The Nude Beaches of Ibiza and Formentera

If there is a place where nudity on beaches is even more accepted than in mainland Spain, it must be on the Spanish islands. Several years ago, during the period of the virus-we-don’t-talk-about-anymore, we got the chance to spend some time on the Canary Islands and found more places to get naked than we could ever wish for.

Now was about time for us to have a look at what the other islands have to offer. Our eyes had fallen on the Balearic Islands. Would we be able to get naked on the world-famous party island Ibiza? And how about that little island south of it, Formentera, that is only accessible by ferry and that few have ever heard of? The answer is yes, and yes.

Let’s start with the queen of dance music. When you look at TV shows or documentaries about Ibiza, you’ll notice a huge see and being seen vibe and you may wonder how this goes hand in hand with social nudity. Strangely enough, it still does. This is largely thanks to the hippy vibe that has dominated the island – and Formentera – for decades.

There’s little nudity to be seen in the typical party places like Bossa Beach (Platja d’en Bossa), Ibiza City or Sant Antoni. But once you get a bit away from the crowds, you’ll find that you can get naked on pretty much every non-urban beach. The main stretches of sand are often reserved for the bathing suits, but at small coves further away you’ll find excellent skinny dip spots.

An example of such a beach is Cala Tarida, on the west side of the island. The main beach is very popular and already gets crowded early in the morning. But just a 5-minute walk will bring you to coves where you can quietly sunbathe naked if someone else isn’t doing that already. Also around Playa de s´Estanyol, just north of Ibiza town, you’ll find plenty of space for a skinny dip. These are nice places to go to if you enjoy peace and quiet, but if you prefer to be among other naked people, there are quite some options too.

Let’s start of with one of the two official nude beaches of Ibiza, located near the salt flats on the southern tip of the island. Playa de Es Cavallet was by far the beach with the most naked people we found on the island. It has to be noted though that we visited Ibiza in May, at the beginning of the tourist season, so it could be that the nude vs non-nude ratio changes when more tourists flock to the island. But when we were there, pretty much everyone was naked.

Except around El Chiringuito Ibiza, in the very north of the beach. This quite fancy beach bar seems to attract a quite fancy crowd. But as soon as you start walking south, there’s plenty of space to get comfortably naked. All the way towards beach bar Chiringay. As the name suggests, it focuses on the rainbow community, but it’s very friendly towards everybody and you’ll find a lot of naked people in front and around the bar.

Talking about beach bars. Just a 15-minute walk from Chiringay is a bar called Sa Trinxa on Ses Salinas beach, which is probably our favourite bar on the island. We have been told that nudity was common around this bar a couple of decades ago. Today it’s not so nude anymore but topless is still the norm. And they serve great sangria.

Just south of Sant Antoni town are the Comte beaches. A group of three splendid beaches that are very popular among tourists. One of them is a nude beach, as a huge yellow-painted rock suggests. Unfortunately, due to mass tourism, the other beaches easily get crowded and the bathing suits searching for an empty spot often end up at Cala Escondida.

It’s not unlikely that you’ll find the majority of this beach covered up in one way or another. It’s a shame because this is a wonderful place to be. Yet, if you don’t mind the bikinis, it’s totally fine to be naked here. Just remember that they chose to come to the nude beach, so they shouldn’t be offended. Also here, you’ll find a pretty good beach bar with great staff.

If you want to get naked in Spain, the best idea is often to avoid tourist areas and rather go where the locals go. One such place is Punta Galera, just north of Sant Antoni. This is not a sandy beach and the cliffside walk is a bit tricky. So is trying to get into the sea, by the way. It’s best to follow the trails of those who have been there before and know the best access points.

The rock formations at this beach are stunning though and there are several places where you can quite comfortably sunbathe. You’ll find that most of the visitors will be naked and that they will be locals. The bathing suits may get the stunning sandy beaches, but you’ll get a scenery that few others will ever see.

Two more interesting nude beaches are to be found in the north of the island. One is the other official nude beach called Aigües Blanques. Honestly, we were a bit disappointed with this beach. First of all, because most of the others were clothed and secondly because the beach bar was closed and didn’t look like it would open up again very soon. Yet, it’s a nice place to go. Especially if you like surfing, you may appreciate this beach.

A bit further south, near Santa Eulària des Riu (where Paris Hilton is said to have a house), you’ll find Cala Nova beach. This is an interesting one because it has two nude sections. One is at the southern corner, where you typically expect a nude area to be. But the other one is right in the middle of the beach. No sight of Paris Hilton though, in case you’re wondering.

Formentera is the only one of the Balearic islands that doesn’t have an airport. The best way to get there is to fly to Ibiza and take a ferry from there. This means that this island suffers less from mass tourism, which might be a reason why nudity appears to be more accepted here than on any other island in Spain.

A local told us that it’s totally fine to get naked on any beach in Formentera, except for the one of Es Pujols, which is the only urban beach on the island. We haven’t tried every beach, but instead, we focused on the beaches that are known for nude sunbathing and skinny dipping.

In the east of the island is Es Caló beach, which basically consists of three beaches. The one closest to the town and the parking lot is the most clothed one, the two further beaches are much more known to be visited by those who like to be on beaches without sticky clothes.

Or so we’ve been told… Also here, we visited in early May which is just before the start of the season. Tourism was still very slow at the time and when we arrived at Es Caló in the morning, there was just one more naked person at the very end between the rocks. As this was the first beach we visited on Formentera, we figured that the smartest thing to do was to copy the local and place ourselves even further away from the sand. Later, many others would get naked on the sandy stretches, making us look like the newbies in the distance.

To many, Playa Es Migjorn is their favourite nude beach on Formentera. And it’s not hard to understand why. The beach is very long and completely sandy, so there’s always lots of space even if you want to stay a bit away from the other people. Nude is the common dress code, so you’re unlikely to get stuck between the clothed, as may happen on Ses Illetes (see further).

The best way to find your favourite spot on Es Migjorn beach is to just walk along the wooden trail. There are different sections, the ones near the restaurant and the Blue bar tend to be more crowded, the sections in between are better if you like some solitude.

What very few people know is that Formentera is home to officially the best beach in Spain, the second best in Europe and the fifth best in the world. It’s all the same beach though, called Platja de Ses Illetes on the northern tip of the island. This beach is located in a natural park and during the summer months, you’ll have to pay an entrance fee of 6€ per car or 4€ per motorcycle. But don’t let that stop you, because this beach is just AMAZING!

The downside of going to the fifth best beach in the world is that it’s a huge tourist attraction. It’s a top bucket list item for every visitor to Formentera and it’s a number one day trip from Ibiza. So there will always be a lot of bathing suits around. The beach is 100% clothing-optional though, so if your eyes can handle a bit of textile, this is a lovely place to skinny dip.

If Ses Illetes Beach would be too crowded for you, there are two other options. One is to take a taxi boat to Espalmador Island. It’s quite a pricy endeavour, but you’ll find long beaches that are largely empty.

The cheaper option is the beach just south of Ses Illetes, called Playa Levante. True, it’s not as scenic as Ses Illetes, but still likely to be in your top 3 most beautiful beaches you’ve ever seen. As its northern neighbour attracts all the designer bathing suits on their fancy yachts, this beach is largely empty and an excellent spot to spend some time in your designer birthday suit.

Mass tourism aside, both islands are still great for a nude beach vacation. Our recommendation is to head to Ibiza if you’re travelling before or after the high season and to pick Formentera between mid-June and late September.

Although there are quite some great nude beaches, there is no nude accommodation. Your best bet is to look for a place on Booking.com. If you really want to spend as much time as possible on one nude beach, it’s best to look for something within walking distance. However, as both are relatively small islands, we decided to look for a nice place and rent a car to visit the several beaches.

On Ibiza, we stayed in this studio. It’s an okay place, in a quiet area with a nice view. Cala Escondida is about a 15-minute drive. Es Cavallet about 25 minutes. In Formentera, we found this really nice studio. Because it was in the middle of nowhere and quite secluded, we could easily also spend time naked on our terrace. Nothing on the island was further than a 15-minute drive.