowded and with azure waters I've only seen matched in the Caribbean. If you want a holiday with arranged events, a kids club, a lively clubbing scene or aerobics by the pool then, sadly, there are a million other options for you to take, but thankfully, with one odious exception that I'll come to, not here. If your ideal holiday is peace, quiet, fresh seafood and fine wine, quiet sun-bleached lanes and dry stone walls, hot sabina pines, warm sea breezes blowing across the dunes and an almost hippy-like quest for peaceful living and clothing optional beaches... then paradise awaits you. You can find more activity in Es Pujols, and I must admit, the village is not without its charm to visit for a more lively evening. There is a good collection of bars and reastaurants here as well as a couple of smallish hotels, and a nice little street market along the promenade. Hostal Tahiti is at one end of this promenade on a rocky outcrop overlooking the beach. Although I've never stayed here, it has a good reputation and it's location and low-key appearence are well suited the island feel. This would probably be a good introduction to the island for first time visitors. The only other largish hotels on the islands are one in Cala Saona and a couple on Platja Mitjorn. The one in Cala Saona is reasonably inoffensive, although I would urge people to visualise this lovely cove without the backdrop of the standard white-painted concrete cube of the hotel! However, the beach itself is lovely, and child friendly with shallow shelving sand so I can see why some would like this for a quietish beach holiday. The two on Platja Mitjorn should, in my view be bulldozed. The Insotel Club Formentera Playa is everything the island is not. The amplified evening 'entertainment' (think YMCA, football shirts and Sangria) can be heard drifting across the pines well into the evening. Fortunately this cancer is the only really bad example on the whole island. My recommendation would be to do the research on the web and find a good self-catering appartment on the island and hire a scooter or bicycle to explore. Adjust to the pace, and relax. My final point is related to the beaches. Expect to see lots of naturists in search of the all over tan, particularly outsde of August. It's part of the island vibe and if you're offended by this, a) Why? and b) This island may not be for you. Es Pujol is the only beach where this isn't really widespread and my recommendation on this one would be to go native! - it really is the only way to swim!

I love this island. The blue transparent water and the white sands are just amazing. The Hostal Entrepinos it's one of the most friendly places I ever stayed with great and cheap home made food. The beach of Ses Salines is something out of this world and nothing like a "walk" to the nearby island S'Espalmador because it's possible to cross the path between the 2 islands with the water at the waist level... It's just an amazing experience.

after a week in ibiza we took the ferry to formentera for a week and felt extremley privelleged to be there. my girlfriend and i like the chilled side of ibiza so formentera was like paradise! peace and quiet, the most amazing beaches and beachbars- like the bluebar on playa migjorn, and beautiful routes for cyclists-(the best way to see the island.) Evenings are quiet with spectacular sunsets- and people do'nt clap like on the crowded sunset strip in ibiza! It is a very special place and because it has no airport it does not get too crowded. about 4hours from the uk to be where they filmed the bounty ads, you wo'nt be dissapointed!

...or a week, or a month!! Formentera is a beautiful island, but like a lot of people, I usually only get to see the beach at Illetas, or maybe Espalmador if I'm lucky. I've chartered a boat from IbizaMed for my friends stag do next month and I was lucky enough to get a test ride on the boat last week. The sky was very cloudy on the way over (it is April after all!) but it didn't spoil the journey and it was warm enough regardless. We were there in about 20 minutes and decided to hire mopeds when we got there, rather than getting cabs around. I was so glad that we did - it was only €25 for each bike and we got to see so much. First stop was El Pirata in Illetas which had just opened. A quick shandy and we were back on the bikes again, this time in glorious sunshine :-) Next stop was Migjorn, where we were hoping to catch up with a friend at the Gekko hotel. He was out to lunch so we decided to do the same. We'd seen a couple of restaurants open on the way through Sant Ferran but we fancied bocadillos so we stopped at a local shop for some ham, cheese, chorizo & bread, then headed to the beach at Migjorn to make our own. We then caught up with Alberto at the hotel, had a look around and then decided to explore a bit more on the way home. The countryside was glorious all day and I was loving the fresh air on the bike. The roads are all in pretty good order too so it's nice and relaxing - perfect for the springtime!! We drove through Sant Frances to see where the Wailers concert was last summer (I was gutted to miss that one!!) and then on to Cala Saona, which was absolutely beautiful. There were a few locals sunbathing on the beach and we headed past them up onto the cliffs where there is a little bar, some cute fisherman's huts and an absolutely stunning view back along the west coast and out to sea where you can see Es Vedra and some of Ibiza. I'd highly recommend it, especially for a relaxing (and very quiet!) break before the summer silly season kicks off. If you're planning a day trip from Ibiza in the summer then mopeds are a great way to get around and well worth the money. If you don't fancy that then at least try and explore one or two beaches if you can. If you're lucky enough to charter your own boat then try and get them to take you to Espalmador and suggest somewhere else if you have enough time after lunch. A perfect day for me and I loved the tranquility but most people would probably prefer it a bit later in the year when everything is open. Ten out of ten regardless - it's well worth the journey from Ibiza!!