In the past we have holiday'd in Mallorca, never in Ibiza but we are amazed at how rugged and beautiful both Islands are.
Ibiza is known to be the party island of the Med, however we are lucky to be sailing during the summer of Covid-19. Most of the anchorages are quiet and the towns are eerily quiet with under 50% of bars and restaurants being opened. The tourists are not coming this year and who can blame them when the UK holiday makers are being told they have to quarantine for 2 weeks when they return. Who is able to take 3 wks paid holiday?
The water is crystal clear so swimming is easy and checking the anchor is a bliss in waters like this. Sant Antoni was the quietest of all with none of the tourists boats going out, although this did make the anchorages better for cruisers like us.
We visited the stunning little village of Portinatx. With only a couple of bars & hotels, a horseshoe shaped beach and caves to explore, it was truly stunning.
We had a cracking sail to Mallorca (Majorca), it was wonderful. The Med is not known for it's consistently good wind. It can either be all-wind or no-wind but we were lucky on this day. As a cruiser there is nothing more magical than when we turn the engine off and listen to the wind in the sails and the water running and splashing down the hull of the boat.
Mallorca has lots of anchorages and not so many Posidonia police keeping an eye on if you have anchored in the sea-grass. During our month here we see more boats turning up and transiting to Italy & Turkey.
The waters are still clear and the land still rugged. What we have noticed is a distinct lack of fish. We love our snorkelling but we see very little in the way of fish and sea creatures, such as shame as this also means there is a lack of dolphins, explains why we haven't seen any for some time.
We visit Soller and what a beautiful town it is. There is the new town on the coast that is totally set up to accommodate yachts that do not want to go into the marina and then there is Old Town Soller, which can be reached by either bus or tram, we chose to visit via the tram that turned out to cost almost our daily budget. Well worth going to visit though as it is so pretty with its narrow roads with high buildings and walkways.
Our return passage was calm enough for us to try out our spinnaker sail for the first time - it was fabulous whilst it lasted as the wind died to nothing and we had to take it down after 45mins.
Onward and upwards, batteries are due soon and we've still got lots to explore in Mallorca 😃.