Atlantis is not a beach and it was never a lost city. Its real name is Sa Pedrera de Cala d'Hort, and it is a sandstone quarry on the south-west coast below the Torre des Savinar, facing Es Vedra across the water.
The stone that came out of it is the reason the place looks the way it does. Cutters took blocks of marés, the soft local sandstone, and shipped them round the coast to build the walls of Dalt Vila and the sixteenth-century castle above Ibiza Town. Both are now UNESCO World Heritage, and the terraces, square shafts and straight edges left behind in the rock are the negative of them.
Getting down
There is no road and no path in the usual sense. You park near the tower and go down a steep, loose descent over rock, which takes a good twenty minutes and considerably longer coming back up.
Wear shoes with grip and carry more water than you think you need. There is no shade on the way down, no facilities of any kind at the bottom, and nowhere to buy anything.
The climb back out in the middle of a July afternoon is the part people underestimate. Go early, or go in spring and autumn.
What is down there
Cut terraces of pale rock stepping down to the sea, with deep square holes where blocks were lifted out. Several of these hold seawater and are swimmable when the sea is calm, which is the main reason people make the walk.
Visitors have left carvings in the soft stone over the years, along with stacked cairns on the slope above. Some of it is decades old and some was done last week.
The view is straight at Es Vedra, which rises out of the water a couple of kilometres offshore.
When not to go
When there is any swell. The pools fill from the open sea and the rock shelf is exposed, so a rough day makes the bottom of the quarry dangerous rather than merely awkward.
Our team can tell you what the sea is doing before you set out. On a flat, bright morning in May this is one of the best walks on the island.
Quick answers
Is Atlantis a beach? No. It is a former sandstone quarry with rock terraces and seawater pools.
How long is the walk down? About twenty minutes, steep and loose, and longer on the way back.
Are there facilities? None at all. Bring water.
Can you swim? In the quarry pools, when the sea is calm.
What was the stone used for? The walls of Dalt Vila and the castle above Ibiza Town.
Can you see Es Vedra? Yes, it is directly offshore.