On the north coast, between Sant Joan and Port de Sant Miquel, a narrow road winds down through the pines to Benirràs: a sheltered cove of golden sand, about 160 metres long, with calm water and green hills on three sides.
What it’s like
The sea is usually calm and shallow for the first stretch, which makes it a good beach for families, and there is snorkelling along the rocks on the left. In the middle of the bay rises Cap Bernat, the rock islet often called the “finger of God”, which turns into a silhouette when the sun goes down behind it.
For years Benirràs was famous for its Sunday drum sessions at sunset, which grew from a gathering of hippies living around Sant Joan and Sant Miquel into an event that drew thousands once the word spread. The big Sunday session no longer happens as such, but informal drumming has never stopped: on most evenings a few percussionists still play as the sun goes down, much as they did in the 1990s. So there is no need to wait for Sunday to hear them.
Services are simple but cover the essentials. Several concessions rent sunbeds and parasols, there are a few restaurants and beach bars, some of them on the slope above the sand, and a lifeguard tower in the middle of the beach keeps watch over the whole cove. Lifeguards are on duty from 1 May to 31 October, usually from late morning to early evening: roughly 10am to 7pm in July and August.
Getting there
Benirràs is about 30 minutes’ drive from Ibiza Town. The car park is free but small, with about 60 spaces on unpaved ground, and the road in is narrow. On busy days it fills hours before sunset. Park only in the designated areas, and never leave your car blocking a track or a driveway.
Sundays in summer: since 2018, from June to October, the road down to the beach and its main car park are closed to cars on Sundays, usually from 3.30pm to 10.30pm. Taxis can still go down to drop off and pick up passengers. From 1 May to 30 September, a P6 shuttle bus runs from the Can Coroner car park, with extra services in the afternoon for the sunset.
Keen walkers can also come on foot from Port de Sant Miquel, about 45 minutes along the coast.
Good to know
Come on a weekday, early in the day, and you may have the cove almost to yourself, even in summer. For the sunset and the drums, any evening will do: on weekdays you avoid the Sunday road closure.
