Weather, winds and beaches

bvdn

Active Member
Last time I was on the White Island (9 years ago) I noticed that some beaches had a stunning blue sea while others had a bit of swell and agitation. I believe it is due to the wind. That time the beaches in the northwest and southwest were beautiful with very bright turquoise blue, while the beaches in the northeast and southeast were muted and not so beautiful. Would anyone have any tips on how to choose the best beach according to the weather/wind?
 
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it is indeed due to the wind, so here's stivi's manual for this 😉

- you wanna be constantly checking the wind direction (on any weather app / website), best already a few days before you arrive

- generally, head to the leeward side of the island for quiet conditions. this means, if the wind is coming from the north, you will generally find nicer conditions in the south, whereas the beaches in the north will have choppy / agitated waters.

- it is not just the area of the beach though, but also its orientation that plays an important role. an example: let's say we have wind from the east. logically you wanna head to the westcoast for the calmest water conditions. now open up google maps and check out the area around cala bassa and cala conta, which indeed is in the west. the thing is though, cala bassa actually has a northeast orientation (as in, if you sit on the beach and you look out to the water you are looking towards northeast) and so on a day with wind coming from the east, cala bassa won't be the best. if you drive a little further to cala conta, or even better to raco d'en xic (nowadays falsely called cala escondida), the conditions will be much better as the beach has western orientation.

- on days with a lot of wind, look for beaches on the leeward side of the island, with the correct orientation as explained above and with natural shelter in the form of mountains/hills. another example: we have strong winds from the west, so we wanna go east. if you go to es cavallet which has a very flat land behind the beach, it won't be as nice as if you drive up to aguas blancas which is wonderfully sheltered by cliffs. I appreciate this takes a little more knowledge or previous investigation, but it makes a massive difference.

- lastly, if you've had a few days of strong winds from the same direction and the wind finally stops (or changes direction), don't go seeing those beaches in the previously windward direction on day one. you can be 100% sure the sea will still be choppy, it usually takes a day for the sea to get flat/calm if the conditions really had been rough previously.

hope this helps!
 
Just on this, any update with Aguas Blancas... Is it fully accessible yet?
am not 100% sure on this - haven't been up there in a long time. I think I do remember having read they definitely want to have it ready and safe again for summer 2025.
 
- lastly, if you've had a few days of strong winds from the same direction and the wind finally stops (or changes direction), don't go seeing those beaches in the previously windward direction on day one. you can be 100% sure the sea will still be choppy, it
Even worse, the water stays murky for a few days.

Speaking of waves, I actually like swimming in waves. What is the best beach to enjoy waves when the wind blows from the west?

When the wind comes from the east, I usually go to Cala Boix - the water gets deep quickly, so you can enjoy both waves breaking onto you and you can quickly swim out to get bounced by waves before they break.
 
Even worse, the water stays murky for a few days.

Speaking of waves, I actually like swimming in waves. What is the best beach to enjoy waves when the wind blows from the west?

When the wind comes from the east, I usually go to Cala Boix - the water gets deep quickly, so you can enjoy both waves breaking onto you and you can quickly swim out to get bounced by waves before they break.
there are no waves on the west coast of ibiza, the places where there are are on the east coast, the most famous spot is cala nova (you can even surf there in winter when the conditions are good) or aguas blancas, to the south there is cala jondal
 
there are no waves on the west coast of ibiza, the places where there are are on the east coast, the most famous spot is cala nova (you can even surf there in winter when the conditions are good) or aguas blancas, to the south there is cala jondal

I have seen people surfing in cala codolar.
 
I have seen people surfing in cala codolar.
you are right that sometimes (but it is really not often) when you arrive by boat from San Antonio, you arrive at Cala Conta where the water is totally flat, once you pass the Cap de Bou, you can have a completely different sea if you have a southwest wind!
 
Last time I was on the White Island (9 years ago) I noticed that some beaches had a stunning blue sea while others had a bit of swell and agitation. I believe it is due to the wind. That time the beaches in the northwest and southwest were beautiful with very bright turquoise blue, while the beaches in the northeast and southeast were muted and not so beautiful. Would anyone have any tips on how to choose the best beach according to the weather/wind?

fyi, Cala Llonga has been really nice the last 3 years (late summer/early autumn) - by far my fave sea experience, with clean transparent water, where you can wade out a long way
 
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